I put the Sunday loss to the Cardinals on the coaches.
With only one out, sending Rizzo to the plate on a short hit to RF where Heyward came up throwing a strike to Molina at the plate, killed the Cub rally. The Cardinals pitching was on the ropes with control issues. But Maddon said he thought it was the right send because it would have taken a couple more hits to score.
The Cubs have had enough plate discipline to take walks and move the batting order deep into innings. The comeback was quashed with the play at the plate. (Molina was hurt and will have an MRI on his thumb. This may be a blessing for the Cardinals, because some fans think Cruz is now a better catcher-hitter than Molina.)
Still, winning 2 out of 3 in a bean ball, hotly contested series with the divisional leader was a good one for the Cubs. Maddon said afterward that his team now believes that it is as good as St. Louis. This had the feel of playoff baseball.
Ironically, the Cubs and Cardinals have never played against each other in a post season game.
This year seems to heading toward a possible show down if the Cubs can beat the Pirates in the wild card game.
It seemed that 99% of the world believes that Arrieta will start the Pittsburgh game. I thought that too, even after Lester got pushed around early in yesterday's contest. But if Arrieta wins the wild card game, he is lost until Game 3 of the Cardinal NLDS.
If the Cubs paid Lester $155 million for his post-season experience, Lester should be the one to throw the wild card game (on a short leash). That means Arrieta could start in three NLDS games, if necessary (as this year's Giant ace Bumgartner did last year).
The playoff pitching assignments will be the most telling thing Maddon will do all year. And the ramification of the decision will be discussed for decades.
