CHICAGO _ Cubs manager Joe Maddon didn't have to worry about the psyche of his players after watching Anthony Rizzo push Jon Lester's two sons in a laundry basket in the clubhouse before Monday night's game against the Brewers.
"He's a big kid," Maddon said. "He is fearless. He doesn't worry about minutiae. He doesn't worry about superficial nonsense."
Rizzo, who has hit 31 home runs or more in each of the last three seasons, showed his fearlessness by pushing a bunt toward third base for a single and stealing second base in the fifth inning.
But Rizzo's efforts were wasted when he got picked off second by pitcher Chase Anderson, summing up the Cubs' current woes in a 6-3 loss to the Brewers that extended their losing streak to four games.
This marks the Cubs' longest losing streak since dropping five consecutive games July 5-9.
Unlike their last three losses, the Cubs battled from early deficits. John Lackey surrendered three home runs in the first three innings but settled down to give the offense a chance to push across the tying run that never materialized.
Ryan Braun haunted Lackey with a two-run homer in the first and added an RBI double in the eighth off left-hander Mike Montgomery.
Eric Thames, whose swing Maddon described as "lethal," collected three hits, including a solo homer (his seventh) in the third.
"It's baseball," Rizzo said before the game about the recent skid. "Whether things are going really good or things are going really bad, it's baseball. You go out every day and play the best we can."
Said Maddon: "When you go 6-6 in the middle of the year, nobody notices. It's a nice trip a lot of times. A 10-day trip, you go 5-5, a nice trip. I think you'll see more consistent hitting as we move it along."
Meanwhile, the bullpen has been under scrutiny after failing to hold leads in three consecutive losses to the Pirates last weekend.
"Nobody's ever perfect on any team," Rizzo said in defense of the relievers. "Guys are going to have good days. Guys are going to have bad days."
Maddon reiterated his contention that it takes about a month to figure out the best roles for relievers.
"We're still in the process of getting everyone comfortable out there," Maddon said. "So as the hitting peaks a little more, which it will, and we're really establishing getting the bullpen guys comfortable, that's when we're really going to take off."
Maddon expanded on the mercurial cycle of relievers, citing last year's injuries to Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop and their efforts to get back to peak levels.
"I know it's been a long time in between, but you've got to get back into the game, get back into your rhythm," Maddon said. "Once (Strop) finds that, he'll also take off.
"I'm honestly not concerned at all. Just spread them out, get them in comfortable roles, making sure we don't overuse anybody. I don't think we have to this point. I don't want to. But it's an industry-wide concern that annually you'll see a fluctuation in bullpen pitchers. I like the way they look. We've just got to get them out there at the right times."
