What the Cubs need now is for their pitchers and hitters to start following the example that Kevin Foster has been setting since he returned from three months down on the farm.
What the Cubs don’t need is for one of their best defensive players, shortstop Jose Hernandez, to commit three errors in a close game.
Foster showed the way in the first game of Friday’s double-header with National League East leader Atlanta, pitching eight innings of three-hit baseball and singling home the first two runs in the Cubs’ 3-2 triumph.
At times in the second game, the 31,548 fans in Wrigley Field had reason to believe the Cubs were on the verge of sweeping the defending world champions. But two errors by Hernandez in the fourth inning and his third miscue in the ninth led to three unearned runs and Atlanta managed to escape with a 6-5 victory.
“We played two good games and almost lost them both,” said Atlanta manager Bobby Cox. “Tommy Glavine pitched a great game for us in the first game and so did Foster for them.”
Since returning from the Cubs’ farm club in Iowa on Aug. 20, Foster has won all three of his starts, allowing only five earned runs in 21 innings.
As a hitter, the Evanston High product who broke into organized baseball as an infielder also has been making a big impact, getting four hits in seven at-bats and driving in four runs.
“He’s a good athlete and a great competitor,” said Cubs manager Jim Riggleman. “You feel badly about sending one of your most competitive players down but he didn’t pout. Velocity is what he needed to work on.”
“I don’t know where my velocity went but I’m glad it’s back,” said Foster, who was optioned to the Triple-A affiliate May 13.
In defeating the Braves for the second time since coming back to the big leagues, Foster was a study in stability.
The two-run fourth was the only inning in which the Braves were able to put more than one runner on base. Foster retired the side in order in five of the eight innings he worked, including the seventh and eighth.
Then Bob Patterson was summoned to face the heart of the Atlanta batting order in the ninth and he got the best of Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko.
In the ninth inning of the second game, however, Patterson couldn’t make the bullpen magic last when called on to protect a 5-4 lead with one out and runners on first and third.
Jones greeted him with the game-tying single. When McGriff followed with a walk, Riggleman replaced Patterson with Turk Wendell, who gave up pinch-hitter Marquis Grissom’s sacrifice fly that enabled Andruw Jones to score the winning run.
