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The Cubs survived their makeup match in Washington on Thursday, but the cost could have been prohibitive.
They eliminated the Nationals 4-3 in 10 innings of Javier Baez's RBI Bunt title in the 10th inning, but lost Pedro Strop after the closest suffered a left thigh injury.
Strop will receive an MRI on Friday, but admitted that the best scenario would take place two weeks before his return. This leaves the Cubs without two closures, with Brandon Morrow still undergoing rehabilitation and it is unlikely that he will come back before the last days of the season, if at all.
Strop, who threw 1/2 scoreless innings, was sent to bat in 10th place with the bases loaded and a defeat after Baez RBI gave the Cubs advantage.
Manager Joe Maddon still had seven of his 14 referees available, but wanted Strop to continue with one more round. Strop, who has had three bats during his 10-year career, said he was not going to the bottom of the net until he made a crack while trying to reach the bag .
"It was that one," he said.
When Strop stopped and grabbed his left leg, you could almost hear the gasps in Chicago.
Maddon then called on rookie Randy Rosario, who had a perfect 10th game, beating Ryan Zimmerman to end a wild game.
The Cubs had a 1½ game lead over the Inactive Brewers with 16 games left, but Strop's loss is hard to bear, especially because they did not want to play the game and the management contended with MLB late regular season to avoid this stretch of 30 days without a day off.
"Clearly, nobody wants to be here," said General Manager Jed Hoyer. "I think there is a mental fatigue of 30 consecutive days that is real. We had to go to the east coast twice to play makeup games, and we arrived late to come back late. There are a lot of negatives.
"But when I was with the Red Sox (manager), Terry Francona had a quote from Bill Russell on his desk, and to paraphrase him, he simply said" The game is scheduled. We are all here. To win. "is well aware that we are opposed to this, but as long as we are there, both play hard and win.
Mike Montgomery, the Cubs' starter, was still pissed off after MLB's decision to get the teams to play, and said, "We'll have to find a better way to do all this to prevent the teams from rescheduling a game after 23 consecutive days. without pause.
"These games should not happen," he said. "A closer left with an injury, and he should have been sitting on a boat somewhere for a day off. That sucks. "
But the most immediate concern was Strop. Maddon told him that if the Cubs had scored, he was back for a third inning in the 10th and if he went out. Strop has had two two-run outings this season, but only one since taking on the role of Morrow at the end of July.
"They wanted (the Nationals) to think I was out of play," Strop said. "They said just cold, but you hit if we come to your place. Mentally, I was prepared.
A thigh injury was the last thing Maddon was expecting from a relief agent who never beats the basics.
"He tried to beat him, almost done, and you can never blame an athlete for the competition," said Maddon. "It's exciting to win this game. I mean, everything that happened in this game, how much we fought – exhilarating.
"But losing it at that time, probably for a little bit, probably takes exultation out of it." It was hard to watch him stop. "
The Cubs do not have the obvious choice, and Maddon could not say who would replace Strop.
On Thursday, Carl Edwards Jr. took a one-point lead in the seventh and the offensive gave rise to scoring opportunities until Baez's shocking decision to get close to Sean Doolittle in the 10th.
Baez, who did three races, said that he knew his best chance against Doolittle was to play the little ball.
"I played him a lot," said Baez. "I faced him a few years ago and I tried to catch up to that fastball, that's how he throws, and that's for a reason." had a long yesterday, and I was just trying to be smart and get a run and a sacrifice for a run. I thought it was the best (move) we could do It was really huge, which allowed us to get back on track.
"Everyone was knocking very well. I think we will soon take off, and hope it is the present moment.
Twitter @PWSullivan
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