Cubs lose in Milwaukee, but magic number drops to 9
MILWAUKEE - Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is an inveterate scoreboard watcher. He's doing so from a position of comfort these days as his team has a 15½-game lead in the National League Central.
The Cubs figure to close things out in the coming days, and with the best record in the league, they would face the wild-card winner in the division series.
Last year, it was the Cubs fighting for a wild-card spot. They won the second spot and then rode a playoff run that carried them to the NL championship series.
The Cubs' magic number to clinch the Central dropped to 9 Wednesday night as they fell 2-1 to Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park while the second-place St. Louis Cardinals lost at Pittsburgh.
"Listen, I'll take all of that," said manager Joe Maddon, whose team is 89-50. "We played well. We played well again."
An eighth-inning home run by Jonathan Villar off reliever Joe Smith broke a 1-1 tie. It was Villar's second homer of the game.
Maddon doesn't seem to mind two or three teams fighting it out for the wild-card spots.
"It kind of puts a lot on them," he said. "Yeah, but then again, there's something to be said for the competitive component that they're going through. But then there's also fatigue. I've been on both sides, man.
"Coming from behind, coming from behind and eventually get there, and it's wonderful, but it's hard to sustain that for a long period of time. By fighting to get there, you always think there's some kind of an edge to be gained, but if you really have to push guys too hard, it can catch up to you, also. It's a Catch-22 situation."
The Cubs went with No. 6 starter Mike Montgomery for the series finale against the Brewers, and Montgomery had a creditable outing, working 5 innings of 2-hit, 1-run ball. He gave up a leadoff homer to Villar in the fourth.
Anthony Rizzo got that back for the Cubs in the sixth by yanking a home run down the right-field line. It was Rizzo's 29th home run of the season. Rizzo was robbed of a second homer in the ninth on Keon Broxton's leaping catch at the wall in center.
"I know I hit it well," said Rizzo, who hit a pair of homers Tuesday. "It wasn't carrying as much as it was yesterday here. I knew it was on the fringe. He happened to make a nice play."
Montgomery has worked both as a starter and as a reliever since the Cubs obtained him in a July 20 trade with the Seattle Mariners.
"I think the being in the starter routine, it's a little more comfortable, getting pitches built up and pitch counts and innings," he said. "I think it's try to go out there and give everything you've got unti they take the ball from you. I felt good about it. Just try to make as many good pitches as I can."