Almora, Baez both see hitting streaks snapped
Albert Almora Jr. and Javier Baez each went 0-for-4 Sunday in the Cubs' 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
That snapped career-best 11-game hitting streaks for both.
Overall, manager Joe Maddon likes what he sees from Almora and Baez, who have been batting 1-2 in the order.
"Primarily, it's just about, versus right-handed pitching, to stay in your own zones," Maddon said. "It's not really complicated. Most of the time a young hitter, especially right-handed hitters, to avoid the platoon situation, they've got to make adjustments, and they have been. They'll still chase on occasion, which you got to expect. But for the most part, count gets deeper, you're not seeing that really big all-out hack. You're seeing the ball go the other way. You're seeing the ball move.
"Swing and miss, nothing happens. Ball moved, something good happened. That's the point I've been trying to get across for years. I've been on this crusade since the mid-80s. With us right now, the guys are starting to hear the message. Those are two prime examples."
Maddon has made this point several times in the past couple of weeks. The Cubs changed hitting coaches in the off-season, firing John Mallee and hiring Chili Davis.
No bad blood?
The Cubs welcome the Colorado Rockies to Wrigley Field for a three-game series beginning Monday night.
The two teams had an eventful weekend at Coors Field, April 20-22. In the series finale, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant was hit on the batting helmet with a pitch in the first inning. He missed the rest of that game and the next four.
The Cubs' Javier Baez and former Cub DJ LeMahieu also exchanged words about sign-stealing.
The Rockies apologized to Bryant, and Joe Maddon said Sunday he expects no carry-over.
"I don't think so," he said. "I don't think anything was intentional. Weather's tough. Ball's been a little bit slick. It was unfortunate. Stuff happens. I think you have to determine whether or not you thought something was real or not. For me, I don't think anything was real. I just thought it was unfortunate."
This and that:
The Cubs have 5 shutouts this season, all against the Brewers. They have shut out an opponent five times for the first time since blanking the Mets five times in 1973. They have shut out a team five times in a calendar month for the first time in team history … Closer Brandon Morrow has not allowed a run in 18⅓ consecutive innings dating to last season. That's the second-longest active streak in the major leagues to Cleveland's Andrew Miller, who has gone 18⅔ innings … The Cubs have allowed 2 or fewer hits in consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 14-15, 2008 against Houston at Milwaukee in neutral-site games. One of those was Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter.