The site of the Cubs’ celebration Thursday, after they clinched a berth in the National League Division Series against the Brewers, also served as the stage for a less flashy speech from manager Craig Counsell days before.
After the final game of the regular season Sunday, his team address included a golden nugget of playoff advice: The moment will take you to the next level. Don’t try to take yourself there.
‘‘There’s a lot of trust that I feel after any little bit of wisdom he wants to give us pertaining to playoff baseball,’’ center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said before the Cubs’ 3-1 victory.
Counsell, after all, had his own World Series heroics as a player as proof of concept — even if he wouldn’t bring that up on his own.
The advice rang true to another World Series champion, Dansby Swanson, who had been saying something similar in one-on-one conversations with teammates as the postseason drew closer.
‘‘The moment takes your good play and makes it great,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s nothing anyone has to do outside of their capabilities. Be who you’ve been, your best version, and that’s when, like, these moments help take over.’’
Thursday — with elimination on the line — provided moments as big as any Cubs player had experienced all season.
One after another, they let the tide carry them as it rose.
Designated hitter Kyle Tucker started the Cubs’ second-inning rally against Padres starter Yu Darvish with a line drive to right field for a single. Seiya Suzuki carried on his personal hot streak with a double down the left-field line. Darvish then hit Carson Kelly with a pitch to load the bases.
Crow-Armstrong, who had gone 0-for-6 in the series up to that point, stepped in with the pressure mounting.
‘‘It doesn’t matter how you get it done,’’ he said. ‘‘It was ugly for those first two games, but I felt like I did my job in the field in Game 1 and Game 2. I really think to simplify for myself . . . was just know that I can hold center field down, know that I can make an impact on the other side of the baseball. And if I hit, I hit, and that’s just a bonus.’’
Darvish threw a first-pitch curveball in the dirt. Crow-Armstrong didn’t bite. Then Darvish came back with a fastball that drifted toward the middle of the strike zone. Crow-Armstrong struck it into left-center.
As his line drive hung in the air, it was clear the Cubs had a chance to score even if it was caught, even though Tucker’s speed was visibly hampered by his lingering calf injury, leaving some doubt.
Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill raced in, but he pulled up late to field the ball on a bounce. Crow-Armstrong rounded first and punched the air in celebration, and Tucker crossed the plate for the first run.
‘‘That’s such a great sign for him to hit a line drive the other way,’’ Swanson said. ‘‘I know it sounds simple, but it can be really tough to do when you’re facing velocity. He was able to do it, and you could tell the momentum was starting to go our way.’’
The Padres quickly turned to their bullpen, bringing in hard-throwing Jeremiah Estrada to face Swanson, who drew a base-loaded walk to double the Cubs’ lead.
The Cubs didn’t score again until the seventh, when Michael Busch launched a solo home run, but their pitching staff made sure that was enough.
Right-hander Jameson Taillon pitched four scoreless innings and held the Padres to two hits. Both came with two outs, and Taillon retired the next hitter in both cases to leave no room for a momentum swing.
‘‘Come on,’’ Swanson said. ‘‘That guy, cool as a cucumber, executing pitches, sticking to a game plan. He was unbelievable. It might have been the best I’ve ever seen him.’’
The pitching staff had the support of a steady defense, with no one playing a more crucial role than Swanson at shortstop.
He stole two hits from elite contact hitter Luis Arraez and turned an inning-ending double play that left Merrill tilting his head back and sighing in frustration.
‘‘I don’t think they give an MVP for this round, [but] I’d give it to Swanson,’’ Padres manager Mike Shildt said. ‘‘Dansby played his tail off, man. He almost single-handedly beat us with his glove.’’
The game came down to the wire. After pitching a scoreless eighth, reliever Brad Keller gave up a leadoff homer to Merrill in the ninth. Then, with one out, he hit two batters. Veteran Andrew Kittredge replaced him with the tying run standing on first base.
‘‘It was cool,’’ Kittredge told the Sun-Times. ‘‘Right before a batter stepped in, I was able to soak it in a little bit. I felt really calm, and I just knew I had to attack. Never did I imagine I was going to throw all fastballs.’’
Jake Cronenworth pulled the fourth one he threw for a groundout that advanced the runners to second and third.
Then Kittredge tossed a first-pitch fastball to Freddy Fermin, who lifted it to center field. Kittredge didn’t even watch it fall. He knew Crow-Armstrong would catch it.
Catcher Carson Kelly had a straight-on view.
‘‘Special,’’ Kelly said of that final moment. ‘‘I saw it go up, and you take a deep breath. When Pete does the swimming in midair, that’s when I know he’s got it.’’
Taillon was key in the Cubs’ 3-1 Game 3 win to advance to the National League Divisional Series.
“I wish everybody could see it,” Dansby Swanson said after the Cubs got past the Padres with a 3-1 win. “Full joy. Amazing.”
The Cubs clinched a berth to the NLDS with a 3-1 win Thursday
Source link
