Castro delivers for Chicago Cubs again
ESPN blew into town Sunday, with all of its fancy gadgets and gizmos they use to televise one baseball game.
An easy storyline for a national audience would have been the “surprising” Cubs taking on the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.
To the casual observer, there were a few surprises Sunday night. For the second night in a row, shortstop Starlin Castro delivered the winning hit, with his RBI single in the 11th inning defeating the Reds 2-1. Castro has been the subject of much fan and media criticism, but manager Joe Maddon said, “He's getting his mojo back, which is really good for us.”
The Cubs, to the surprise of many, improved to seven games above .500 at 34-27, as they took three out of four from the Reds. The walk-off victory was the eighth for the Cubs, who lead the big leagues in that category.
Even though he did not get a decision, starting pitcher Jon Lester looked to be back on track, as he worked 7 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball. “Tonight was better,” he said. “Tonight was back to being me. Based on results, it was good.””
Coming off five straight losing seasons, the Cubs entered the game 34-27. After 61 games a year ago, they were 25-36.
The Cubs themselves might be past being called “surprising,” but Maddon says he gets it if everybody else wants to call them that.
“I think it's going to be that way all year regardless,” he said. “Regardless of how well we play or what our record may look like, you're going to still hear that. And that's OK. I think we know who we are and what we're capable of doing. We are young and we've talked about the mistakes we can expect to see. But season in progress, these guys are just going to keep getting better.”
The national media and fans around the country might not be ready to show the Cubs a little respect. With Cubs opponents on the field, it's different, according to Maddon.
“I think there's respect already because of the way our guys play,” he said. “We play hard. We come to play every night. I don't think we have a bunch of whiners and complainers out there. Even though we're young, I think other teams see that and respect that.”
Maddon was more than effusive about the Cubs' team defense. Their outfielders were quick to baseballs and sharp on relays. In the sixth, left fielder Chris Coghlan teamed with Castro to nail Brandon Phillips at the plate after the Reds already had broken a scoreless tie.
“Great execution of fundamentals by our guys,” Maddon said. “Cutoffs and relays, tag plays at the plate. Just an all-out effort. Talk about the will to win, we demonstrated that tonight.”
The Cubs got a big scare in the top of the ninth, when reliever Jason Motte loaded the bases with nobody out. The Reds did not score.
The winning rally started with out one in the 11th, when Coghlan doubled for the second time in the game. Castro ripped a pitch from Burke Badenhop into the left-center gap for a single. He singled in the ninth Saturday to win it for the Cubs.
“Starlin, we've got a lot of confidence in him when he's at the plate,” Ross said. “He puts the bat on the ball. He comes through in the clutch. He can hit the ball to all fields. I've seen that too many times being the catcher on the other side. I loved the way our team battled. It's just getting to be our signature — just never giving up, never quitting.”
Cubs scouting report
Cubs vs. Cleveland Indians at Wrigley Field
TV: WPWR tonight; Comcast SportsNet-Plus Tuesday
Radio: WBBM 780-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jake Arrieta (6-4) vs. Trevor Bauer (5-3) tonight; Tsuyoshi Wada (0-1) vs. Shaun Marcum (3-1) Tuesday. Both games 7:05 p.m.
At a glance: These are the first two games of rare home-and-home series. The Indians have played better on the road than they have at home. They are 12-18 at home and 17-15 on the road. Jason Kipnis leads the Cleveland offense, with a line of .331/.404/.502 entering Sunday. Brandon Moss had 10 homers and 34 RBI. The Indians ranked eighth in the American League in runs, 11th in homers and third in on-base percentage. The Cubs were sixth in the NL in runs and on base and fifth in homers. Their team ERA of 3.65 was fifth. They entered Sunday on pace for 89 victories.
Next: Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field, Wednesday and Thursday
— Bruce Miles