Angry Maddon ejected just before Cubs win on wild pitch
Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon talked Wednesday night of “playing really good in the sandbox” with umpires this year.
That changed during a wild 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs kicked a little sand, got a little sand kicked back in their faces. And when it all settled, Maddon found himself kicked out of the game and on his way back to his office when the Cubs scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
The Cubs frittered away a 6-1 lead and a good pitching performance by starter John Lackey, as the Reds scored 3 off reliever Hector Rondon in the seventh and got a 2-run homer off Carl Edwards Jr. in the eighth to tie the game.
What got Maddon fired up and tossed out was a call with runners on first and second and no one out in the bottom of the ninth. Ben Zobrist squared away to bunt and was hit by a pitch. But first-base umpire Chris Conroy ruled Zobrist offered at the pitch and sent him back to the plate.
That infuriated Maddon, who was tossed by Conroy after making a show of things. Zobrist moved the runners ahead with a groundout, and the Cubs won when Blake Wood uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Javier Baez to score from third.
“Listen, I don't even know what to say about that call,” Maddon said. “We've had different things happen, and I've been playing really good in the sandbox, really good. And I'm not right now.
“That call cannot be made under those circumstances. I could understand if the guy's actually swinging, and all of a sudden, you get a checked swing. But he (Zobrist) is bunting and trying to get out of the way. And you're going to call it a bunt?
“There's no way any hitter under those circumstances, with the ball coming at his thigh, is going to bunt through it and then get hit in the thigh. That's asinine.”
Lackey worked 6 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run. Since the all-star break, he is 5-0 with a 3.06 ERA in 6 starts.
It was an eventful night for him. He gave up a run in the first and then watched as teammate Anthony Rizzo hit a grand slam in the bottom of the inning.
Lackey singled with two outs in the fourth and stole second base as Reds pitcher Homer Bailey still had the ball in his hand.
“When I got the hit, Hyder (first-base coach Brandon Hyde) was like, 'You want to steal a base?' ” Lackey said. “I was like, 'Heck, no, I'm tired.' But then after the first pitch, nobody was really watching me. It looked like it was pretty easy, so I went ahead and went.”
Alas, Lackey was caught straying off second after Ben Zobrist walked, and he was tagged out with Kyle Schwarber up.
“I made two bets,” he said. “One worked. One didn't. Three-two pitch with the MVP (Kris Bryant) on deck, I was betting on a strike and a swing. I was trying to score.”
In the end, it somehow all worked out for the Cubs.
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