Cubs manager Don Baylor called it “small ball.”
Catcher Robert Machado called it “the fundamental game.”
To pinch-hitter Corey Patterson it was “utilizing your ability.”
Eric Young described it as “good execution.”
Baylor and his players used those terms Thursday to describe their eighth-inning walks and bunts that set the table for Ricky Gutierrez’s bases-loaded home run that beat the White Sox 5-1.
When speedy center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. walked to open the Cubs eighth with the game tied 1-1, Baylor decided to continue the strategy he had employed while the Cubs had stranded 11 baserunners in the first seven innings.
“I played it the way I play here when the wind is blowing in, as it was today,” Baylor said. “We played `small ball.’ Sometimes, when you do that, all you need to get a good rally going is a walk and a sacrifice bunt ot two.”
So Baylor, whose team leads the National League with 73 sacrifice bunts, sent up Machado, the second batter in the eighth, to try to move Matthews into scoring position at second.
Machado bunted foul, then pushed a bunt toward the mound. Sox reliever Jon Garland, a former first-round Cubs draft pick, fielded the ball and lost his gamble when Matthews beat his throw to second. Machado, credited with a sacrifice, reached first on the fielder’s choice.
“I was bunting all the way; the Sox knew it,” Machado said. “Matthews is very fast and got a good jump and beat the pitcher’s throw. The home run won the game. Sometimes, some people overlook the little fundamental things. Today, they definitely helped us.”
With runners on first and second and no outs, Baylor sent rookie Patterson up as a pinch-hitter and Patterson successfully bunted Machado and Matthews to second and third on his first try.
“[Baylor] could have used Roosevelt Brown or me,” Patterson said. “Brown has more power. I’m a more experienced bunter. I was just trying to put the bunt down. It didn’t have to be perfect. The runners got good jumps.
“I’m going to bunt more. I have speed, and I’m going to utilize it more. What we did in that inning was utilize our ability.”
With first base open and one out, Sox manager Jerry Mannel had few options other than to intentionally walk Young and hope Bob Howry could induce Gutierrez into hitting the ball on the ground to a drawn-in infielder for a force at home plate or a double play.
Instead, Gutierrez hit Howry’s first pitch into the left-field bleachers for the first grand slam of his career. The sellout crowd, which had been hanging on every pitch, exploded into a roar that kicked up in volume when Gutierrez came out of the dugout and took a curtain call.
Cubs starter Jason Bere pitched an outstanding six innings. He limited the Sox to one run and five hits. He struck out eight. His only walk was intentional.
Bere started off 16 of the 23 batters he faced with first-pitch strikes. Excluding his four intentional balls to Magglio Ordonez, he missed the strike zone on only 20 of 75 pitches.
“Jason gets ahead and doesn’t let up,” Machado said. “He just keeps coming after the hitters.”
