MILWAUKEE -- In 758 big league appearances coming into Saturday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs catcher David Ross had only been on the mound wearing a mask. That changed when manager Joe Maddon asked Ross if he wanted to pitch the eighth inning in a 12-4 blowout win by Milwaukee.
"Joe came to me with a big smile and said 'do you want to pitch?'” Ross said afterwards. “I stared at him and said 'why not?’ Then the nerves and the heart rate went to another level.”
Ross said he was nervous the whole time, but he didn’t show it, producing the Cubs' first 1-2-3 frame since the first inning of the game. He got Hector Gomez on a fly ball to center field, Scooter Gennett on a ground out to third and Adam Lind on a ground ball to second.
“All fastballs,” Ross laughed. “Just throw it and hope they don’t hit it back at me.”
Ross said he tried to throw a cutter and sinker in warm-ups but the “cutter sank and the sinker cut” so he stayed with fastballs that ranged from 59 mph to 77 mph.
“Sometimes when games get out of hand like that it’s nice to have a light-hearted inning and get an old man like me out there,” Ross joked.
Maddon wanted to lighten the mood after the Cubs' pitching staff got beat up in the middle innings, and he also cited the fact that two of his relievers, Zac Rosscup and Justin Grimm, 'didn’t pick up a ball' all night so he saved an inning out of some arms.
“It’s a baseball game,” Maddon said. “I want to keep them in the right frame of mind. We got beat up tonight. It happens.
Last season. former backup catcher John Baker also pitched an inning in relief during a win.
“Despite having a bad night, it ended on a good note," Maddon said.
