Cubs' Anthony Rizzo makes pitch to face Freddie Freeman again

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article_body => "If you caught Thursday's Cubs-Braves game, you may have noticed first baseman Anthony Rizzo ready to take the mound again.<\/p>\r\n\r\nRizzo made his second career pitching appearance in Wednesday's blowout loss to the Braves, getting two outs \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/chicago\/cubs\/cubs-anthony-rizzo-pitches-strikes-out-braves-freddie-freeman\">including a strikeout<\/a> of 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman. Thursday, he made his pitch to take the mound again.<\/p>\r\n\r\nThe Cubs held an 8-3 lead in the seventh inning Thursday, but Ryan Tepera was in a two-on, one-out jam. With Freeman coming to the plate, manager David Ross came to the mound to change pitchers.<\/p>\r\n\r\nRizzo gestured to Ross to see if he wanted him to face Freeman. You can imagine what Ross' answer was.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<drupal-url data-embed-button=\"url\" data-embed-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realcubsinsider\/status\/1387949281705746436\" data-entity-label=\"Embed social\" data-timestamp=\"1619754566\" data-url-provider=\"Twitter\"><\/drupal-url>\r\n\r\n\"I was not in the laughing mood at the moment,\" Ross said. \"I just said, \u2018No, I don't. You're down today.'\"<\/p>\r\n\r\nFor what it's worth, position players can only take the mound when their team leads or trails by six or more runs, or in extra innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\nAndrew Chafin replaced Tepera, getting out of the jam with a 1-6-3 double play. The Cubs went on to win 9-3.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"We brought in a much better lefty,\" Ross said of Chafin, smiling. \"I know [Rizzo's] got good numbers, but you\u2019ve got trust the other guy in that moment.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n<drupal-entity data-embed-button=\"app_promo_embed\" data-entity-embed-display=\"view_mode:block_content.full\" data-entity-type=\"block_content\" data-entity-uuid=\"84a634bd-85a1-4e39-9e2a-7d404e5646e3\" data-langcode=\"en\"><\/drupal-entity>\r\n"
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Cubs

/ by Tim Stebbins

Cubs

If you caught Thursday's Cubs-Braves game, you may have noticed first baseman Anthony Rizzo ready to take the mound again.

Rizzo made his second career pitching appearance in Wednesday's blowout loss to the Braves, getting two outs — including a strikeout of 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman. Thursday, he made his pitch to take the mound again.

The Cubs held an 8-3 lead in the seventh inning Thursday, but Ryan Tepera was in a two-on, one-out jam. With Freeman coming to the plate, manager David Ross came to the mound to change pitchers.

Rizzo gestured to Ross to see if he wanted him to face Freeman. You can imagine what Ross' answer was.

Anthony Rizzo appears to be asking David Ross if he's the new reliever as Tepera exits ð pic.twitter.com/VuLtGMuwuA
— Cubs Insider (@realcubsinsider) April 30, 2021

"I was not in the laughing mood at the moment," Ross said. "I just said, ‘No, I don't. You're down today.'"

For what it's worth, position players can only take the mound when their team leads or trails by six or more runs, or in extra innings.

Andrew Chafin replaced Tepera, getting out of the jam with a 1-6-3 double play. The Cubs went on to win 9-3.

"We brought in a much better lefty," Ross said of Chafin, smiling. "I know [Rizzo's] got good numbers, but you’ve got trust the other guy in that moment."