CHICAGO _ Joe Maddon wasn't kidding.
Before Saturday's 8-6victory over the Reds, he spoke of the heavy "usage" of his bullpen and said of starter Yu Darvish: "I'll probably have to stay with Yu as long as we possibly can."
Maddon would have been justified in yanking him after six innings. But after Darvish cut through the heart of the Reds order in the seventh, the Cubs manager got a little greedy, leaving him in long enough to surrender the lead.
The Cubs came out on top, though, thanks to an eighth-inning rally. Albert Almora walked, Addison Russell reached on a bunt up the third-base line, pinch-hitter David Bote drove in Almora and Kyle Schwarber sent Russell home with a sacrifice fly.
Maddon ended up using three of his nine relievers.
A day after Steve Cishek surrendered a lead in the ninth, Maddon's closer du jour was ... Tyler Chatwood.
This just days after Maddon said that Chatwood _ shuttled to the bullpen because of his struggles walking batters _ was not really a candidate to close.
"The last three outs, they are different," Maddon said. "They're just different. He hasn't done that. If he were to get a chance with us, the first time would be because maybe the other guys aren't available."
Chatwood, who entered the game with just two career saves, gave up singles to the first two batters he faced.
"GET US A CLOSER!" a fan yelled.
But Chatwood induced a ground-ball double play from Jesse Winker and Yasiel Puig flied out to right.
That allowed a packed Wrigley Field _ 40,929 fans _ to go home happy on a warm and windy day.
The Cubs offense thrived on opposite-field home runs by Almora, Russell and Jason Heyward.
Darvish gave up 12 hits and two walks over seven-plus innings, taking the no-decision. Of his 108 pitches, 92 were strikes.
