Chappily ever after: Final outs for the ages

CHICAGO — In a postseason filled with unconventional pitching decisions and bullpen moves by the managers, Cubs skipper Joe Maddon inserting closer Aroldis Chapman into the eighth inning with a man on first base in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field on Saturday didn’t seem, on its face, all that unusual.

Except, of course, for the fact that Chapman had not been very effective the other times Maddon turned to the flame-throwing left-hander in anything but the start of the ninth inning, void of baserunners and distractions.

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But this time, the tactic worked. Chapman, who allowed a game-tying base hit in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the NLCS and was charged with a blown save in Game 3 of the Division Series, did not have a major misstep in the most important outing of his short Cubs career. He nailed down the eighth, the ninth — and the pennant during a 5-0 victory.

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Chapman induced two double plays: one from Howie Kendrick in the eighth, and the pennant-clinching 6-4-3 with Yasiel Puig at the plate to close it out.

“We actually were trying to get one,” second baseman Javier Baez said. “I saw that ball and I decided to turn it and we made it happen.”

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