PITTSBURGH — Maybe the Cubs just need to go out and drink more beer on the road. In fact, the hard stuff might be in order at this point.
While that wasn’t exactly manager Joe Maddon’s conclusion Tuesday as he spit-balled with reporters about the Cubs’ terrible showing in night games on the road this year, it might not be far off.
“At night on the road, we’ve gotten our butts kicked,” Maddon said of the “mystifying” Achilles heel of this season.
The Cubs are 51-30 at home and 11-8 during road day games. But after managing just one run against struggling rookie Mitch Keller and committing five errors in a 9-2 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday night, they’re just 20-38 on the road at night.
“If you want to look into it more deeply, it may have to do with behavior before the game,” Maddon said. “Listen, I’m not accusing them of going out at night, because I wish they would. I mean, that’s the one part of this game I think we’re missing is that guys don’t go out and have a beer and talk about stuff.
“That’s not old-school or anything else. That’s just social. Everybody’s wanting more to stay in their room and play video games, and part of it is to just not expose themselves to social media and the weirdness of the world outside their rooms.”
Maddon stressed that his off-the-cuff theory isn’t based on any fact or known correlation.
On the other hand, it wasn’t hard for him to rattle off a few names of players from some of the Cubs’ better teams who hung out for beers after games: John Lackey, David Ross, Miguel Montero.
“I’m just grasping right now,” Maddon said. “I’m not saying that’s the reason. . . . Listen, nobody works harder than these guys. Nobody cares more. It’s just a freaky part of our year.”
Is it something the team could dive into for an answer during the winter? Maddon suggested it won’t hurt to talk about it.
“It doesn’t necessarily require a strategy,” he said. “The players, just knowing that, somehow on their own might try to do something different or better about it next year.”
Baez comeback attempt scuttled
Shortstop Javy Baez tested his injured left thumb in pregame fielding drills but cut it short after pain persisted in the area that’s still healing from a hairline fracture. He said it’s still the biggest thing holding him back from an ahead-of-schedule return to the lineup to try to keep the Cubs’ slim wild-card hopes alive.
Baez’s availability as a pinch hitter is a day-to-day decision, Maddon said.
Closing number
Maddon isn’t shying away from closer Craig Kimbrel, even after Kimbrel gave up season-crushing home runs Thursday and Saturday against the Cardinals.
“I have all the faith in the world in the guy,” Maddon said. “I do anticipate good. And we’ll still use him at the end of the game. The difference is, now we’re better able to set up going into it with all the [bullpen] guys rested.”
This and that
Cole Hamels’ status for a final start might come down to how his “fatigued” shoulder feels Wednesday after he threw on the side Tuesday — and depending on the Cubs’ need over the weekend in St. Louis.
— Cubs bench coach Mark Loretta was fined by MLB and served a one-game suspension Tuesday for putting on the umpires’ headset after a replay review that went against the Cubs on Saturday.
