Cubs' Joe Maddon Expands On Not Using Wade Davis: Had A Plan In Place, 'Important Not To Dry Hump Him'

(CBS) A day after his decision to ride No. 5 starter John Lackey in relief with Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on the line backfired, Cubs manager Joe Maddon expanded a bit more on why he didn't turn to star closer Wade Davis in the ninth inning of a tie game against the Dodgers.

As Lackey -- who allowed more home runs than any pitcher in baseball this season -- allowed the game-winning homer to Dodgers star Justin Turner, Davis had physically gotten up in the bullpen and was moving around. But he hadn't been instructed by the Cubs coaching staff to get warmed up, Maddon said. Davis was simply tossing a baseball on his own accord.

Because of Davis' big 44-pitch workload in Game 5 of the NL Division Series last Thursday, the Cubs had decided to only use Davis for three outs and in a save situation Sunday, Maddon said.

"That was all predetermined last night," Maddon said Monday, a day after the Cubs lost 4-1 in Los Angeles. "Again, Wade was not warming up to come into the game. Wade was probably just testing his arm at that point. We had talked about it before the game. Up and in, for those who aren't involved in baseball or professional baseball in general, when a guy has thrown too much, it's very important not to dry hump him, as the saying goes. Get him up, then put him back down and then bring him back in later. So I wasn't going to do that. Wade knew that going into the game. It was going to be with a save. If we caught the lead, he's in the game.

"So whatever the narrative is, it's really a false narrative. He was not coming into that game until we grabbed the lead. He was not going to pitch more than three outs. That's it."

Maddon also took issue with a reporter when informed that there was great criticism of his decision on social media, saying, "The moment I start worrying about that, I really need to retire."

"Listen, this guy just do yeomen kind of work — I love that word — in Washington and was not prepared to go more than three outs," Maddon said of Davis. "I don't understand why that's difficult to understand. And furthermore, you have to also understand that it wasn't the last game of the year or the second-to-last game of the year. It was about winning eight more games. All these things are factors. I really hope you all understand that social media doesn't count at all. Twitter doesn't count at all. And really, as sportswriters, you should do a better job than relying on Twitter to write a story, quite frankly."

The Cubs trail 2-0 in the NLCS. Game 3 is at Wrigley Field on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks opposes Dodgers right-hander Yu Darvish.