Levine: Cubs' Lackey Growing More Comfortable With Contreras Behind Plate
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Cubs are making a mockery of the National League Central race.
Behind the outstanding pitching of right-hander John Lackey and home runs from Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras on Tuesday night, Chicago earned a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Angels at Wrigley Field, stretching its division lead to 12 in the process. With 51 games left for the Cubs, that marks the biggest division lead in all of baseball.
To put this in perspective, if the Cubs (70-41) play just a shade over .500 baseball the rest of the season, they will finish with 96 victories. That would force the second-place Cardinals (59-54) to go 37-12 in the same stretch just to match the Cubs.
On Tuesday, Lackey pitched arguably his best game of the season, registering eight dominant innings over which he allowed one run on three hits while walking just one and striking out six. Lackey improved to 9-7.
"He was good, he was really good," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Even the home run, you don't care about that. That is how he pitches. He is aggressive and went after guys. I thought he had an exceptional slider tonight. He also had a really good change-up. Those are the two pitches that I thought was as good as I have seen from him in a while."
The X-factor for the Cubs staff and Lackey in particular has been the growth of Contreras as a defensive catcher and pitch-caller. The pairing of the dragon fire competitor in Lackey and the rookie Contreras was rocky at first when Contreras entered the big leagues earlier this season, but Lackey was pleased with the work of the youngster Tuesday.
"I thought the mix was really good overall tonight," Lackey said. "With Wllly, I think he is -- we are -- starting to get better results. There is not as much shaking (off and asking for other pitches). The mix was really good. He called a good game. I was locating pretty decent. He was thrown into a tough spot in a pennant race with some veteran guys and handled it well."
The Cubs defense had another outstanding game. Contreras gunned down Cliff Pennington by two steps on a pitch from Lackey that rolled out four feet before he could throw, while outfielder Jason Heyward made a diving catch in the seventh inning. Shortstop Addison Russell almost recorded the night's most ridiculous out, throwing to first just a tad late after making a tremendous dive and throw from the second base area.
"That is a big part of this run we are on right now -- starting pitching and defense," Maddon said. "We didn't bludgeon them. We scored our five runs, we pitched extremely well and the defense has supported that."
The Cubs matched their season-high of eight straight wins and became the first team in baseball to win 70 games. Chicago is also a season-best 29 games over .500.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
