CHICAGO -- Newly recalled pitcher Dallas Beeler described the vibe in the dugout during the late innings of the Chicago Cubs' doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday pushing their record to nine games over .500.
"Keep competing," Beeler said. "Keep going after it."
That has been manager Joe Maddon's message lately after the Cubs kept coming up short against the vaunted Cardinals earlier this season. Time and again it was St. Louis that made the play or delivered the pitch that made the difference in taking eight of the first 10 games between the two rivals. All that changed on Tuesday.
Consider: In both games a Cardinals pitcher threw an easy double-play ball into center field allowing the Cubs to extend innings. It allowed the home team to score a total of eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings of the two games, helping the Cubs to 7-4 and 5-3 victories. Maybe the mental hump has been overcome.
"If you stop trying you'll never know how close you were to accomplishing something," Maddon said. "You try, you try, you try, you keep moving forward. It doesn't happen, then you get to the precipice, and do you continue on or do you fall back and give up? You never give up."
Two steps forward, one step back. That's your Chicago Cubs right now. There are moments of frustration, those are the steps back. But under Maddon, those moments are quickly followed by some sort of progress. It's the sign of a growing team and maybe even a pretty good one.
"It's how high you bounce after the fall that really matters," Maddon stated. "It's really rewarding to watch our guys battle through the whole thing."
Maddon loves when his team wins late in games using the entire roster. It keeps everyone involved. And the Cubs' front office must love when it can get contributions from more than just the team's stars or even regular 25-man roster guys. Jonathan Herrera came through again in Game 2, Chris Denorfia did it in Game 1. Even catcher Taylor Teagarden, recently called up, delivered a big hit in the nightcap.
And there was Beeler, pitching five solid innings before giving way to the bullpen. He was here last year when things were still in full-on rebuild mode. It's a different locker room this time around.
"It's just positivity," he said. "Everyone is coming in with a smile on their face."
After Tuesday's sweep they're leaving with one too.
