Just when fans thought Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon could not get any more unorthodox in the game of baseball, Maddon pulled his best impersonation of Mariano Rivera and threw his best cut fastball.

Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs first baseman Slugger, was thrust into the leadoff spot in Tuesday's 14-3 victory over the New York Mets. Who knows if this was what was needed to get the Cubs out of their offensive funk, but their 15-hit performance was quite the coincidence.

Rizzo finished the game 2 for 4 with three runs batted in and a walk. Rizzo scored twice, including a leadoff home run to start the game, his 16th home run for the season.

At the beginning of the season, Maddon envisioned a slugger at the top of the lineup when he had Kyle Schwarber leading off. That plan didn't go so well, evidenced by Schwarber's .172 batting average.

Maddon wants a hitter that can get on base, and Rizzo's .394 on base percentage is second best on the team to last season's most valuable player Kris Bryant. Ian Happ, who batted behind Rizzo, also sports an OBP of .310. Then, in the ninth spot you have Albert Almora Jr.

with an OBP of .341.

Long story short, Bryant has two players in front of him that could get on base for Bryant to drive in. Rizzo will get an opportunity to drive a runner in with Almora in front of him. This lineup tweak is unconventional to baseball purists, but could be a change that helps the Cubs in the future.

Jason Heyward taking the Ben Zobrist role

The lineup change also moved Heyward to the cleanup position, which was held by Ben Zobrist for most of last season. Zobrist was no power hitter, but made up for it with contact. Heyward finished Tuesday's game with his sixth home run of the season, and raised his batting average to .262.

Last year, Zobrist hit around .272, with 18 home runs, and 72 runs batted in, included a .386 OBP.

Heyward is nearing 30 runs batted in, and sports a .319 OBP. Heyward may not be exactly like Zobrist, but Heyward has been swinging the bat more consistent than most of the players on the team this season.

The Cubs had success with a contact hitter betting cleanup last season, so maybe this change is better for the team.

Lester pitches a gem

Lester looked like an ace again. Lester went seven strong innings, allowing one earned run, and ten strikeouts.

The real key was that Lester had an 8-1 lead after the second inning. It was one of the few times this season that Lester was able to relax while on the round. The Cubs have the worst first inning earned run average in the majors, and have been playing comeback kids in most of their games.

Lester notched his fourth win of the season thanks to the team's offense, so he might have Maddon to thank for this one.