In the 4th inning of Wednesday night’s Cubs win, Javy Báez was credited with an RBI single but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story on what happened with that quirky play.

Báez popped a ball up down the right-field line and he didn’t run initially, thinking it was foul.

However, it dropped fair and Kris Bryant scored from second base while Anthony Rizzo motored around to third base. Báez only managed a single and the next batter, Willson Contreras, grounded into a double play to kill the rally.

It helped give the Cubs a 2-1 lead and they never looked back from there in their 6th straight win. While Báez likely could have reached second on the play if he ran right away, David Ross had no issue with it.

“That ball looked like it was barely fair from our vantage point,” Ross said after the game. “If I want to be the type of manager that nitpicks every little thing — these guys go out and play their butt off every single night for me and for this group.

“If I feel like they’re dogging it, we’ll have a conversation. But I feel like that’s a play that he may have assumed was foul. I think Javy’s one of the most exciting players and he plays hard every time I see him out there on the field. So I don’t have a problem with a guy that brings it every single day. If you think a ball is foul, I gotta save his legs because he’s gonna be in there every night.”

Báez admitted it was a learning experience for him and that he should have been at second base. He also thought the wind might have blown the pop-up back into play and was grateful his team won anyways.

He later added another RBI single in the 8th inning to add some insurance.

Ross wasn’t about to throw his player under the bus and that carries a lot of weight in the clubhouse.

“When your skipper’s got your back, that’s a cool thing,” former pitcher Sean Marshall said on Cubs Postgame Live! Wednesday night. “He’s got everybody’s back. There’s a lot to be happy about and you see the energy the Cubs are playing with that David Ross brings from the top.

“It’s cool to see the good vibes in there and it’s one of the main reasons they’re out to a hot start.”