Quintana focused after wife's health improves

LOS ANGELES -- José Quintana felt good Saturday night in his five innings in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series presented by Camping World. The Cubs left-hander was even happier to report that his wife is feeling better.
The Cubs' charter flight from Washington to Los Angeles on Thursday night was diverted to Albuquerque, N.M., because Quintana's wife, Michel, became ill.
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"She took a couple [medications] and she felt really bad on the plane," Quintana said Saturday after the Cubs lost, 5-2, to the Dodgers in the first game of the best-of-seven series. "When [the plane] stopped there, we tried to control the situation. She told me she felt so bad. She's good now."
The Cubs were celebrating their win over the Nationals in the NL Division Series presented by T-Mobile on the flight, but the mood changed when the plane had to make the emergency landing.
Did the decision to start Quintana in Game 1 depend on how his wife felt?
"It was more about how he felt," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Quintana, who threw 12 pitches in relief in Game 5 of the NLDS. "He said he felt fine."
Quintana looked sharp as he faced the minimum over the first four innings, inducing weak contact, with the exception of a long fly ball to center by Chris Taylor leading off the fourth. He struck out Kiké Hernández to start the fifth, but then walked two batters and Yasiel Puig smacked an RBI double. The Dodgers tied the game at 2 on Charlie Culberson's sacrifice fly.
Quintana wanted to go another inning -- he had thrown 89 pitches -- but Maddon decided to go to the bullpen.
"I respect his decision," Quintana said. "For me, I think it all changed after two walks. That's going to happen in games like that, especially the second [walk] when I tried to get the ground ball."
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Quintana started Game 3 of the NLDS, but said he wasn't fatigued at all.
"My velo and speed were the same," he said. "I think the most important thing in the playoffs is that you have your mind strong and you want to go out there strong for your team."
And he could do that, knowing his wife was all right.
The Cubs' plane was on the tarmac in Albuquerque for five hours, although part of that delay was because they had to switch pilots.
"It was an empathetic moment," Maddon said about the reaction to Michel Quintana's situation. "Everybody understood what was going on. As a human being, you're concerned for other human beings. I thought our guys were wonderful the way we handled the entire situation.
"[Quintana] got off the plane," Maddon said before Game 1. "He spent some time with our team doctor, and everything seems to be well. 'Q' got his rest. We contacted him. He felt good about pitching today."

Quintana and his wife were both able to get to Los Angeles on Friday night.
"When you're dealing with human beings, people take priority I think," Maddon said. "So I was really pleased with the way our group handled the situation, and I really respect Q's word."
Said Quintana: "[Michel's] really good now. We don't have control when things like that happen. I waited for her to be safe."