Levine: Cubs Lose A Heartbreaker
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Manager Joe Maddon was asked if he remembered any turning point moments during prior seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays that have begun to remind him of his Cubs' push toward the playoffs this season. Maddon related stories of fights his club had in 2008 with the Yankees and Red Sox.
Though it appeared one of those season-changing moments was close Wednesday evening, a blown save and loss by closer Pedro Strop changed the fortunes of the Cubs-Cardinals showdown in a big way at Wrigley Field.
With no outs in the top of the ninth and Chicago leading 5-4, St. Louis shortstop Jhonny Peralta hammered a high fastball from Strop out of the park with Matt Carpenter on base after a walk, leading the Cardinals to a 6-5 win and a split of the four-game series.
Maddon was hamstrung by not having his usual closer Jason Motte available, as he pitched twice in Tuesday's double header. Maddon was his usual positive self after the gut-wrenching loss, finding a silver lining for Strop and his ball club.
"That is baseball, man," Maddon said. "We have done it to other teams, and they did it to us tonight.We just failed to execute a pitch, and it's a homer. It really comes down to the previous at-bat, not walking Carpenter. We were in a good position to put the game away. Regardless of all that, I am really pleased by the way we played."
Maddon liked how the Cubs fought back after losing starter Jason Hammel to a tight hamstring after the first inning and then going down 4-0 in the fourth inning. The Cubs battled back, taking a lead with on Miguel Montero's three-run double in the sixth inning.
"Yes, it was a good at-bat," Montero said. "But it means nothing now.This was a tough pill to swallow, but it's behind us now."
The Cubs taking three straight games from their NL Central-leading rivals would have tightened up an already intriguing divisional race. It still appears to be a wide open fight between the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs, who had the three best records in the NL entering play Wednesday before Chicago lost. A week ago, St Louis had an 8.5-game lead over Pittsburgh and 11.5-game lead over Chicago. The Cardina's lead is now only 4.5 games over the Pirates and 8.5 over the Cubs.
Hammel will have an MRI on Thursday after sustaining a hamstring strain in the first inning and leaving after that frame. Even with the split of the four-game series, Hammel feels his teammates are confident about the team's playoff hopes.
"We are very confident of what we can do," Hammel said. "There is nothing like a surprise, we know we are a good team. We have been playing good ball all year. The break is coming up, we will use that to our advantage. There is no reason to step off of the pedal right now. We are going to keep going."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.