Maddon says NL Central competition has pushed teams to be their best
The National League Central has turned into the best division in baseball. As well as the Cubs have played this season, they're third behind the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates won their seventh straight game Friday, beating the Cubs 3-2. The Cardinals entered Friday having won five in a row. Although it's been tough to gain ground, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he likes the tough competition.
"I love playing in what in what is perceived to be the best division in baseball," Maddon said. "It's about the end of the season. It's about the last game of the season and getting to that particular moment. Sometimes it takes a different route to get there.
"But I really respect what both of the teams have done. I like to believe that we've pushed them a little bit, too, in this particular season. That's kind of cool, also. It's great for baseball. It's great for us. I think it's aided us in getting better quicker."
Bang-bang play:
The Pirates got a key insurance run to go ahead 3-1 in Friday's eighth inning. With one out and runners on first and third, Starling Marte chopped the ball to Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, went to first base for the sure out instead of throwing home.
Castro had replaced starter Addison Russell, going in as a pinch hitter in the seventh and staying in the game. Russell is the more sure-handed fielder. In he end, Joe Maddon didn't second-guess Castro's decision.
"I thought he might have (a play)," Maddon said. "There was no telling. The only way we would have known was had he thrown the ball to the plate. It would have been bang-bang, at best. It had to be a like a throw right on the money, up and down. I don't know. When the ball was hit, I thought he did. But retrospectively, I'm not sure."
No retaliation:
There were no hard takeout slides by the Pirates. Joe Maddon was asked before the game if he thought any retribution might be coming for the Cubs' Chris Coghlan taking out the Pirates' Jung Ho Kang last week in Pittsburgh. Kang suffered severe leg and knee injuries that required surgery and is estimated to miss 6-8
"I hope not," Maddon said. "It was a good baseball play. There was nothing to cause retribution. So I would hope not. For me, for us, it's a dead issue, and that's it. I think the people involved within the Pirates understand that."
Lester moving up:
Cubs starting pitcher Jon Lester struck out six, giving him 198 for the season. He surpassed Hippo Vaughn's 195 strikeouts in 1917 for the second-most in franchise history by a left-handed pitcher. Ken Holtzman holds the Cubs lefty record, with 202 strikeouts in 1970. It was Lester's 15th outing this season allowing 2 or fewer runs in at least 7 innings.