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Chicago Cubs manager Maddon hasn't given up on Heyward

CLEVELAND — Slumping right fielder Jason Heyward again found himself out of the Chicago Cubs lineup, this time for Game 1 of the World Series.

Manager Joe Maddon opted for Chris Coghlan in right field Tuesday night in place of Heyward, who was 1-for-12 in the National League division series against the San Francisco Giants and 1-for-16 in the championship series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the regular season, Heyward had a line of .230/.306/.325 with 7 home runs and 49 RBI.

Albert Almora Jr. started in place of Heyward for Game 6 of the National League championship series.

The Cubs signed Heyward to an eight-year, $184 million contract last off-season.

“Obviously, Jason, the bat's not been working like you would like to have it work right now,” Maddon said. “So we just wanted to do something different tonight. That's it. Possibly get us a little more offense for the evening.

“We're not giving up on him by any means. Continue to work on the different things with him. Just thought for tonight run CC back out there and see if we can get a little bit more offense rolling out of that position and get J-Ward in the game later for his defense.”

It's likely the Cubs will have to rebuild his swing in the off-season with hitting coach John Mallee and assistant Eric Hinske.

“He was working with John and 'Ske the other day,” Maddon said. “Obviously, the last series didn't go that well. But, again, I stand by it, I love having him on the field. I love having him on the field. I feel so good with him out there. So we're going to just give CC a chance to garner some offense earlier and then use J for the latter part of the game defensively.

“You've got to win four more games, and we've got to make our best guesses right now. During the middle of the season, we gave him a break at that time also to try to get him back together. Obviously, there's no games on the back side of this.”

Hello, old friend:

Former Cubs TV play-by-play man Chip Caray is back. He is working the pregame and postgame shows locally for FOX 32, WFLD TV in Chicago.

Caray was the Cubs' TV voice from 1998-2004. Since then, he has been working on Atlanta Braves telecasts.

“I was sitting at home in Florida, ready to evacuate from the hurricane, when FOX called and asked, 'Do you want to do Cubs games?' ” Caray said on the field before Game 1. “I said, 'Why not?' ”

Asked if he still had a special place in his heart for the Cubs, Caray replied: “Always.”

Welcome back to all:

Joe Maddon said he is heartened by the support of such former Cubs players at Hall of Famer Billy Williams.

“Love it,” Maddon said. “Billy just came in and said hi to me. I did not know Billy was going to be here today, and that was really nice.

“Ryan Dempster just walked in. Kerry (Wood) has been around all the time. Ryne Sandberg, the whole group. I saw Andre Dawson was here recently. They're all coming back, and I love that.”

Earlier start:

First pitch for Wednesday night's Game 2 of the World Series has been moved up an hour to 6:08 p.m., Chicago time, because of the threat of rain in the Cleveland area.

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