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Maddon jokes nervous fans can 'freak out' after Dodgers sweep Cubs

Richard Mackson / Reuters

The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs looked like anything but over the past three days when they scored just four runs in three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which resulted in three consecutive losses.

Chicago dropped to 25-24 and now sit in third place in the National League Central, but manager Joe Maddon is apparently remaining calm, even though some of his comments after Sunday's loss may not make it seem so.

"Please, go ahead and freak out," Maddon joked to ESPN's Jesse Rogers when he was asked what to tell a nervous fan base in Chicago. "If you want to freak out, freak out."

NL MVP Kris Bryant appeared to be on the same page as his skipper with his postgame comments and mentioned that panicking now won't help turn things around for the Cubs.

"I don't see any reason to worry especially given what we did last year," Bryant said. "There is no need to worry. You're going to have your good years, you're going to have your bad years. Your good starts, your bad starts. This is an average start; it's not a terrible start. Sometimes it happens. We've spoiled ourselves with last year and that start. I guess it's a good thing to have those expectations because we do, too."

The Cubs looked almost unbeatable to begin last season after jumping out to a 36-15 start, and while there's no chance of them repeating those results this year, Bryant's veteran teammate Jon Lester has been around long enough to know that when you have a good club, things will turn around.

"You can't make anything happen in this game," Lester explained to Rogers. "Sometimes it's better to sit back and let things come to you. You're not pressing then. "We have a good team. It'll come. It'll click."

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