LOS ANGELES _ Kyle Schwarber tapped his bat on outside corner of home plate and dug his left foot into the dirt in the left-handed batter's box Saturday night.
Clayton Kershaw was standing 60 feet, 6 inches away.
Schwarber took ball one, and so his first at-bat against the three-time Cy Young Award winner had begun.
The result, a groundout to shallow right field _ thanks to a shift _ in the top of the second inning was of no significance during the Cubs' 5-2 loss in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium.
But that Schwarber, the team's left fielder, was standing there at all, facing perhaps the best pitcher of his generation for the first time in his career, was significant.
And another Joe Maddon hunch.
The Cubs manager cited Kershaw's numbers against left-handers this season _ .248 batting average, .734 OPS versus .203/.570 against righties _ as one reason, though that wasn't enough for Maddon to start Gold Glove right fielder Jason Heyward.
And Schwarber's glove is far from golden.
He found himself with his back against wall in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Yasiel Puig admired a home run that barely sailed over Schwarber's glove _ and into the left-field stands _ to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.
Schwarber did throw out Charlie Culberson at the plate when he bounced a throw to Willson Contreras after Justin Turner's single in the bottom of the seventh. But Maddon wound up getting thrown out of the game after the call was overturned when replay officials ruled Contreras had blocked the plate without the ball.
"You make the strong point about outfield defense, no question," Maddon said before the game. "Looking at the whole body of work again, Kershaw, lefties have gone to him a little bit this year."
But Schwarber batted just .171 against lefties this year, with just three of his 27 home runs coming against them.
"He's all about this time of the year," Maddon said. "So I thought it was a good play for tonight. We'll see."
Schwarber didn't reward Maddon's hunch, though, going 0 for 3.
One at-bat, two days earlier against Nationals left-hander Sammy Solis, convinced Maddon starting Schwarber was the right move.
Schwarber had a pinch-hit single with one out in the seventh inning and later scored during that fateful Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
"I thought Schwarber's at-bat against Solis was outstanding," Maddon said.
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester acknowledged Schwarber's struggles this season but backed his manager's decision.
"He's not really a guy that I worry about," Lester said. "You look at his season, I'm sure it's not up to par with what he wanted, but we all go through ups and downs. Hopefully for him, a lot more ups than downs."
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