Written by Jesse Rogers at ESPN.com
Four pitches. It took exactly four pitches in the top of the sixth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS to define the Chicago Cubs’ season. Mega-talented — and ultra-inconsistent — reliever Carl Edwards Jr. walked Dodgers starter Yu Darvish on four pitches with the bases loaded and two outs.
“Just couldn’t get down in the zone,” Edwards said after an ugly 6-1 loss.
Darvish, who spent his entire MLB career in the American League until July 31 of this year, had 31 career at-bats and only one walk before that moment. But Cubs relievers just can’t help themselves. Not Tuesday, not last round, not all of the second half of the season. They’ve walked themselves to the brink of elimination as the Cubs are down a nearly insurmountable 3-0 in the series.
“Walks are difficult,” manager Joe Maddon said before the game. “It’s difficult to manage the walk. I can’t deny that. How do you fix it?”
That might be a question for the offseason as the Cubs are one day away from possibly ending their title defense. Of course, when you score four runs in three games, you don’t deserve much in terms of victories, but who says you can’t win a low-scoring playoff game? Three times the Cubs have actually given their pitchers a lead in this series and three times they’ve given it back — and then some. There is plenty of blame to go around. After all, the Cubs have walked 43 batters in eight playoff games. That’s not just one guy losing his command.
“C.J. has been that guy,” Maddon said of Edwards. “[Pedro] Strop, to a certain extent, has been that guy also. [Mike] Montgomery, this year, during the course of the season showed that propensity also.”
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