Garza says Cubs have a lot of fight in them
Game One starter Matt Garza was asked what the 11-inning victory said about the Cubs.
“That there’s a lot of fight in us,” Garza said. “We don’t quit after 9 (innings). We play hard until it’s over; until we get that final out. Q (Mike Quade) told us in spring we have to be resilient. We’re fighters, we’re going to be scrappy until the end.”
Garza’s toughest battle was the sixth inning, when he walked the bases full, and threw 35 pitches but didn’t allow a run thanks in part to a slick 4-6-3 double play started by Darwin Barney and turned by Starlin Castro.
“That’s a guy fighting against himself as hard as he can,” Garza said. “I was trying to be too perfect, too pretty instead of just going after guys. There’s no reason I should have thrown 35 pitches, especially on a day when I knew I had to go deep (to save the bullpen). I was able to get out of it. They hit into that double play that Barney and ‘Cassy’ turned. Those two guys are a story themselves.”
Just rewards: With slumping Marlon Byrd getting some time off in the second game, first-game hero Reed Johnson, who had just 11 at-bats in the first 16 games, got the start in center-field.Johnson responded with a third-inning single, an RBI double in the fifth, which he was thrown out trying to stretch into a triple, and a leadoff single in the seventh. The first-game homer and 3-for-4 second game jacked up his average from .182 to .375.#147;It#146;s a situation I#146;ve been in the last couple years of my career,#148; Johnson said of his utility role. #147;It#146;s easy to lay down and stop making the effort because you#146;re not playing as much. But if you continue to put the work in, usually you#146;re going to be more successful.#148;Cold shot: With a game-time temperature of 42 degrees in the opener and a brisk Northwest wind blowing across the outfield from left to right at 14 miles an hour, conditions favored the pitchers. In the 11-inning first game, the Cubs and Padres combined for 18 hits, 16 of them singles.Cubs manager Mike Quade said he knew all about struggling to hit in inclement weather #8212; and every other kind of weather.#147;Any hitter in the world #8212; I stunk #8212; but I tell you, it#146;s not easy hitting at 35 degrees,#148; Quade said. #147;I couldn#146;t hit in 80 (degrees), so 35 is no bargain.#148;The Cubs#146; manager was a career .264 hitter in five minor league seasons, never rising above Double-A.Juggling the lineup: With Marlon Byrd out, Starlin Castro batted in his No. 3 spot in the order for the first time, but probably not the last. Kosuke Fukudome batted leadoff, where Castro hit in Game One. The 21-year-old shortstop started the season hitting second.#147;The whole lineup thing is evolving,#148; manager Mike Quade said. #147;The 1, 2 and 3 holes could be a musical chairs given who I have in the lineup that particular day. You could see Castro hitting 1, 2 or 3. As long as he#146;s OK with it, that#146;s all that really matters.#148;Castro went 1-for-4 in the second game and was robbed of extra bases on a diving catch near the warning track by center fielder Cameron Maybin. Even Steven: The Cubs have been 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and now 9-9 this season, a club record for consecutive .500 records to start a season.