Plenty of heroes in Cubs' win
It was quite some game Thursday for some bruised and beat-up people on the Cubs.
Starlin Castro moved back up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order and scored the winning run in the Cubs' 6-5 victory in 14 innings over the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. He rode home from third base on Julio Borbon's pinch single to left field.
The bullpen did itself proud, too, pitching 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball in relief of Jeff Samardzija. Blake Parker and Hector Rondon worked 2 innings each at the end of the game, with Rondon earning his first major-league victory.
Carlos Villanueva, James Russell, Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmol also shut down a good Reds lineup.
“They were better than (good),” said manager Dale Sveum, whose team salvaged the final contest of the four-game series and improved to 26-38. “Strikes. Efficient. Parker, Rondon, they did a great job. Marmol was quick and efficient. Everybody did a nice job today against a nice lineup.”
No one was happier for his mates than Samardzija, who threw 116 pitches over 6 innings.
“It was outstanding,” Samardzija said of the pen. “Watching those guys pitch 7-8 innings of scoreless baseball is exciting. Like I said before, we've got a lot of confidence in those guys, and sometimes it takes games like this and a little rhythm to get going and do what they got to do. But they were outstanding today, and they definitely get the nod for MVP of the game, for sure.”
As for Castro, he was moved back to the No. 2 spot in the lineup after Sveum had him batting seventh or sixth much of this month.
Castro has been in a horrible slump, but few others had been tearing the cover off the ball, so Sveum figured he'd give it a shot.
“You dabbled with it a little bit, but obviously the offense isn't scoring a whole lot with him down there,” the manager said. “It's just kind of getting back to seeing where we were. He's still a guy who can swing the bat and have all the confidence in the world he'll come out of this. You need him up there than three or four times. Hopefully, he can get that fifth at-bat.”
Castro wound up with 7 at-bats. He got 3 hits including a one-out, ninth-inning double that would have been a walk-off homer had it not been for a north wind blowing in at 23 mph. He also made 2 errors in the field, giving him 9 for the season.
For whatever reason, Castro has been skittish around the media at times this year. After Thursday's game, he dressed quickly and ducked out of the clubhouse before reporters could talk to him.
Sveum was pleased with what he saw, especially after Castro entered the game in a 4-for-48 slump.
“That was by far, obviously, the best he's had all year, I think,” Sveum said. “He should have had a walk-off home run. That was a shame. We would have been in New York by now. He swung the bat really well. There was a lot of good things today — a lot of good at-bats, a lot of balls hit hard. There would have been couple more home runs. I think (Nate) Schierholtz would have had a couple home runs today, but they (the Reds) would have had a couple, too.
“Today was a much better day swinging the bat.”
bmiles@dailyherald.com
Cubs scouting report
Cubs vs. New York Mets at Citi Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet Friday and Saturday: WGN Sunday
Radio: WGN 720-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Edwin Jackson (2-8) vs. Shaun Marcum (0-7) Friday at 6:10 p.m.; Scott Feldman (5-5) vs. Jonathon Niese (3-5) Saturday at 12:10 p.m.; Matt Garza (1-1) vs. Jeremy Hefner (1-6) Sunday at 12:10 p.m.
At a glance: The Cubs dropped two of three from the Mets at Wrigley Field May 17-19. with the Mets winning a pair of 1-run games. Each of these teams is a big-market underachiever. The Mets entered Thursday ranked last in the National League in batting (. 224) and hits. They're second-to-last in slugging and on-base percentage. Lucas Duda and John Buck lead the Mets with 11 homers each while ex-Cub Marlon Byrd has 10. After Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Cardinals, the Mets are 13-21 at home.
Next: St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, Monday-Thursday
— Bruce Miles