With the Milwaukee Brewers leading the Cubs by nine runs in the ninth inning on Thursday, Joe Maddon made the call to centerfield and brought in outfielder Jon Jay to pitch. Starting pitcher Mike Montgomery went two and one-third innings and the bullpen picked up the slack through the eighth, but not wanting to burn five relievers in a makeup game gone to Hell before another three-game series this weekend, Maddon went to Jay for the final three outs. Resting comfortably in the 40-65 MPH zone, he was dominant.
Ah yes, the classic 46-MPH changeup.
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He needed just 16 pitches to finish the inning, and threw 10 of them for strikes, only giving up one hit to Domingo Santana.
Jay has had an eventful couple of days, beginning yesterday in the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays when he hit a three-run homer to tie the game and spark what would eventually be a 7-3 comeback win. Now, after today’s performance, he can add “Halfway to Aroldis Chapman” to his resume.
The bad news, though, is that he’s probably due to see his playing time reduced with the Cubs recalling Kyle Schwarber from AAA. Jay had been spending most of his time in left since Schwarber was demoted and now that he’s back, Schwarbs will likely get most of the playing time.
The Brewers beat the Cubs, 11-2.
