Tyler Chatwood steps up, leads Chicago Cubs to a much-needed win

Looking to avoid a sweep to open a nine-game road trip, the Chicago Cubs turned to Tyler Chatwood, who made an emergency start for an ill Jon Lester.

Hours before Wednesday’s series finale against the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs still hadn’t released their lineup. Had someone been traded? Did the team finally land a big fish for the stretch run? Nope – instead of some exciting deadline action, we got the word: Jon Lester was scratched from his start due to illness.

Now, Lester might not be the guy he was in his prime, but as the Cubs, when you need a win – and make no mistake, the team definitely needed a win on Wednesday, he’s the guy you want to hand the ball to. Instead, right-hander, Tyler Chatwood took the mound looking to salvage the finale for Joe Maddon‘s squad.

And salvage he did. Chatwood turned in four innings of one-run ball for the Cubs, striking out five and walking just one. While he didn’t do enough to get the win personally, he did help spell a bullpen that worked hard the night before, in a 13-inning loss at Oracle Park.