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CHICAGO — If Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon had his druthers Dante Pettis Color Rush Jersey , his team wouldn’t have played a pair of games Tuesday.

But as the Cubs head into Wednesday’s series finale against the defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Maddon certainly won’t complain about having the opportunity to claim a series victory.

How they had to do it, however, is a different story.

The Cubs earned a doubleheader split with a 2-1 nightcap victory after Albert Almora, Jr., delivered a 10th-inning single. The win came after the Cubs blew a ninth-inning lead in Tuesday’s first game, which the Dodgers rallied to win, 4-3.

Maddon expressed his displeasure with the split doubleheader format ahead of Wednesday’s matinee series finale. After Monday’s game was postponed due to the combination of inclement weather and electrical issues with Wrigley Field’s lights, Tuesday proved to be a long day for everyone involved.

“I don’t like it,” Maddon said Tuesday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. To be here for a noon game and then a 7 o’clock game, that’s wrong. I don’t think there’s one player, manager, coach who thinks it’s a good idea.”

Maddon added: “I’m not crying. It’s just true. So it works for both sides. The Dodgers have to do the same thing. I’m not just talking about us. I’d just prefer a different method over the split doubleheader to appease when the game was rained out like it was (Monday) night.”

Maddon voiced his opinion ahead of Tuesday’s rescheduled series opener in which Cubs reliever Justin Wilson surrendered a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning. Wilson pitched in place of closer Brandon Morrow, who was unavailable for Tuesday’s doubleheader due to back spasms. The Cubs didn’t make Morrow’s condition public until after Tuesday’s first game when Maddon said he was holding out Morrow for precautionary reasons. Morrow told reporters he considered his availability to be day-to-day.

After offense came at a premium in Tuesday’s second game, Wednesday’s showdown has all the makings of a pitcher’s duel.

Jon Lester (8-2, 2.28 ERA) takes the mound for the series finale looking to extend what has been a successful first half of the season. Lester has won four straight starts and has only allowed a pair of runs in three starts in June. Lester is 2-3 in seven career starts against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers will counter with Ross Stripling, who will take the mound with eyes set on his seventh straight victory. Stripling (6-1, 1.76 ERA) hasn’t lost since April 30 and has struck out at least six in each of his last seven starts. Over his last six starts, Stripling has struck out 47 and walked just two.

Stripling, who will make his first career start against the Cubs on Wednesday, has taken over the role as the Dodgers ace in the place of injured Clayton Kershaw. His strong start has made him a strong contender for a place on the National League All-Star team.

“You never know if you’ll have another chance in a six-, eight- Vita Vea Color Rush Jersey , 10-year career to make an All-Star game,” Stripling said recently, according to the Loss Angeles Times. “I want to go out there and do my best to try and get there because it would be pretty cool.”

Stripling has the vote of teammate Matt Kemp.

“He needs to be in there,” Kemp said, according to the Times. “That boy is pitching his butt off. It’s fun to watch.”

Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Wednesday because of a strained right hip.

Torres was removed after striking out in his second at-bat in the fourth inning before the Yankees went on to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2.

Before the series finale against the National League East leaders, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was upbeat about the status of his prized rookie.

Torres did not start in Tuesday night’s win, but entered the game late as a defensive replacement.

”We’re hoping it’s a short stint. But we think we’ve got to deal with it this time because there is a small strain there,” Boone said outside the home clubhouse after the game.

”Hopefully it won’t be something that it’s too long. Probably take us up to the All-Star break.”

Boone said the club would assess the situation with a day off Thursday before heading to Toronto for the start of an 11-game, three-city road trip leading into the All-Star Game in Washington.

Torres is hitting .294 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in his first 63 major league games.

He had an MRI and was not available to talk to reporters after the game.

Neil Walker, who went over from third base to second at the start of the fifth inning, could get most of the work in Torres’ absence.

Another option could be Ronald Torreyes, but he’s been on the temporary inactive list at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for more than a week to deal with a personal issue. Brandon Drury, who started 114 games at second for Arizona last season, could also figure into the mix.

Boone wasn’t sure how the injury initially occurred, pointing out that Torres had made some ”good base running plays a couple of nights ago when he moved up on some wild pitches.”

The Yankees manager also added that if the injury had occurred late in the season, it would’ve been ”possible” for the phenom to be back on the field shortly.

But the team with the second-best record in baseball took the safe route.

”Anytime you’re talking about groin, hamstring, quads, once you have a strain in there, you push through it you can make it a worse strain,” Boone said.

”And now you’re talking weeks and months. Stuff like that. So I think the wise thing is to do this now. Gleyber wants to take a couple of days, work through it. But I think he also understands this is the best thing for him and for us.”

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