Cubs Game 3 pitching plan had rough moments, but it worked
The pitching path Cubs manager Craig Counsell traveled to secure a Game 3 victory Thursday, maybe it wasn't the one most people would have chosen. But it worked.
The Cubs relied heavily on their relievers, using two of them for multiple innings. Finally, a hard-working Andrew Kittredge got the final two outs as the Cubs beat San Diego 3-1 at Wrigley Field.
“It really went according to his script. Craig lined that up well,” soaking-wet president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said in the clubhouse.
Perhaps there was an easier route, but we'll never know. Game 3 starter Jameson Taillon had a fresh arm after two stints on the injured list with lower-body muscle strains. He's been pitching well, so Counsell could have let Taillon carry the Cubs as far as he could take them. Six innings was a reasonable goal.
But Taillon left the mound after four innings and 60 pitches, allowing 2 hits and no runs. The plan was for left-hander Caleb Thielbar to attack the Padres group of three lefty hitters in the 6-7-8 spots in the batting order during the fifth inning.
“It was tough in the sense that I wanted this game so bad for us and for our fans,” Taillon said. “But that was a great pocket for a lefty right there. I totally understood it.”
Of course, that meant Taillon had to return to the dugout and hope it all worked out OK.
“When I'm out there, I'm not that nervous, and when I sit on the sidelines, I get really nervous,” he said. “So I was nervous for about two hours there.”
Thielbar struck out two of the lefties but also gave up a single. That brought Daniel Palencia into the game to finish the fifth.
Just like he did in Game 1, Palencia got through the potent top of the Padres order with no damage. He even stuck around to start the seventh inning, but Xander Bogaerts got him for a single.
Palencia was the winning pitcher in both Cubs victories of this series. But that was a lot of work for someone who spent most of the season as the closer.
“I feel like a super hero. I'm ready for anything,” Palencia said in the clubhouse. “This is my dream. I've been dreaming for this since I was a kid. So enjoy everything.”
With the lefties coming back up, Counsell turned to Drew Pomeranz to finish the seventh. Then it was time for Brad Keller to tackle the top of the lineup and try to complete a six-out save,
The eighth inning went fine, but Keller gave up a home run to Jackson Merrill leading off the ninth. After a strikeout, Keller then hit two batters in a row, putting the tying runs on base.
So Counsell turned to Kittredge, who was taking the mound for the third straight day. He pitched late in Game 1, served as the opener for Game 2, and now needed to close out the series.
“A little sore this morning,” Kittredge said of his health status. “The atmosphere of Wrigley in the ninth inning of a playoff game makes all that go away. My arm felt great in the game.”
He coaxed a grounder to third from Jake Cronenworth and a flyball to center by Freddy Fermin to end it.
“Off the bat, I knew we had Pete (Crow-Armstrong) right under that,” Kittredge said. “I turned to (catcher) Carson Kelly and I said, 'Let's go.' What a cool feeling. Nothing like it.”
San Diego went to the bullpen even sooner. Starter Yu Darvish got the hook in the second inning, after 21 pitches, and was replaced by another former Cub, Jeremiah Estrada. Padres closer Robert Suarez came on in the sixth inning and gave up the Michael Busch home run in the seventh.