Bat change just part of Rizzo’s turnaround

CLEVELAND — How did the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo deal with his early postseason struggles? It involves more than Matt Szczur’s bat.

“The only comment we shared was Rizzo came up to me and said, ‘Addy, congrats,'” Cubs shortstop Addison Russell said Monday. “I was like, ‘Congrats for what?’ And he said, ‘Congrats on getting as many hits as me.'”

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Which meant, not many. Russell and Rizzo had one hit each through the first six postseason games.

“I said, ‘We’re going to turn it around,’ and we did,” Russell said. “I don’t think there was any panic between the two of us. … We believed in our work, we believed in what we had, and we believed in our craft. You saw in the last couple games with L.A., it takes one hit, and off we go.”

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