Cubs' Joe Maddon: No Hesitation At All To Use Carl Edwards Jr. In Another Big Spot

(CBS) Cubs righty reliever Carl Edwards Jr.'s struggles won't deter manager Joe Maddon from using him in a high-leverage situation against the Nationals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series in Washington on Thursday night, Maddon insisted.

"No, not at all," Maddon said before Game 5.

Edwards has appeared in each of the first four games of the series, and he's struggled twice. In Game 2 last Saturday, he allowed the game-tying two-run homer to Bryce Harper in the eighth inning and took the loss in an eventual 6-3 defeat. In Game 4 on Wednesday, he walked the first two batters he faced and was pulled with a 1-0 count on the third one and was charged with two earned runs allowed when Michael A. Taylor followed with a grand slam off closer Wade Davis.

"He's had one bad pitch, really, and that was the homer to Harper, a hanging curveball," Maddon said. "Otherwise, he's been throwing the ball great. And then yesterday, he's done that before, where all of a sudden he might lose the plate. I did not anticipate that yesterday at all. He didn't throw that many pitches overall, I think maybe 10 or 12 or 13 pitches. So he's fine. No, I'm not concerned about using him."