Cubs' manager finds way to joke about Drew Smyly's botched perfect-game bid
Chicago Cubs veteran starter Drew Smyly saw his perfect game hopes crumble on Friday in a bizarre, heartbreaking fashion when he collided with catcher Yan Gomes attempting to field a slow chopper late in the bid.
After having potential history ripped away in the most excruciating way possible, Cubs manager David Ross took a lighthearted approach to the situation, cracking some jokes to reporters after the game.
"Him and Yan were in lockstep, right there until the end, I guess," Ross said with a chuckle.
Ross' standup routine continued when asked if he would've let Smyly go the distance had the starter and his backstop avoided catastrophe.
"I was gonna ride him harder than Yan did," Ross said via MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
Smyly cruised into the eighth inning with a zero still in the Dodgers' hit column, but Friday wasn't his date with destiny. In the top of the eighth, Smyly forced a lazy dribbler toward third base off the bat of David Peralta for what looked like an easy first out, but disaster struck. Smyly and Gomes collided as they charged the baseball, ending the hurler's chances of becoming the 24th pitcher to throw a perfect game.
Following the Cubs' 13-0 victory, Smyly wasn't dwelling too much over what could have been, adding that he didn't think the unfortunate moment took away from the game.
Meanwhile, despite the wisecracks, Ross lauded Smyly for his "amazing" performance.
"He had a real chance today," Ross said. "He was as locked in, and they were as off balance as I've seen a team in a while."
Smyly ended his day after 7.2 innings of work, striking out 10 while allowing only one base hit after throwing 103 pitches.
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