Oct. 21--In assessing the numerous flaws Tuesday night that led to a humbling 5-2 loss to the Mets, catcher Miguel Montero best summed up the state of the Cubs.
"We have to do a little better job holding the runners and changing the looks," Montero said, referring to Yoenis Cespedes stealing third base easily and scoring the go-ahead run on a dropped third strike wild pitch in the sixth inning that helped the Mets to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.
"We really don't have time for that. We just have to go out there and win."
So after winning their final eight regular-season games and then winning four of their first five games in the playoffs to eliminate the Pirates and Cardinals, the Cubs must muster four one-game winning streaks to extend their season.
"It has been done before, rumor has it," President Theo Epstein said with a smile in reference to his 2004 Red Sox who overcame a 3-0 deficit to overtake the Yankees in the American League Championship Series and then beat the Cardinals in four consecutive games to win the World Series.
"We can do it. We had nine winning streaks of four or more games. If we get hot -- really hot -- we can do it."
But there are plenty of baby steps the Cubs must take Wednesday to stay alive. As Epstein pointed out, the Cubs haven't had a leadoff hit or lead in the first three games of this series.
"That's not going to last," Epstein said.
Nevertheless, every small mistake becomes magnified in the playoffs, and there were plenty of shortcomings Tuesday night.
After Starlin Castro singled with two outs in the first off Jacob deGrom, the Cubs mustered only one hit -- a Jorge Soler home run in the fourth -- until Dexter Fowler doubled with one out in the eighth.
"(DeGrom) kept mixing his pitches," Montero said. "He wasn't giving us any cookies. He was making quality pitches. Early on, we felt he didn't have it, and then he found his tempo and rhythm."
DeGrom allowed three hits in the first, starting with Kyle Schwarber's fifth home run of the postseason for a Cubs franchise record.
But as deGrom settled down, the Cubs started to unravel. Daniel Murphy tied the major-league record of the Astros' Carlos Beltran in 2004 when he hit a home run in his fifth consecutive game in the third. Murphy's homer extended his franchise record of six postseason homers.
But it was Cespedes' stolen base -- the Mets' fifth in the NLCS -- that set the tone for the Cubs' downfall.
"(Cespedes) was almost sliding into third when (Trevor Cahill) had the ball in his hand," Montero said.
After preventing two wild pitches, Montero couldn't stop Cahill's breaking pitch in the dirt that Michael Conforto swung at and missed for a third strike, thus allowing Cespedes to score the go-ahead run.
"It wasn't an easy block, but I have to do a better job than that," Montero said.
In the seventh, third baseman Kris Bryant couldn't get the ball out of his glove quickly enough to prevent Murphy from reaching safely on an infield hit. Cespedes followed with a deep drive to left that grazed off the arm of Schwarber for what was ruled an RBI single, and the Mets added another run when the throw from first baseman Anthony Rizzo to home plate was too late to nail Murphy.
"I didn't get a good read and missed the ball," Schwarber said. "No excuses. I've been out there enough to hold my own. I just missed the baseball.
"It's very frustrating for me because I take pride in my defense."
Schwarber was in no mood to look back on his accomplishments or those of his team.
"We're in the heat of battle," Schwarber said. "There's time to look back on it when all of this is done. We're really focused on winning one game at a time and going from there."
Said Tuesday starter Kyle Hendricks: "It will be all hands on deck. But if we win, it turns over to Jon (Lester) and Jake (Arrieta). You never know what's going to happen. But we have to win."
mgonzales@tribpub.com
