Matt Garza has yet to pick up a win in four starts with the Cubs, but he’s happy.
“Wins don’t matter,” Garza said after the Cubs’ 2-1, 11-inning win Wednesday over the Padres in the first game of a doubleheader. “As long as at the end of the day we get that big one, that big ‘W’ that goes on our side.
“I’m here to get to October, and any way we can do it, I’m all for it. If I don’t win a game all year but we win my games, it doesn’t bother me one bit.”
It definitely felt like October on Wednesday with a game-time temperature of 42 degrees. Reed Johnson led off the 11th with a walk-off homer to lift the Cubs to victory. The extra effort also earned him a spot in the starting lineup for the second game as Cubs manager Mike Quade decided to give Marlon Byrd a breather.
With the game tied at 1 in the first game, Johnson launched a 1-1 pitch from Luke Gregerson (0-1) in his 12th at-bat of the season. It was Johnson’s third hit of the year.
It was the Cubs’ second straight walk-off and extra-inning win. Geovany Soto scored the game-winning run on pinch-hitter Tyler Colvin’s double in the 10th on Monday for a 1-0 win over the Padres. San Diego manager Bud Black had a team meeting between games of the doubleheader.
“Every guy in this dugout, every guy in this clubhouse, he accounts for something,” Garza said. “His job is important. He’s a piece of the puzzle. We’re all pieces of the puzzle. When you get all the pieces fitting well, that’s when things start clicking.
“We did today what you expect every guy to do, is come in and be ready and get the job done.”
Garza was in line for the “W.” He scattered six hits and walked three over six innings and overcame a slip on the field. The Cubs led, 1-0, when he exited, but the Padres tied the game in the ninth on Jason Bartlett’s sacrifice fly off Carlos Marmol.
That didn’t bother the Cubs.
“There’s a lot of fight in us,” Garza said. “We don’t quit after nine. We play hard until it’s over. [Quade] told us in spring we need to be resilient. It’s definitely shown that we are. We’re fighters. We’re not going to roll over. We’re going to scrap until the end.”
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the third. Soto doubled to lead off but was forced at third when Dustin Moseley fielded Garza’s bunt attempt and easily threw Soto out. Garza moved up on a fielding error by Bartlett and a fielder’s choice by Darwin Barney before scoring on Byrd’s single. It was Garza’s first run; he’s still waiting for that first hit and is now 0-for-20 in his career at the plate.
“Hey, it kept us in the ballgame,” Garza said. “That was awesome, a good run, but I’d rather it be ‘Geo’ and I get that bunt down to third base.”
Garza got an assist from Alfonso Soriano in the fifth. The Padres had a runner at first and two outs when Bartlett singled into the gap in left-center. Soriano threw to Barney at second for the force to end the inning.
Prior to Bartlett’s at-bat, Garza slipped trying to field Moseley’s grounder that deflected off the mound. After Soriano’s assist to end the fifth, Garza walked the first two batters he faced in the sixth, got Nick Hundley to ground out, then walked Ryan Ludwick to load the bases. But Brad Hawpe grounded into a double play to end the threat.
Garza said he was fine and the fall was not a factor. What was effective was the right-hander’s ability to mix his pitches.
“He’s capable of doing a lot of different things,” Quade said. “He’s a power pitcher, obviously, and throws the ball in the mid-90s [mph], but you’ll see him throw some unbelievable changeups and sliders.”
This was the Cubs’ first doubleheader of any type since a split doubleheader against the Pirates at Wrigley Field on Sept. 30, 2009. They did not have a game postponed last year and did not play a doubleheader for the first time since 1985.
At least it was dry. The doubleheader was necessary after rain washed out Tuesday’s scheduled game. The Cubs need to use the weather to their advantage.
“You walk outside, you see the weather and go play, and that’s it,” Quade said. “Leave the weather out of it.”