Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Hector Rondon resumes closing duties

MILWAUKEE -- And just like that, Chicago Cubs reliever Hector Rondon is getting saves again. Rondon closed out back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday, earning his first two saves since June 20.

"He was very aggressive, very assertive," manager Joe Maddon said after the Cubs' 5-2 win Thursday over the Milwaukee Brewers. "He was very good. I think we saw a lot of that from him in the seventh and eighth inning."

Rondon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 14th save one day after earning his 13th. It's significant because Jason Motte was rested but Maddon chose to use Rondon again. It wasn't long ago Motte had replaced him as the closer -- regulating him to set-up duty --  but now another change has been made.

Motte has struggled lately, helping to give up the lead in consecutive appearances while seeing his ERA rise. Though Rondon had a brief lapse or two earlier in the season he probably didn't deserve to lose the closer's role in the first place. Now it looks like he has it back. The Cubs back end of the pen threw three shutout innings in Thursday's win as Rafael Soriano finally pitched a damage-free inning before Rondon finished the Brewers off.

"When you get that kind of performance out of your pen it allows you to elongate the whole thing because they got the job done with very few pitches," Maddon said.

It remains to be seen if Rondon would be used in a third consecutive game, but Maddon didn't rule out the possibility.

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