Cubs finish 5-2 loss to Nationals under protest after toe-tap flap

Maddon argues ‘principle’ of Nats’ Doolittle getting pass for same ‘balk move’ Cubs’ Edwards penalized for in Texas.

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Chicago Cubs v Washington Nationals

Maddon argues with home plate ump Sam Holbrook in the ninth inning Saturday night in Washington.

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Cubs appeared to lose 5-2 to the Nationals on Saturday night, but it might take a day or so to be certain.

The majority of the setback can be explained by Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg doing the lights-out thing on the Cubs’ lineup for eight innings.

But the story of the game unfolded in the ninth, when the Cubs — in a flashback to Carl Edwards Jr. in Texas — watched Nationals closer Sean Doolittle touch the ground with a mid-delivery toe-tap as he pitched to Albert Almora leading off the ninth.

And after two conversations with umpires and a headset review and rules interpretation with the replay office in New York, nothing was resolved on the field, and the Cubs finished the game under protest.

“It’s real simple,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “That’s exactly what Carl was told he can’t do. And I was told it’s an illegal pitch, and he can’t do it. So I went up to [umpire] Sam Holbrook, and I told him that, and he said it’s in our judgment.

“I said there’s no judgment. If he taps the ground, it’s an illegal pitch. There’s nothing to judge. You can judge whether he did it or not. It’s obvious he did; if four of you can’t tell that, then there’s something absolutely wrong. And I said if you guys don’t clean it up, I’m going to protest. So I protested the game.”

Don’t expect the Cubs to prevail. Protests rarely are upheld. And even if they won, it would merely mean starting over the ninth inning, with a three-run deficit, likely before Sunday’s regularly scheduled game begins.

Holbrook, the home-plate ump and crew chief, told a pool reporter that in his interpretation (and apparently New York’s) there was no rules violation.

On a night Cubs ace Jon Lester (3-2) was outpitched by Strasburg (4-3), who struck out seven without a walk, the bigger impact of the moment might have more to do with Edwards, the hard-throwing setup man who struggled enough with command early in the season that he was demoted to the minors for a month.

“It just shows that they have my back with the things that I do and things that go on,” said Edwards, who took over for Lester in the fifth with one out and retired both batters he faced to strand a runner. “That’s why I love them.”

Cubs officials have said repeatedly how important Edwards is to their bullpen depth.

“I have no qualms against Doolittle. He’s great,” said Maddon, whose staff was tipped by scouts to be ready for the toe tap. “But they took it away from our guy. So for me to sit in the dugout and permit that to happen while they stripped us of that ability earlier this year with Carl, how can I do that? You can’t do that. I’ve got to say something.”

Edwards had worked all spring on a hesitation move to help his command, but in his final game of the spring, the Cubs were told by the umpire that the move, which had changed into a toe tap, was illegal.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward then argued the point in Edwards’ first appearance of the season in Texas during the opening series, and it was ruled a balk move.

“It’s their rule, not mine,” Maddon said.

As for the rest of the game played Saturday, the Cubs got less than six innings from a starter for the fourth consecutive game and fell to 2-3 during this six-game road trip.

The good news for Lester: After missing two weeks with a hamstring injury, he finally reached enough innings with Saturday’s start to qualify for the league ERA lead.

The not-so-good news for Lester: That 1.16 ERA that would have led the majors Friday afternoon spiked to 2.09 when he gave up as many earned runs in Saturday’s loss as he had in seven starts combined this year before that.

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