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'Good times are ahead,' Cubs' Bryant says after another rough loss

Kris Bryant has known nothing but winning since he came up to the Chicago Cubs in April of 2015.

So what's going on now with the defending world champions has to be jarring.

But Bryant tried to put things into perspective Saturday after the Cubs lost 9-1 to the Colorado Rockies Wrigley Field.

The Rockies outhit the Cubs 14-5, clubbed a pair of monster home runs and hit 4 doubles on a day the wind was howling straight out at 20 mph. The Cubs managed no extra-base hits.

It was the seventh straight victory for the Rockies, who lead the National League West with a record of 41-23.

The Cubs fell back under .500 at 30-31 with their fourth straight loss.

The one saving grace for the Cubs — and Bryant acknowledged it — is that they play in the weak National League Central, which the Milwaukee Brewers lead.

“You go through things like this,” said Bryant, who was 1-for-2 with a walk. “You go through spells where you don't feel good. This is probably, I guess, as a team, probably the lowest point that I've been here. But it's really not bad when you look at it in context in terms of the division. Nobody's really taken advantage of it like some of the other divisions out there or like we did last year. You've just got to keep your head up. Good times are ahead.”

Whether the Cubs truly believe that or if they're trying to talk themselves into believing it is something to wonder about.

The same-old problems that have been plaguing the Cubs all year surfaced again in Saturday's first inning, after the Rockies had taken a lead in the top half against Eddie Butler.

The Cubs had runners on second and third with one out but Ben Zobrist struck out and Jason Heyward grounded out.

Mark Reynolds and Charlie Blackmon made it 4-1 with home runs completely out of Wrigley Field in the fourth and seventh innings, respectively.

There was one brief flicker of hope for the Cubs in the bottom of the seventh when they did something they haven't been able to do: string hits together. They did so with 3 straight singles to score their only run.

But for the day, they were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position after going 1-for-11 in that department Friday. The Rockies busted the game open with 5 runs in the ninth.

“We just have to do a better job at the plate,” said manager Joe Maddon. “We didn't hit any balls hard, basically, until that inning where we did string some hits together, which is nice to string together some singles. We wanted to do that, but overall, man, we just did not hit the ball well at all.”

Maddon cautioned not to equate a lack of hitting with a lack of effort.

“When you're not hitting, people will accuse you of not trying or not caring or all that other kind of crazy stuff,” he said. “But it's not true. They do care. We do care. We're just not hitting. What you're seeing right now, you're seeing in person, if you happened to be in L.A. and San Diego (on the 0-6 road trip), that's exactly what we looked like out there.

“I don't have any strong explanations for it, just a lot of guys that are really struggling at the same time. They're the same guys that we rode to the World Series last year, and they're very good young players. It's just not working right now. In moments like this you have to say, ‘Stay consistent in your approach with them.' You keep working with them, and you know that it's going to come back.”

Inside a very quiet Cubs clubhouse, Bryant echoed those sentiments as he tried to reassure anguished Cubs fans.

“We're going to hit,” he said. “You are who you are as a baseball player. You're not going to completely exceed your expectations, and you're not going to completely stink. I think at the end of the year everything works out. It's just a matter of doing it all together. It just can't be one guy one day. We've got to have a couple of guys clicking, a couple other pitchers clicking and things will be good.

“I can't wait for that day where we turn the page, everybody's feeling good and we start hitting and making great plays and the fans can get all into it and have fun with it, just like it was all last year.”

• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.

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