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Levine: 'The Vulture' Bullpen Is Back For The Cubs

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The bullpen once again came up big for the Cubs in their win 5-3 win against the Braves on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Four huge innings of one-hit, one-walk baseball were served up in relief of starter Kyle Hendricks, who left the contest after five innings with the Cubs trailing 3-2.

"The bullpen day was huge for us," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We were able to go in the order (with our relievers) we wanted to without altering it."

The lack of innings by the starters aside from ace Jake Arrieta has been a concern for the Cubs, considering the bullpen guys have become more like everyday players. With 42 games left in the season, Pedro Strop is only pace for just shy of 80 appearances, while Hector Rondon and Jason Motte are on track for more than 75. When healthy, Justin Grimm's been the busiest of all. If you prorate his pace and games based on missing nearly a month early in the season with forearm inflammation, he's projected to make around 65 appearances.

Maddon has a method to his plan, working every day with pitching coach Chris Bosio, bullpen coach Lester Strode and the training staff to have a regiment of days available and days of rest for the hard-working relief corp. Yet Maddon still expects the starting pitchers to pick up the slack soon.

"They are healthy and not overworked," Maddon said Friday. "We have hit a little bit of a speed bum (the lack of starters' innings). We are going to get back on a good roll because (the starters) are healthy and not overextended."

Maddon has also been greedy, in a good way, about protecting leads -- even in the early innings. This has paid off in wins, as the Cubs are 69-51 and hold the second NL wild-card spot, but the attrition that the bullpen must pay is still to be determined. Reinforcements are on the way come Sept. 1 when rosters are expanded and bullpens can be fortified.

Complicating matters is that the Cubs and their soldiers of fortune known as the bullpen don't have an off day until Sept. 3, which will conclude a stretch of 16 straight days with games. On Friday, Motte won his eighth game in relief, and he's reminding the Cubs fans of old of Phil Regan, who had 12 wins in relief for the 1969 Cubs to earn the nickname of "The Vulture."

For his part, Hendricks was happy for the bullpen help. The Cubs have a 3.43 bullpen ERA this season, 12th-best in baseball. Their 27 bullpen wins also lead the majors, per ESPN.com.

"They have been doing the job for me all year," Hendricks said. "One of these days, I will pay them back. Those guys have been solid all year down there. They take a lot of pressure off me. I know the score is going to stay pretty close when they take over."

Motte has the most bullpen wins for the Cubs since Jeff Samardzija won eight in 2011. Lee Smith was the last bullpen man with more than that. He had nine victories in 1986.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.

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