Pitch Perfect: Pen’s Pristine Performance Preserves Prize

Veiled in my headline-making, I am not. The Cubs bullpen, on the other hand, they had a few tricks up their respective sleeves Monday afternoon. I’d say they made Dodger baserunners disappear, but that’s not quite accurate. No, the sleight of hand employed by the four members of the relief corps called upon to go 7 innings was more about fooling hitters at the plate and sending them back to the visitors’ dugout wondering exactly what they’d just seen.

In a scene that had fans flashing back to last season, Jason Hammel came up lame during his warm-up for the 3rd inning. The pitcher reached for the back of his leg and attempted in vain to work out an apparent cramp, but Joe Maddon wasn’t…