Emma: Cubs Keep Closing Simple
By Chris Emma--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- This was to be a season made for learning -- perhaps even struggling a bit -- how to win, yet the Cubs have been flawless in closing out late leads. In fact, they're now 32-0 in the 2015 campaign when leading after eight innings of play, that following a 5-3 win over the rival St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday evening that completed a doubleheader sweep.
Players fled out of the home clubhouse at Wrigley Field after a long day of baseball. Ernie Banks coined the famous line of "Let's play two!" during his playing days, but it's easier said than done.
Ready to head home, outfielder Dexter Fowler stopped his path and gave a quick, simple explanation to why the Cubs have been so successful in holding late leads.
"Good pitching, good defense," Fowler said.
From the players' perspective, it seems so simple. Call if confidence, routine or anything else, but there's a method behind Cubs manager Joe Maddon's madness. After all, what's his motto?
Do Simple Better.
From the outside looking in, the Cubs have appeared to be anything but simple in closing out games. This season has seen five relievers come in to earn a save, and Maddon prefers to play the matchups of late-game situations rather than sticking to defined roles like "closer" and "set-up man."
"By the way we're doing it, we're able to highlight and utilize the talents of our relief pitchers," Maddon said.
However, it goes deeper than that for Maddon. This Cubs group is sailing through uncharted waters, sitting in a wild-card spot and playing meaningful baseball. Specifically for the bullpen, specific roles do more harm than good mentally in the mind of Maddon.
The Cubs' bullpen stands seventh in Fangraphs' WAR with a 2.2 mark. But Hector Rondon hasn't been in these high-pressure situations of meaningful games before. Nor have Pedro Strop, Neil Ramirez or Justin Grimm.
With win-now mode at Wrigley Field comes elevated pressure, especially late in the game. Maddon wants to keep it simple.
"Now we're talking under a different set of circumstances where the expectation level has been raised a little bit," Maddon said. "We're here to win -- it's not to just compete, it's not to try and be .500. There's a different vibe in the latter part of the game, so I like spreading out the emotion."
In embodying Maddon's loose demeanor and ditching the conventional, often tedious structure of defined roles that can compound pressure situations, the Cubs have thrived in finishing games.
Chicago is 19-14 in one-run games, 9-4 in extra innings and leads the majors with nine walk-off wins. However, it's that 32-0 mark entering the ninth inning that really reflects the Cubs' consistency when the pressure is turned up.
They're not fazed.
"That's the kind of team we have," said Cubs reliever Jason Motte, who earned a pair of saves Tuesday and has been the recent to-go ninth-inning hurler.
Right now, it's a playoff team. Of course, there's plenty of season to go.
If the Cubs keep following Maddon's lead and do simple better, their promising season will carry toward greater reward.
Follow Chris on Twitter @CEmma670.
