Machado makes Cubs pay for Imanaga 'mistake'

CHICAGO -- Cubs manager Craig Counsell defended his determination to permission lefty Shota Imanaga successful the crippled to look righty Manny Machado successful the 5th inning of the San Diego Padres' triumph successful Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series connected Wednesday.

Machado deed a archetypal transportation splitter for a two-run location run, extending the Padres' pb to 3-0, the eventual last score.

A deciding Game 3 volition beryllium astatine Wrigley Field connected Thursday.

"The results suggest that we should person done thing different," Counsell said aft the loss. "Really conscionable assurance successful Shota, plain and elemental there. I thought helium was pitching well. I thought helium was throwing the shot truly good and, unfortunately, helium made a mistake."

The determination came aft Fernando Tatis Jr. walked and past took 2nd connected Luis Arraez's sacrifice bunt. That created an unfastened base. Counsell said helium considered walking Machado but decided to transportation to him instead.

"Walking him wasn't successful my head," Imanaga said done an interpreter. "That splitter was meant for down successful the zone."

Counsell had righty Mike Soroka ready, but helium decided against going to him. It was a funny move, considering the Cubs utilized an opener to commencement Game 2, purposedly allowing Imanaga to debar facing Tatis and Machado successful the archetypal inning.

That wasn't the lawsuit successful the fifth.

"I don't enactment a manager's headdress on," Machado said erstwhile asked if helium was amazed that helium got to look Imanaga successful that situation. "I'm 0 for 6 astatine that point. So yeah, I'm not reasoning astir that. For myself, I was conscionable reasoning astir trying to get to Imanaga."

Said Padres manager Mike Shildt: "I've got my hands afloat with my ain club. I can't beryllium reasoning astir anybody else's strategy."

The teams volition play a winner-take-all Game 3 connected Thursday. The Padres volition commencement erstwhile Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish. Righty Jameson Taillon volition instrumentality the elevation for Chicago.

"I'm excited," Taillon said. "As [Game 2] got going there, I started to get excited for tomorrow. You bash a batch of enactment passim the play for large moments. I'm looking guardant to it."