It's all 'go' for Fowler, Chicago Cubs in win
By now, many Chicago Cubs fans know manager Joe Maddon's watchwords for leadoff man Dexter Fowler.
"That's what I tell him: 'You go, we go,'" Maddon said Tuesday night after a 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field. "It's just the truth.
"When he plays at that level, he definitely picks everybody else up and accelerates everybody else's confidence. Hitting wise, he's a nuisance to the other team, and he's got power, too."
Fowler has been putting the "go" into the Cubs again, having reached base in 13 of 22 plate appearances over his last five games. A hamstring injury put him on the disabled list from late June until late July, and the Cubs missed him. They're 49-22 in games he leads off.
In Tuesday's game, Fowler tripled, singled twice, stole a base and scored 2 runs.
"That's been my job since I came up," he said. "You're a leadoff guy, you're supposed to lead it off. That's what I'm trying to do. I take pride in my job, just getting on base any way I can."
Fowler had a new running mate in this game. Catcher Willson Contreras moved up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order, and he singled twice and drew a walk.
The two were off and running from the get-go against Marlins ace Jose Fernandez. Fowler opened the bottom of the first with a triple to the right-field corner, and he came home on a single by Contreras.
Fowler and Contreras had back-to-back singles in the third, with Fowler eventually scoring. In the fifth, it was an RBI single for Fowler and a walk by Contreras as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead.
"Willson made the contact," said Maddon, whose team is 65-41. "The triple (by Fowler), and then he contacts the ball up the middle."
The interesting move by Maddon was having Contreras bat second. With Kris Bryant not starting, that opened up the spot high in the order for Contreras, who was 2-for-16 on the homestand entering the game but who had 2 walks and a double in Monday's series opener.
"He has a nice day last night," Maddon said. "I thought he was going really well, and I think he got a little bit fatigued mentally. It looked like (after) we gave him some days off he's come back. I thought he worked really good at-bats last night. His game behind the plate was fantastic."
Jason Hammel started for the Cubs and worked 6 scoreless innings as he established a career high in wins, improving to 11-5. Maddon pulled him in the sixth for pinch hitter Miguel Montero, who struck out, stranding two.
"I honestly didn't even know," Hammel said of the career high in victories. "I thought I had won at least 11 games by now. It's obviously very good, but there's still some season to go here."
The Marlins scored a pair off Pedro Strop in the seventh. Hector Rondon gave up a pair of hits in a scoreless eighth, and Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his second Cubs save. He reached 104 mph on the radar reading with a couple of pitches.