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CHICAGO -- If Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer plan to add one more starting pitcher before next Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, it sounds like it would be a surprise to manager Joe Maddon. Perhaps they would bring Maddon into the fold when things got close, but right now, Maddon isn’t considering the possibility. “I really think what we need is right here,” Maddon said before Tuesday’s 7-2 win over the White Sox. “I think the guys have been trending in the right direction. ... If you bring someone else in, a lot of moving parts would have to occur for something like that. That has not been part of my discussion with Theo and Jed at all.” Maddon is right in one respect: The Cubs have enough in their rotation right now to win their division. That includes John Lackey, who won his seventh game Tuesday while lowering his ERA under 5.00 for the first time in a month. You can view his four hit batters on Tuesday -- three of which came in one inning -- as a negative, but he gave up only two runs over five innings. He’ll take the positives in that. “Still have to make a pitch,” Lackey said of loading the bases by hitting the three White Sox players. “Still one pitch away from getting out of it.” He made that pitch to Tim Anderson in the fifth inning, inducing a groundout to strand all three runners. Sure, Lackey is the first Cub to hit four batters in a game since 1957. But what’s the difference if none of them scored? “He’s trying to be too fine sometimes,” Maddon said. “He’s the guy that normally challenges anybody and everybody. John knows what he’s doing out there. I always trust what he’s doing out there. I think he got a little too fine.” Lackey added: “It’s a pretty extreme swinging team. You have to go to some extreme zones. Just trying to get the ball in deep on a couple guys.” The White Sox responded in kind when Cubs rookie Ian Happ was hit by a pitch to lead off the next inning. But that was OK with all parties involved, as only warnings were issued. There were no ejections or injuries incurred. “That’s the way the game used to be played,” Lackey said. “I wasn’t trying to hit anybody, but I totally get the other side too.”  Lackey left after allowing the first two batters on base in the sixth, but his pitching line was saved when reliever Carl Edwards Jr. escaped the jam unscathed. And that’s the bottom line with Lackey right now: It isn't going to be pretty, but he can still get the job done as the No. 5 pitcher in the rotation.
With two months left in the season -- and reinforcements coming with expanded rosters in one month -- the Cubs are in a fine position, even if they don’t trade for another starter. If they do, it would be about next year as much as this one, just like with the Jose Quintana deal. Don’t think the Cubs will be renting anyone this time around. “We have not even discussed that,” Maddon said. Not only did the Cubs survive Lackey's hitting four batters, but they also made it without Kris Bryant, who was ejected for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, infielder Javier Baez became the first Cubs player since 2008 to strike out five times in one game. Even so, the Cubs won by five runs. Perhaps that’s the best sign that the Cubs have turned things around. It can go badly for a few guys, but they still came out on top. As for adding a sixth man to the rotation, Maddon just moved one starter back to the bullpen, so the Cubs have some depth there. Maddon thinks the Cubs have plenty for the stretch run. “I still consider [Mike] Montgomery a highly viable person for that particular role,” Maddon said. “That’s [trading for a starter] not been strongly circulated right now, so it’s hard for me to create conjecture.”
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