Maddon says he didn't 'outmanage' Chip Hale

It may have seemed that Cubs manager Joe Maddon outmanaged Arizona counterpart Chip Hale in Saturday's strategy-filled game, but Maddon said Sunday he doesn't see it that way.

Maddon went into active-manager role in the eighth inning of Saturday's 5-3 victory, using three relief pitchers and getting his wish not to face dangerous D'backs hitter Jake Lamb.

In fact, Hale pinch hit for the left-handed-hitting Lamb with right-hander Rickie Weeks against Cubs lefty Travis Wood. Weeks worked a good at-bat but finally lined out to Ben Zobrist at second base.

A victory for Maddon over Hale?

"The rush was just getting the third out, honestly," Maddon said. "Weeks worked a great at-bat. I really was impressed with his at-bat. When he was spitting on the sliders with two strikes, I knew this was going to be tough. But more impressive was Travis' ability to throw a strike with a full count with the bases loaded. That's pretty impressive right there.

"I don't think in those terms at all (outmanaging the other guy). Chip did the right thing, what he was supposed to do, and I was just trying to do what I thought was the right thing in the moment.

"I felt a guy sitting on the bench all day is at a greater disadvantage than a guy who's been playing all day. Travis is good against righties. That was just my option. Nobody got outmanaged yesterday. Travis threw a strike. Their guys hits a line drive. Zobrist just happened to be standing there. That's what happened."

Let's have some fun:

The Cubs took off for Philadelphia after Sunday's game decked out in NBA-style warm-up suits. It's all part of Joe Maddon's attempt at keeping the game fun.

"That's the 12-year-old in me, man, too," he said. "I hope I never grow up. First of all, we are playing a game. Too many times, people consider this more of a life or death moment, and it's not. So I don't want our guys to ever feel that way; I want them to go out there and play the game and not be afraid of making mistakes. And I want them to have joy in showing up at the ballpark.

"I've been involved in the past where it's not fun to come to a ballpark. And that's wrong. That is absolutely wrong. More often than not, that was created by people in charge and not by the players themselves. So for me to be responsible to have anybody in that room to not want to come to a major-league ballpark would be awful, absolutely awful."