A Cubs weakness was exposed in Sunday’s eighth inning when manager Jim Riggleman left Jose Hernandez in to bat against Montreal’s Jeff Fassero with two out and the bases full, although Hernandez had already struck out his previous three at-bats.
“There was no other right-handed hitter I wanted to put up there,” Riggleman said, acknowledging that his lone option was third-string catcher Mike Hubbard.
So Hernandez struck out for a fourth time, the last of Fassero’s club-record 14 strikeouts by an Expos left-hander, and Montreal won 4-3 in the 10th on Moises Alou’s two-out single off Terry Adams with the bases loaded.
The Cubs could use some right-handed threats off the bench and need to address that in the off-season, since most of the power in the minors is left-handed. In late-inning situations, Riggleman now is at a disadvantage without that alternative.
“It’s the risk we run when we stack the (starting) lineup with right-handed hitters against a lefty,” Riggleman said.
Left-handed-hitting Mark Grace was the most successful Cub against Fassero, getting three of the eight hits off him.
“He only threw me one forkball,” Grace said of a pitch Fassero used more against the right-handed hitters. “But it must have been diving against them. They took advantage in the 10th; we didn’t in the eighth. He showed guts when we had a chance to break him.”
Missing another chance to pull even with a .500 record didn’t mean a thing to Grace.
“We took two out of three games at a place we hadn’t won in two years,” he said. “We never expected to sweep coming in. We just have to keep the momentum going and play well in New York (beginning Monday night), which has also been a tough place for us.”
