BOSTON – It’s the eve of the postseason, and the Cubs have some questions to answer.
Most pressingly, it’s who they’re going to face in an opening-round series and where that best-of-three series will be played.
They were swept by the Red Sox in Friday’s doubleheader, widening the gap between them and the first-place Padres in the NL wild-card standings.
But there are questions on the pitching front, too.
Righty Clay Holmes has not been the dominant arm he was when he joined the Cubs in a deadline deal. After allowing just a single run in four consecutive August starts, he’s had a bumpy September, with an 8.24 ERA and 15 walks in his last four trips to the mound.
That includes the three runs he allowed in Game 1’s 4-3 loss Friday. But the walks are the most glaring issue as the Cubs approach the playoffs.
“The big thing is really allowing the defense to work,” Holmes said. “It comes down to filling the zone up, and when I do that, good things happen. The pitch count stays down, and I rely on my strengths.
“Really, it’s just filling the zone up more, and it’ll put us in a much better place.”
Lefty David Peterson once seemed like the odd starter out of a playoff rotation, but he’s been one of their hottest hands down the stretch. He tossed five shutout innings in Game 2 – a 2-0 Cubs loss – on Friday and has a 1.27 ERA in his last four outings.
“This is the time of year when you’ve got to be at your best,” Peterson said. “As you come down the stretch as a starter, you don’t necessarily know if you’re going to be starting or coming out of the bullpen in the playoffs. It’s trying to get your stuff as sharp as possible and be at your best going into it.”
Throw in the uncertainty surrounding righty Kevin Gausman and his banged-up shoulder, and there’s a lot of mystery right now when it comes to what next week looks like for the Cubs.
That includes where they’ll play, who they’ll play and which pitchers they’ll throw.
“For us, it’s to be able to make the decision for them as hard as possible,” Peterson said of the starting group. “Every guy has raised the bar and gotten ready for what’s next. It’s a good problem to have to make tough decisions.”
From Fenway to Florida
After playing a weather-impacted doubleheader Friday, the team’s final game before the postseason was forced to Florida by severe weather coming to Boston.
The Cubs and Red Sox will finish their series Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, in St. Petersburg, Florida. That game starts at 2:05 p.m. Central.
A scene change might be good news for a struggling Cubs lineup to get out of the wind and cold.
“We have all the confidence in the world in this group,” left fielder Ian Happ said. “And we get to play in a dome on Sunday, some neutral conditions. It will be good for some guys to get some knocks and carry some momentum [into the playoffs].”
Bullpen move
The Cubs placed right-hander Edward Cabrera on the Family Medical Emergency List on Friday, filling his place in the bullpen by bringing righty Gavin Hollowell off the injured list.
Cabrera struggled last time out, allowing three runs on two hits, two walks and a hit batter while recording only two outs against the Marlins.
Hollowell got into Game 2 on Friday but hadn’t pitched since the end of August. He entered Friday with a 2.51 ERA in 14 appearances this season.