Cubs give up 2 losses, 40 hits to Tigers

Joe Maddon was able to maintain a sense of humor.

"I'm just really happy it wasn't a three-game series, that's all," the Cubs manager said Wednesday night after the Detroit Tigers shellacked his team 15-8.

And, yes, the Tigers left town immediately after this two-game series. But they busted things up pretty good over two nights, combining for 40 hits and outscoring the Cubs 25-16. Of the Tigers' 21 hits Wednesday, 6 were doubles, 1 was a triple and 5 were homers.

Things got so ridiculous that Maddon again used a position player to pitch, sending outfielder Chris Denorfia into the game with two outs in the ninth inning after James Russell took a pounding, perhaps even unfairly, as he had to work more than 1 inning.

If there's panic in the streets, we've been down that street before, and recently.

"It'd be like the Phillies reborn," Maddon said, referring to the three-game sweep the Cubs suffered in late July, one that sent many fans into crisis mode. "What are you going to do? They hit the ball."

The dose of perspective was just as important as the dose of humor. The Cubs (67-51) have lost three in a row. One of those came against White Sox ace Chris Sale. The other two came against a team that hit every baseball that moved for two nights.

Another area where some perspective is needed comes with Wednesday night's starting pitcher for the Cubs, Jon Lester.

After putting up a 1.66 ERA in July and starting August with 2 wins, Lester was rocked by the Tigers. He lasted just 2⅔ innings, giving up 7 hits and 7 runs.

His exit from the game was greeted by some boos from the Cubs fans in the crowd of 40,310, a crowd that included a large contingent of Tigers supporters.

"'Um' pretty much sums it up," said Lester, who fell to 8-9 with a 3.58 ERA. "I don't know. Really when it comes down to it, no matter what I say tonight, it really doesn't justify or sum up anything that happened tonight. You try to step back and come up with answers, come up with reasons.

"I want to say I threw the ball down the middle, but there were some good pitches that were made tonight, but they got hit."

Nick Castellanos hit a solo homer in the second. Later that inning, Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris hit a 2-run homer in his first career plate appearance, becoming the first American League pitcher to homer at Wrigley Field.

The crusher was a grand slam by Castellanos in the third. Lester has been a focal point for some Cubs fans since the beginning of the season, in part because of the $155 million contract he signed last winter. It's not going to be perfect every time out.

"The season's too long and it's too much up and down to allow kind of an abomination start that stands out to affect your season," Lester said. "Obviously, this is a bad time of the year to have one."

Both before and after the game, Maddon was not wavering from his mantra that his team never gives up. The Cubs got homers from Dexter Fowler, Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant, who added a pair of singles, a walk and a triple.

"I am not discouraged by any means," Maddon said. "We got beat up pretty good in the two days. I agree with that."

Cubs scouting report

Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field

TV: Comcast SportsNet today and Friday; ABC 7 Saturday; WGN Sunday

Radio: WBBM 780-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jake Arrieta (14-6) vs. Mike Foltynewicz (4-4) today at 7:05 p.m.; Kyle Hendricks (6-5) vs. Shelby Miller (5-9) Friday at 3:05 p.m.; Dan Haren (8-8) vs. Williams Perez (4-4) Saturday at 3:05 p.m.; Jason Hammel (6-5) vs. Matt Wisler (5-3) Sunday at 1:20 p.m.

At a glance: These teams met in Atlanta after the all-star break, and the Cubs won two of three. The Braves (53-67) were swept in three games at San Diego this week. Nick Markakis has a line of .298/.369/.374 but with just 2 homers. Freddie Freeman leads Atlanta with 14 homers; the Braves entered Wednesday ranked last in the National League in homers. Braves pitching was 13th in the NL in ERA (4.15). Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler entered Wednesday with an OBP of .446 since the all-star break. That was second best in the NL in that time.

Next: Cleveland Indians at Wrigley Field Monday

- Bruce Miles