Only one run was scored during Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night, but that was enough to be the difference.
The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 at Wrigley Field thanks to great pitching by their staff and an RBI single by Coco Crisp in the seventh. The hit came off Carl Edwards Jr., who was the only Cubs reliever to allow a hit in the game (he surrendered two).
After the game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon was asked why he stuck with Edwards against Crisp instead of making a change.
“It was either CJ (Edwards) versus him or (Mike) Mongtomery versus (Brandon) Guyer. That’s it. And we liked that match up. That’s it. You have to pick your poison right there — it just didn’t work out. But that’s what we knew and we chose that and he got a hit,” said Maddon.
As Maddon noted, had the Cubs made a pitching switch to Montgomery, a southpaw, the Indians likely would have pinch-hit for Crisp in response with Guyer.
Crisp, a switch-hitter, posted a .719 OPS this season against right-handed pitchers, while Guyer posted a 1.021 OPS against lefties this season. The numbers clearly favored the decision Maddon made. But maybe Maddon overlooked whether Edwards, who allowed a hit, walk and wild pitch, had his best stuff.
Clearly Edwards badly missed his location on the pitch Crisp drove for a single:
"Execution" is the word you hear so much with pitchers, Edwards missed his spot by a lot on that Coco Crisp RBI single. pic.twitter.com/qhZPBDLdkg
— CJ Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) October 29, 2016
In a tight game like this, every single decision can have a huge impact.
