advertisement

Late double by Russell lifts Chicago Cubs to sixth straight win

There are days when a baseball manager will lose the battle and sacrifice a game to win the war over the long season.

Not Saturday. Not Cubs manager Joe Maddon.

In a back-and-forth 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field, Maddon pulled out every stop imaginable and was rummaging around under the kitchen sink looking for more.

The Cubs already are operating with a short bench, with 13 pitchers on the staff. That didn't stop Maddon from starting to drain that bench as early as the sixth inning, sending in Tommy La Stella and Ryan Kalish in as pinch hitters. Both came through, as La Stella walked and Kalish dunked in a go-ahead single.

The Nationals retied the game in the seventh, but Addison Russell's fly ball double down the right field line brought 2 runs home in the bottom of the inning, and the Cubs somehow pried loose a victory, their sixth in a row, improving to 23-6.

"When you're in that position, you're just trying to win the game," Maddon said. "I don't want to just keep holding back for a moment that may never occur."

We can even rewind it back to the fifth, when Maddon kept starting pitcher Jason Hammel in the game to bunt, only to go to the bullpen the next half-inning.

When this long day ended in the evening, the Cubs had used six relief pitchers but Maddon was able to save a bench guy in the fifth.

"Even when he's coming out of the game, Hammel staying in the game to bunt or hit at that point, that's different because you have to save those other (bench) fellas for the latter part of the game," Maddon said. "It all worked out enough."

It all worked out in part because of guys like Kalish, who played for the Cubs in 2014, missed all of last year because of injury and signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs in March before getting a call-up within the past week.

His little single to left was as big a hit as there was in the game.

"This is what it's all about," said the 28-year-old outfielder. "This is what I've been working for during that whole year off. This team is so much fun to play for when you get a moment like that. Just to contribute, it was so much fun out there. The energy when that happened, I can't even describe it, what I felt."

As for Russell, he was feeling fresh after getting Friday off. He walked in the fifth inning and had an RBI single to center in the sixth. In the seventh, he doubled on a fly ball down the line that Nats right fielder Bryce Harper couldn't come up with as he ran over and had to contend with the wall. The ball dropped on the line.

"I got to spend some time with the family a little later (Friday) night, and I just came to the clubhouse and just chilled for a little bit, just talked to the guys," Russell said. "It was nice to gather my thoughts."

By the time the game ended, Maddon had used all of his bench players, and he said starting pitchers were ready to pinch hit if needed.

"Everybody participated," he said. "I love when everybody takes a piece of the ownership. It really matters within the clubhouse."

Chicago Cubs adept at adapting to Wrigley's fickle nature

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.