The beat goes on: Cubs’ streak at 12
May 14.
Remember that day?
It was five days before the Cubs-Sox series began at Wrigley Field and the NATO madness kicked off in the city.
It also was the last time the Cubs won a game, a 6-4 victory at St. Louis.
Since then the Cubs have lost 12 in a row, the latest being a 10-4 shellacking at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates — the lowest-scoring team in baseball — to wrap up a less-than-inspiring 0-6 road trip.
“Not only to not get results, but to feel like you are getting embarrassed, it is frustrating,” Cubs catcher Koyie Hill told reporters.
Cubs starter Matt Garza, coming off his worst start of the season at Houston, made it two in a row by allowing 6 runs and 3 homers against the Pirates, the first being a 3-run shot by Pedro Alvarez in the first inning.
“It’s frustrating. The last couple have been frustrating,” Garza said. “I need to keep going and going hard. It’s going to turn, and it’s got to turn.”
Garza wasn’t the only one frustrated by Alvarez’s blast in the first. When the ball bounced back into the playing field, it was immediately retrieved and tossed over the stands and into the Alleghany river by right fielder David DeJesus.
That was the only real splash the Cubs would make all afternoon.
Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones also homered off Garza, who has allowed 13 runs in his last 8 innings.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh starter Erik Bedard faced minimal resistance from the Cubs in 6 shutout innings. And that should come as little surprise considering the Cubs have scored a total of 4 runs combined against the last 8 starting pitchers they’ve faced.
“We didn’t score, again, off the starter, so that magnifies everything,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “We didn’t muster up really anything today.”
The Cubs (15-32) scored all their runs in the final two innings, the highlight being Starlin Castro’s 2-run homer in the eighth.
As rough as it has been for the Cuns over the past two weeks, maybe May 28 will be a day to remember. That’s Monday, when the San Diego Padres (17-32) come to town to open a three-game series.
“There are no excuses,” Garza said. “We are going to turn it around, and we are going to keep plugging away until it turns.”