The Bernstein Brief: Joe Maddon's Gamble Pays Off
By Dan Bernstein--
(CBS) It went as Cubs manager Joe Maddon planned Wednesday night, with the managerial matchup won before a pitch was even thrown.
Where Pirates manager Clint Hurdle opted for defense over offense -- starting Sean Rodriguez at first instead of Pedro Alvarez and Josh Harrison at third over Aramis Ramirez -- Maddon did the opposite by loading the lineup for offense early and better fielding later. He expected to play from the lead and hold on behind ace right-hander Jake Arrieta.
"I wanted to make sure we gave Gerrit (Cole) every opportunity to have the best defensive metrics behind him," Hurdle explained before the game.
Maddon was similarly clear in his reasoning, which involved consulting spray charts.
"With Jake pitching, we looked at where they are likely to hit the ball," he said. "Matching up against Cole, this is our best offensive lineup."
So Kyle Schwarber started in right field and started hitting right away. An RBI single in the first was followed by his mammoth two-run home run in the third, and it was already all but over. In came the defensive replacements to tighten the screws, just as envisioned.
Rodriguez bobbled a throw at first early, then lost his mind in the scuffle in the seventh and got ejected. Harrison was 0-for-3, as was Alvarez who came in as a pinch-hitter.
It may be easier to look smart when constructing any lineup that includes Arrieta pitching, but Maddon told us what he did and why he did it before the fact, and it worked. Even if slightly, Maddon changed the odds of last night's coin-flip game in his team's favor.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.