Miles: Cubs' Maddon upbeat after facing tough teams

Joe Maddon can see it in his players' eyes, both in the dugout and in the clubhouse.

Maddon's young Cubs are finishing a short stretch of games against first-place clubs Washington and Kansas City, and the manager says his kids are handling things just fine.

"I think we've been responding extremely well," Maddon said Saturday, when the Cubs' game against the Royals at Wrigley Field was rained out. The makeup date is Sept. 28 at 7:05 p.m.

The Cubs dropped two of three to the Nationals on this homestand before losing an 8-4 decision Friday to the defending American League champion Royals on Friday.

"We've been in every game," Maddon said. "Even the game (Friday), the score looked bad, but that was a really solid game for 7⅔ (innings). We fought back against a really good pitching staff. We fought back; we were down. All of a sudden, we're right there."

Maddon has preached celebrating wins and suffering losses for only 30 minutes after each game and then getting back after it the next day.

"I'm liking the energy in our clubhouse on a daily basis," he said. "I always use that as a template, what's going on here. The dugout before the game, it's alive. In game, I think we've responded to adversity. We've come back a lot, so that tells me something right there that nobody's quitting.

"We have to get to that point where we know how to finish the whole thing off. I go back to the fundamental thing: the relentless execution of fundamentals and technique. (The Royals) out-fundamentaled and out-techniqued us (Friday). That's pretty much what it comes down to. We blinked. They didn't, and that was pretty much the difference in the game."

Staying in rotation:

The Cubs and Royals will stay on rotation for Sunday's series finale. Left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada will start for the Cubs against Yordano Ventura.

Look for Jason Hammel to start Monday night's series opener against the Marlins in Miami as the Cubs begin a three-city road trip that also will take them to Washington and Detroit.

Nearing the 900 mark:

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro is 2 hits shy of 900 for his career. He is 25 years, 2 months and 6 days old. The youngest player to 900 career hits in a Cubs uniform was Hall of Famer Ron Santo, who was 25 years, 6 months and 1 day when he recorded hit No. 900 on Aug 26, 1965.

If Castro stays healthy, it's not out of the question that he will be a 3,000-hits player for his career.

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