The Cubs are down 0-2 in the NLCS after Sunday’s disappointing loss. The Cubs have a chance to regroup Monday before Game 3 on Tuesday at Wrigley. This team has not gone away quietly all season and won’t start now.
Absolutely nothing went the Cubs way for two days in New York. While the Mets hear how wonderful they are and Daniel Murphy is ridiculously compared to Reggie Jackson, the Cubs realize they have work to do and the series is long from over.
Several of the players addressed the Game 2 loss while looking forward to Game 3.
Jake Arrieta said, “We’ve got work to do. The good thing is we get to go home and play three games at Wrigley. The series is not over.” And Anthony Rizzo said, “There is a long way to go. Our ultimate goal is to win eight more games. Theirs is to win six more games. You can’t let two games beat us up, especially with the way we’re capable of playing.”
The Cubs will benefit from playing at Wrigley and in warmer weather on Tuesday. The forecast for Game 3 is 71 degrees and dry, Wednesday highs are expected in the low-70s with a chance of rain.
Anthony Rizzo tweeted after Game 2, “Tough losses but three games in front of the best fans in baseball coming up.” Kyle Schwarber told the assembled media, “We’ve had success throughout this whole year because we stayed ourselves. Why go away from that just because we lost two games?”
According to multiple reports, Joe Maddon blasted the Theme from Rocky in his office following Game 2. The Cubs may be down, but they are not out of the series. And Maddon will have his team ready Tuesday at Wrigley.
Reports from Game 2 of NLCS
- Comcast SportsNet: Jake Arrieta hits the wall as Mets put Cubs in 0-2 NLCS hole
- Comcast SportsNet: Power outage, so far Mets pitching too much for Cubs hitters in NLCS
- ESPN Chicago: Jake Arrieta hit hard, Cubs’ bats go silent in Game 2 loss
- ESPN Chicago: Jake Arrieta’s velocity dip spelled doom for Cubs in Game 2 NLCS loss
- The Tribune: Mets leave Cubs staggered, but they still have a puncher’s chance
- Bruce Levine: Jake Arrieta’s rough start dooms the Cubs
- Jayson Stark: After Mets KO Arrieta, Maddon’s punchless Cubs need magic at Wrigley
- Tim Brown: Big chill, Mets make Jake Arrieta look ordinary, talk 2-0 lead in NLCS
Cubs Rotation
Joe Maddon made it official Sunday and announced Kyle Hendricks his starter for Game 3 of the NLCS. Hendricks faces Jacob deGrom on Tuesday at Wrigley in a game the national media has already said is over. Hendricks did his job in Game 2 against the Cardinals and kept St. Louis off the board early while his teammates took advantage of the Redbirds’ gifts.
Maddon said it’s likely Jason Hammel will start Game 4. Hammel will be available out of the bullpen for Game 3. And Maddon has not ruled out a bullpen day for Game 4 against lefty Steven Matz.
Prior to Game 2, Maddon said he does not plan on starting Jon Lester on short rest in Game 4. It is the post-season and things change, but Lester coming back early in the series was apparently not an option.
Weekend Headlines
For obvious reasons there was very little non-NLCS news over the weekend. Here are the links to other Cubs news from the last three days.
- Tim Wilken Leaving Cubs to Take Position in Diamondbacks Front Office
- How the Cubs Built the 40-Man Roster
- Cubs Prospects Jeimer Candelario, Willson Contreras Staying Hot in the Arizona Fall League
News and Notes
• Gary Sheffield sees Javier Baez taking game to the next level in the playoffs according to Comcast SportsNet.
• The Sun-Times asked, can Javy Baez’s October for Cubs earn job in April?
• According to the Tribune, Wrigleyville is on the brink of a new era.
• Young, loose Cubs remind Theo Epstein of old Boston ‘Idiots’ according to the Sun-Times.
• The Cubs confirmed Tim Wilken has left the organization to take a similar position with the Diamondbacks.
• The Mets lead the NLCS 2-0 and showed a lot of class on Sunday. The Mets replayed the video of the cat walking past Ron Santo in 1969 and video of fans holding toy goats according to Paul Sullivan.
This Day In Cubstory
2010 – Jim Hendry hired Mike Quade to be the full-time manager of the Cubs. Hendry skipped over Ryne Sandberg, who was thought to be the favorite for the job.
1984 – James McDonald, born
1978 – Bill Veeck named Don Kessinger the White Sox player-manager for the 1979 season
1969 – Lance Dickson, born
1966 – Dave Veres, born
1964 – Mike Perez, born
1951 – Cubs purchased Grant Dunlop from Shreveport (Texas League)
1943 – Brock Davis, born
1938 – Vic Roznovsky, born
1886 – St. Louis evened the Championship Series at a game apiece with a 12-0 victory over the Chicago National League Ball Club. Bob Caruthers tossed a shutout and Tip O’Neill hit two homers at West Side Park.
1876 – Mordecai Brown, born