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Chapman powers his way onto scene for Chicago Cubs

The save situation had gone by the wayside, but the Wrigley Field crowd got what it came for anyway.

It was almost like the band coming back on stage for an encore when Aroldis Chapman entered the game. The Chicago Cubs had just busted open a 3-1 game in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday night with 5 runs against the Chicago White Sox.

As they were doing that, Chapman was warming up for a possible save.

He came on anyway and closed out the 8-1 victory, and it was a show in and of itself.

With every fastball that hissed up to the plate at 101, 102, 103 mph, the crowd of 41,166 gasped as the triple-digit velocity figure was posted on the videoboard in left field.

Just for fun, Chapman threw a slider - a slider - at 91 mph to strike out Jose Abreu leading off. He then dispatched Todd Frazier on a groundout and Avisail Garcia on a called third strike.

Game over. Game changer for the Cubs, who now have a closer who can do freakishly unfair things with a baseball.

It was a reluctant Chapman who talked to the media afterward, getting interpreting help from Cubs catcher Miguel Montero.

"The adrenaline was pretty good even though it wasn't a save situation," Chapman said through Montero. "It was fun to hear the crowd cheer for me."

In the Cubs' dugout, manager Joe Maddon played the scoreboard-watching game right along with the crowd.

"It's just entertaining to watch the (radar) gun, beyond everything else," Maddon said. "Of course, you're looking to get the win. It's different. He's a different kind of a pitcher. You don't see that, every 100 years or so. He's just that good. Everybody talks about the fastball. How good is the slider? The slider is devastating.

"It was very cool. I've seen it on the wrong side. It's nice to have it on your side. Give the guy some credit for going out there in somewhat of a difficult situation based on the last couple days. I don't even know how much rest he's gotten."

Of course, there's always one guy to spoil the party.

"I'm not impressed," said starting pitcher Jason Hammel. "I thought we were getting a guy who threw 105 (mph)."

Hammel was just kidding. But there's no fooling as to what the addition of Chapman could mean to the Cubs as they pursue a World Series title.

He is as close as there is to a lockdown closer, and that's allowing the Cubs to use former closer Hector Rondon in the eighth. Rondon went 1-2-3 Wednesday.

The Cubs picked up Chapman on Monday in a trade with the New York Yankees. After two days of discussion about Chapman's suspension this year for violating Major League Baseball's policy on domestic violence, it was back to baseball.

At first, Chapman did not wish to speak with the Chicago media after the game, but he relented and seemed happy enough about the game.

"Obviously, the crowd kind of pumped me up a little bit," he said. "I was excited because it was my debut with (the Cubs)."

If he reached "only" 103 mph because the adrenaline wasn't coursing as quickly through his system, what might he do when it is?

"I still felt pumped even though I knew it wasn't a save situation," he said. "I had a couple, three, days without throwing, so I just tried to come into this situation and go pitch."

At his own locker a few minutes earlier, Montero was asked about the fastest he's caught.

"Him, probably him," Montero replied.

• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.

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