SAN DIEGO – Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ hit homers for the Cubs. Anthony Rizzo got on base twice more from the leadoff spot. And Kyle Hendricks looked good for the second straight start.
But the night belonged to Javy Baez.
Again.
The first-time All-Star was sick enough before the game that he said his “whole body” hurt when he swung the bat in batting practice, but he said he was fine and played anyway because Albert Almora Jr. had left the team to attend to a family issue.
“If I was out of the lineup we were going to be short,” said Baez – who doubled home two runs in the fifth and added a three-run homer in the ninth to lead the first-place Cubs to an 11-6 victory over the Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park.
“You can’t speak enough words about what the guy brings to the table each day,” said Schwarber, who raved about Baez’s work ethic and toughness.
With one game left before the All-Star break, Baez has had a career year in just the first half – the Cubs’ clear-cut, first-half MVP, with a chance to get in the National League conversation with a strong finish.
“I like the way he’s going about his business,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He plays hard. He plays smart. He’s just playing the game.”
Maddon held his annual midseason team meeting before the game and said he stressed “the heartbeat over analytics” and just playing “good, old-fashioned baseball.”
“Like analytically everybody likes walks,” he explained to dumbfounded baseball scribes. “But if the guy is able to drive in 60-some runs, hit near .300, have almost 20 homers, steal bases, score from first base on wild pitches, play well defensively and make plays nobody’s ever seen before, I think analytical types could accept that, too.”
Huh?
OK, whatever.
Anyway, back to Baez. The guy doesn’t walk much and likes to take massive swings – like the one before the home-run swing when he fell to his knee. He’s hitting almost .300 (.293) with 19 homers, 18 steals and a magician’s glove at second.
He also jumped into a tie for the league lead with 71 RBIs – just four short of last year’s career high – for whatever that’s allegedly worth in the world of modern analysis.
“I don’t think he has an analytical bone in his body,” Maddon said. “RBIs are groovy, despite what people say.”
“This year I’ve been consistent the way I work and with my routine,” said Baez, who gets to the park earlier this season – and maybe as a consequence got off to an uncharacteristic fast start in April that helped make him an All-Star.
The Cubs have won 11 of their last 14 to surge past the Brewers the last two days and to the top of the NL Central – assured of going to the All-Star break with the best record in the National League.
“I feel like we’ve been playing some pretty danged good baseball,” Schwarber said. “It’s a lot better than where we were at last year.”
The Cubs trailed Brewers by 5½ games and had a losing record at the break last year.
After Sunday’s series finale, Schwarber and Baez take their power-hitting show to the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday in Washington, where Schwarber said he thinks the best part will be just watching Baez swing like he did in Saturday’s ninth inning.
“You just saw a pretty big power swing right there by Javy,” Schwarber said. “That’s a little taste of what you guys will be getting for the Derby.”
