Levine: Kyle Schwarber, Cubs Not Worried About Game 1 Loss

Bruce Levine --

NEW YORK (CBS) -- For the Cubs, it was important to put their Game 1 loss to Matt Harvey and the Mets on Saturday evening in the NLCS in perspective. Rookie outfielder Kyle Schwarber, 22, took the loss like many of his teammates -- as well as they could.

The confidence of the team appeared unshaken as I made my way through the losing clubhouse toward Schwarber's locker.

"We like our chances," he said. "This is what happened in St Louis. We lost the first game, and we went out and won the second game. This is a seven-game series. We have time we don't have to panic. They (Mets) went out and won, they beat us. It happened so we have to just move forward, go out with a good attitude, energy, go out and play our game."

Schwarbr certainly has played his game well, improving on defense as he continues to crush the ball at the plate. Schwarber has stood tall as a performer who seems to have a sense of leadership and aptitude way beyond his limited major league experience. Asked about his 461-foot home run he hit off of Harvey, Schwarber was respectful but nonplussed by the home run.

"Cool," he responded to the question about his solo shot in the eighth inning. "All that really doesn't matter to me."

Perspective and results are apparently what Schwarber's strengths are all about. He has now hit four home runs in the postseason. He's one of five players in major league history to hit four postseason home runs before turning 23. Schwarber has also tied the Cubs' postseason record for having hit a home run in three consecutive postseason games. (Alex Gonzales, in 2003, also accomplished the feat.)

The Cubs have earned a certain confidence that won't disappear after one loss. Chicago has lost just two games in the last two weeks, winning its last eight in the regular season and going 4-2 so far in the playoffs.

Despite the loss, Cubs manager Joe Maddon was pleased how his club handled the energy and excitement of Game 1.

"Beautifully," Maddon proclaimed about his team's readiness. "If Harvey wasn't pitching the way he did, it would have looked a lot better. He was outstanding, his command was outrageous."

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