Marlon Byrd is heading to his first All-Star game as a Chicago Cubs, but his mind is not on the midsummer classic.
He's more concerned with his team catching fire in the second half after a disappointing opening.
"We're about to find out if this team has a switch or not," Byrd said at his locker after the game. "We have to go home, get ready and try to put a streak together early. We cannot waste any time. It's time to put it into gear."
Byrd talked about the need to make a run at the NL Central title after a dire loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday. The Cubs are currently 91/2 games behind first-place Cincinnati.
The Cubs did show some promise on their West Coast trip, sweeping the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks.
But after a convincing win on Saturday against the Dodgers, the Cubs were knocked out early in a nationally-televised game on Sunday against the Dodgers. In the end, the Cubs lost three of four in the series.
"We showed we can play," says Byrd. "I don't call it moving backwards since we still played well."
In the meantime, Byrd talked about his excitement in taking part in the MLB All-Star on Tuesday.
"I've never experienced anything like this," he said. "The Future All-Stars (game) is all I got. And I was looking at the true All-Stars coming into the hotel."
This time, he is going to be on of the true All-Stars.
