Only one man in a Cubs uniform doesn’t seem to care whether Jon Lieber wins 20 games. That would be Lieber himself.
After Lieber shut down the Astros in a 6-2 victory Friday, manager Don Baylor said he might alter his rotation–or even use Lieber as a reliever–to help him earn one more victory, which would give him 20.
“I’ll try to give him every opportunity to win 20, without a doubt,” Baylor said.
Catcher Joe Girardi tried to motivate Lieber (19-6) after the game by reminding him about the milestone.
The Cubs haven’t had a 20-game winner since Greg Maddux in 1992.
“I tend to be a little hard on him,” Girardi said. “I told him I expect 20. I think he wants it too. But he wants to be in the playoffs [more].”
Lieber and his teammates took a small step toward that goal by beating the Astros on a chilly, gloomy day at Wrigley Field.
But considering they still trail St. Louis by five games and San Francisco by 1 1/2 in the wild-card race with eight to play, their odds are more than long.
“We’ll keeping playing hard,” Sammy Sosa said. “You never know. When the season’s over, I want to go home with my head up.”
No doubt Sosa will be able to do that. He went 3-for-4 Friday and scored three runs to boost his season total to a National League-high 138.
Sosa and Michael Tucker scored in the first inning during a four-hit rally against Houston’s Roy Oswalt, who had to leave the game early after aggravating his strained right groin.
Oswalt, who had pitched just two innings since Sept. 9, looked rusty in allowing nine hits in three innings.
The Cubs jumped ahead 4-1 on a bizarre play in the third inning.
With two outs and Matt Stairs at second base and Ricky Gutierrez at first, Bill Mueller lined a single to right.
Stairs scored and Gutierrez hustled into third base to beat the one-hop throw from right-fielder Orlando Merced.
The ball got away from Vinny Castilla, and in his effort to retrieve the ball, he collided with Gutierrez as he rounded third. Gutierrez went down with a neck injury and lay practically motionless on the field. Castilla tagged him for out No. 3.
Baylor was incensed. Why hadn’t the umpires ruled interference and allowed Gutierrez to score?
“You wouldn’t believe [the reason] if I told you,” Baylor said. “No one saw it. The home-plate ump was watching [Stairs] scoring. [First-base ump Bruce] Froemming was looking at first. The guy at second, I don’t know. [Phil Cuzzi] at third base was watching the ball. That’s 0-for-4.
“Froemming, the crew chief, explained to me, `I can’t call anything I can’t see.’ At least they were honest.”
Gutierrez sustained a stiff neck but might be able to play Saturday.
The Cubs boosted their lead to 5-1 in the sixth on Girardi’s opposite-field single.
He finished with three hits to support Lieber, who had his best outing since firing a complete-game three-hitter at Houston on Aug. 15.
Lieber, who had walked six batters and hit two in his last two starts, issued just one free pass Friday.
“This is the time of year, you’re not going to be perfect,” Lieber said. “But I definitely felt like I had better command [Friday]. I can’t explain it.”
Said Baylor: “He used the inside part of the plate well against right-handers and finally found his breaking ball in about the third inning. You have to handcuff [guys like Jeff] Bagwell.”
With an off day Monday, Baylor might decide to skip Kevin Tapani so Lieber can start Wednesday. If he doesn’t win Lieber could come back Sunday on three days’ rest. Baylor is committed to helping the 31-year-old right-hander win 20 games, even if Lieber insists he doesn’t care about the milestone.
What would it mean to him?
“Absolutely nothing,” he said, “unless we got to the postseason. I honestly mean that. It wouldn’t mean a thing. We’re in the heat of things and when I go out there, I’m trying to win every game and help this team win.”
