ESPN.com · Apr 19, 2018
Productive small-ball inning gives Cubs that '16 feeling again
CHICAGO -- It’s the kind of inning the Chicago Cubs have been waiting for, perhaps since their World Series victory in 2016. It’s called playing small ball and taking what the pitcher gives you. In this case, it meant no home runs, no extra-base hits. They didn’t even draw a walk. It’s not that home runs are bad, but when they don’t come, there has to be another way.
In the second inning of their game Thursday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs found that other way. And it was a thing of beauty.
"That was so fun to watch,” manager Joe Maddon said after the 8-5 win. “Keep your launch angles. Keep your exit velocities. Give me good at-bats. Those were good at-bats.”