Oct. 21--The air around Wrigley Field was nearly 30 degrees warmer for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series than it was for Game 2 in New York, and it appeared as if the Cubs bats might be heating up too.
Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber knocked an opposite-field homer off Mets starter Jacob deGrom in the first inning to tie the game 1-1. It was one of three Cubs hits in the inning, and they forced deGrom to throw 29 pitches before it was up.
But as a rainstorm slowly made its way into Chicago, the Cubs offense showed itself out. DeGrom allowed one more hit over his seven innings in the Cubs' 5-2 loss.
"His command tightened up a bit," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Early on, a lot of pitches were high. I don't think he knew where the ball was going, and all of a sudden he found out where it was going. I saw from him better command of his fastball down in the zone. There's like really good late carry on the fastball from the side. He just got better (with the) game in progress, to his credit."
The Cubs put only two more runners on base while deGrom was on the mound. Schwarber walked in the third inning and Jorge Soler homered to right-center field in the fourth to even the score temporarily 2-2.
"He just had his stuff today," Schwarber said. "That's all there is to it. These guys have good pitchers, and we know it, and we have good hitters. We have to keep putting together good at-bats like we have been, and hopefully things will change for us."
Schwarber's homer was a franchise-record fifth of the postseason, but he said he is not thinking about what it means to be on such a run in his rookie season, especially when the Cubs must turn up their offense quickly to stay alive in the playoffs.
Mets pitchers have held the Cubs to five runs on 15 hits over the first three games of the series. Maddon said his team's production against the Mets hurlers -- particularly starters Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and deGrom -- has "not been any fun," and he said the Cubs' inability to get on base early hasn't helped.
"They pitched well," Maddon said. "There is no other way to slice it, cut it, describe it. They have pitched well. They've had really good command of their secondary pitches."
The Cubs take on another tough young thrower in left-hander Steven Matz on Wednesday, but Schwarber said they need to avoid pressing to get back on track.
"There's no pressing," Schwarber said. "You can't press, because if you do press, bad things happen. You start striking out. You start swinging at pitches you don't want to. You don't execute a play or a pitch."
