Lessons Chicago Cubs learned vs. Mets and how they still apply
NEW YORK - Coming to Citi Field elicits memories of October 2015.
Then, a young, ascendant Chicago Cubs team hit the bright lights not too far from Broadway after beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the wild-card game and then blowing past the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League division series.
The Cubs met their match in the Mets, as the New Yorkers engineered an efficient series sweep, based on strong pitching.
The two teams opened a three-game seres at Citi Field on Monday night, and this still-young Cubs team is facing another test. Jacob deGrom was too tough as the Mets right-hander went the distance in a 6-1 victory.
Before the game, I asked manager Joe Maddon what the lessons were from 2015 and if they apply at all to the struggles the 2017 Cubs are facing after winning last year's World Series.
"That good pitching definitely stops you in those moments and that we had to make adjustments against better pitching, which we have," Maddon said. "Early part of this season, we're still running into that trouble a little bit where we've been dominated by some good pitching. Lesson learned always is that good pitching can dominate a good-hitting ballclub.
"Primarily it was all about just being stretched in a sense that wild-card win, beat the Cardinals in a division playoff and then getting very close to the World Series. Your mind is stretched at that point, and you want more. You want more the next year."
Maddon said even though the Cubs lost to the Mets in the NLCS, they were spurred on in 2016.
"The believability that we can do something like that was earned that year, and I think that bled into the following season obviously," he said. "Now, even though we're not playing like we'd like to on a daily basis, there's still a strong believability among us that we can do that again based on what we have done in the past.
"I think more than anything, the lesson learned is you can do this and then you know what it takes to do this. You finally learn how to win, what does that mean? On a daily basis, regardless of who you're playing or where, if you play the game properly and you play nine innings hard, you've got a shot. That's all that was learned in that year."
Here is something else that has been learned: the Cubs struggling to get over the .500 mark and stay there once and for all. They climbed back to break-even with Sunday's victory over the Rockies, but they fell to 31-32 Tuesday.
"We deserve it," Maddon said. "We deserve the .500 record. Regardless of what we think we are, we deserve playing .500. A lot of it's been this hot-and-cold kind of stuff. Win seven out of nine at home, lose six in a row on the road. Win five in a row and lose four in a row and win a big game yesterday.
"A lot of it's been attached to two things: We've been inconsistent starting-pitching wise and driving in runs. We've seen a lot of pitches, man. We've done that a lot without scoring any runs, which is, like, crazy. How does that happen?
"Of course I'd like to be 10 games over .500, but we're not. We've earned it. We've earned the right to not be 10 games over .500 right now, but we're capable of doing it."
Lackey turned in the Cubs' sixth straight non-quality start as he went 5 inning and gave up 6 hits and 4 runs. Asdrubal Cabrera hit solo home runs in the second and fourth innings, and Jay Bruce crushed a 2-run shot in the third.
Offensively, the Cubs hit into double plays in every inning from the third through the sixth.
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