Rozner: Little mistakes add up big in Cubs loss

In the postseason, it is often said that it's all about the little things.

That may not be entirely true — but it was in Game 1 of the NLCS.

The little things added up when the Cubs didn't get enough big bombs on a frigid night at New York's Citi Field, and a couple small mistakes cost them in a big way as they dropped Game 1 4-2 Saturday night.

It was the Mets who played long ball against Jon Lester and rode the pitching of Matt Harvey before Jeurys Familia closed it out.

The Cubs trailed in all four games against St. Louis and got the same start against the Mets when Harvey breezed through the Cubs in the first and with one out in the bottom of the inning, a smoking-hot Daniel Murphy jumped on a 1-1 pitch from Lester and ripped it to right for a home run and a 1-0 New York lead.

Murphy now has 3 home runs in the postseason against lefties (two off Clayton Kershaw) after hitting a single homer in 126 at-bats during the regular season against left-handers.

Harvey was tossing a perfect game in the fifth when he hit leadoff man Anthony Rizzo with an 0-2 pitch and Starlin Castro ripped a line drive to center that was misjudged by Juan Lagares.

Rizzo scored but Castro wasn't running out of the box and only made second, even though the ball went all the way to the wall and was accompanied by a wild throw home.

That was big when Javy Baez singled to left with one out and Castro was out by 15 feet at the plate on a perfect throw from Yoenis Cespedes. Had Castro been hustling on the double, the Cubs would have been up 2-1.

In the bottom of the inning, Lester appeared to work himself out of a two-on, one-out jam when Harvey bunted right to Rizzo for what looked like an easy double play, but third baseman Kris Bryant dropped the ball on the transfer and Harvey was safe at first.

Instead of being out of the inning, Curtis Granderson singled home a run and the Mets had a 2-1 lead.

They increased it to 3-1 in the sixth when Travis d'Arnaud sat on a 3-1 Lester changeup and hit a bomb to the Big Apple in center field.

At that point, with the run the Cubs didn't score and the one they gave away, it should have been a 2-2 game, but they trailed by a pair.

The Mets failed to turn a pair of double plays in the seventh, but Harvey pitched out of trouble when he struck out Baez and pinch hitter Tommy La Stella to end the inning.

“His command was outrageous,” Joe Maddon said of Harvey. “You know he has good stuff, but when his command is like that he's really tough.”

New York added a run in the seventh playing small ball, and Kyle Schwarber got it back in the eighth on his fourth home run in six postseason games, a monster shot to right center, but the 2 runs the Cubs flushed were the difference in the game.

Harvey was the big story for the Mets after a strange September amid the bizarre innings-limit controversy. The New York starter was going on his regular rest against the Cubs after a mediocre outing against the Dodgers in the NLDS, and he looked like the real Harvey again.

“The biggest thing was I finally had a stretch here where I could be on a normal routine,” Harvey said. “I'm not using 10 days off as an excuse, but going down the stretch there we had 10 days off here, 10 days off there, and as a starting pitcher to get into a routine with that going on, it's a little bit difficult.

“I was mostly excited to get a chance to get back out there again and have a normal routine.”

So the Cubs trail in the series but did not seem fazed Saturday night, knowing they have ace Jake Arrieta going in Game 2 Sunday and a good chance to turn it into a best-of-five.

Expect more long balls … and hope the Cubs can do the little things it takes to win.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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