Rizzo good at beginning and end for Cubs
Anthony Rizzo began things for the Chicago Cubs Monday night by raising the 2016 world-championship banner.
He ended things early Tuesday morning by driving in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 at Wrigley Field. d
Rizzo's single to left field off Kenley Jansen scored Jon Jay from third base. Jay led off the inning with a single as a pinch hitter.
The victory enabled the Cubs to win a rain- and ceremony delayed home opener and improve their record to 5-2.
“That pregame ceremony, I wasn't expecting to get hit with that many emotions,” Rizzo said afterward. “It was amazing ... It was a lot of emotions, and I was fighting back tears a lot. And the way it ends. It's a great win for us. That's a great win for us. That's a really good team. They come back. Tough conditions. It's cold, windy. It's a good game.”
Manager Joe Maddon made one slight change to his starting lineup. After batting the pitcher eighth for the first six games of the season, Maddon went back a more traditional-looking lineup against the Dodgers. He batted pitcher Jon Lester ninth, with Javier Baez in the eighth spot. The Cubs were facing left-hander Alex Wood.
Maddon talked earlier of his decision to bat Lester ninth.
“That was just based on their pitcher,” he said. “We've only seen righty starters (except for the Brewers' Tommy Milone). With Schwarbs (Kyle Schwarber) batting leadoff, I just thought it looked different. I didn't like the way it looked, with the pitcher eighth and Baez ninth.
“I really have a lot of faith in Jon swinging the bat, but I think it's even more difficult against a tougher lefty. So I just thought popping Javy in front of him right there, even if they don't pitch to Javy to get to Lester, at least that moves the batting order around to the leadoff hitter next.”
Lester and the Cubs waited out a 1-hour, 56-minute delay at the start because of rain and the Cubs' banner-raising ceremony. When Lester took the mound at 9:01 p.m., he started off sharp, working a 1-2-3 first inning. He walked Franklin Gutierrez leading off the second, but Gutierrez was caught attempting to steal second base on a double play, with Yasiel Puig striking out.
Wood got two quick outs in the bottom of the third before Schwarber lifted a high fly down the right-field line. Puig had the ball pop out of his glove and into the stands for an error, giving Schwarber new life. Schwarber then walked and came home on Kris Bryant's double to left. Lester's RBI fielder's choice gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the fourth. The Dodgers scored single runs in the sixth and eighth.
<h3 class="leadin">The new environs:
Batting practice was canceled because of pregame rain showers, so the Cubs did not get to test out how the ball would bounce off the new bullpen doors in left-center and right-center.
No longer are there bullpen mounds on the field down the lines, but with new seating, the walls are closer to the field.
“There's less (foul territory) over there to worry about,” said Ben Zobrist, who started Monday in right field but who also plays second base. “In the outfield, you've got to be more careful. We've got to be careful, with the (bullpen) window over there and see what the balls going off of it.”
<h3 class="leadin">He said it:
Monday night's starting lineup featured the players who contributed to last year's World Series championship. Joe Maddon did the same thing in the season-opener in St. Louis.
“This is all about the heartbeat,” Maddon said, using one of his catchphrases for 2017. “We're keeping math out of tonight's lineup.”