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Joe Maddon fired up against the Cardinals after Anthony Rizzo HBP

Cubs manager Joe Maddon has been impressed with Castro’s attitude and play since the move.

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Starlin Castro matched his career high with six RBIs, hitting a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the fifth and a three-run drive in the sixth to lead the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 Friday for their fourth… Belisle was immediately tossed from the game and Maddon has every right to be upset with the way that the Cardinals played them. The pitch Danny hit their guy with was an absolute mistake and … it was very bad .

Belisle said after the game the pitch wasn’t intentional. That said, I do like the idea Al brings up.

It’s unusual to look at a 25-year old kid with nearly 1,000 Major League hits as a comeback story, but that’s exactly what he’s become.

Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson will remain in a hospital for at least a second night after being hit in the head by a line drive.

Holliday, who was pinch hitting, went to first base but was replaced by a pinch runner.

“We handle our club the way we handle our club”, Matheny said.

Matheny said Lynn’s struggles stemmed from problems with control. I also have a little more trust in Haren than I do Lynn on the road. “I’m not throwing hard”. Matheny acknowledged that there are times when it seems Holliday is making progress only to have him pause and be unable to advance as hoped. I can’t miss over the plate. They felt the need to throw at me.

Haren talked about how it was ingrained in their minds in the Cardinals organization to protect the big guys – like Holliday or Albert Pujols – when they were hit. “With his style of pitching, he is going to have a tough time if he is not locating his fastball”. “You can take that book and read it yourself because I don’t give a crap about that book”. We’ve got a lot going on right now as far as the excitement of September baseball and pushing hard trying to figure out a way to get into a position. “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt”. “That’s’ their call. That was their moment there”, said Maddon. But everyone’s real anger was directed at the retaliation.

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“Being there before, they always police things like that”. Travis Wood (5-4, 4.11 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago in a spot start; he’ll go up against NL Cy Young candidate Michael Wacha (16-5, 2.96 ERA). The Cardinals almost came back, but Addison Russell’s diving stop preserved the Cubs’ fourth win in the last five meetings with their division rivals. Let’s peel back some of these layers and see just what this series had for us today and what it could mean over the weekend. “There’s another incident this year where we feel like they intentionally threw me as well, and we didn’t do anything about it”. “That’s for sure”. “How they handle theirs is their business”. Four players – including relief pitcher Clayton Richard – recorded two RBIs in Thursday’s 9-6 victory by the Cubs, who pounded out 17 hits in finishing 7-4 on their 11-game trek.

Anthony RIzzo doing his best to get Chicago Cubs over the playoff hump