Cubs beat the heat and Padres at Wrigley Field

Even the heat and sloppy play couldn’t beat the Cubs on Friday — never mind the Padres.

It was a blistering 92 degrees at Wrigley Field at first pitch, and the temperature and humidity only seemed to intensify as the game played on.

“It was miserable,” pitcher Jon Lester said after the Cubs’ 6-5 win against the Padres.

As a result, both teams made their fair share of silly mistakes on defense.

All-Star shortstop Javy Baez specifically had an off day in the field. Along with uncharacteristically hesitating twice while throwing to first base, Baez recorded an error in the eighth inning when he overthrew reliever Pedro Stop after making a routine catch.

Meanwhile, catcher Martin Maldonado, behind the plate for Lester for the first time, had some miscommunication with the pitcher.

None of the Cubs’ mistakes cost them a run. The same can’t be said about the Padres’ errors, which cost them the game.

The Padres made two errors in the eighth inning, including a missed catch by first baseman Eric Hosmer, which resulted in second baseman Addison Russell scoring the game-winning run.

Lester said the heat is more physically straining than mentally taxing. But manager Joe Maddon believes the scorching temperatures were a factor in some of the Cubs’ blunders.

“With the defense today, I’m just not really going to over-evaluate anything,” Maddon said.

“We made a lot of mistakes obviously it was a very sloppy game from both sides, I can’t defend that. It was extraordinarily hot and that can impact concentration, but nobody there is going to make an excuse, I’m just telling you what I saw today.”

First baseman Anthony Rizzo agreed with Maddon the game was “sloppy,” but also said these are the games the Cubs have to win more often.

“When we play sloppy games, we usually lose them, so to win games like that is nice,” Rizzo said. “But sloppy plays need to be addressed and we will and we just have to continue to play.”

Perhaps the only one who didn’t mind the excessive heat was Rizzo, who is from southern Florida.

Rizzo, who hadn’t hit a home run since June 15, slugged his fourth-career grand slam in the fourth to give the Cubs a one-run lead.

“I knew I hadn’t hit one in awhile,” said Rizzo, who went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a walk. “But it’s happened to me before in my career so you just stay course with the process and take what they give you.”

Meanwhile, reliever Craig Kimbrel seemingly wait to head back to the air conditioning soon enough. He struck out the side in the ninth inning and recorded fifth save with the Cubs this season.

“That’s what we expect from him,” said Lester, who allowed a career-high tying 12 hits and four runs Friday. “I don’t think anyone was worried about him when he first showed up, his track record speaks for itself. So it’s a matter of getting his feet wet, getting him out there and comfortable and it looks like he’s feeling comfortable.”

The Cubs are 6-1 since the All-Star break and have won eight of their last 10 games.

“Pretty happy about it,” Maddon said of the Cubs’ recent surge. “Today was a tough overall game, I’m saying there’s another level of us I want to see.”