Cubs pitchers can't compete with Minnesota's 'Land of Rakes'
MINNEAPOLIS - Let's make it official: If the Cubs don't get good starting pitching, the results can get ugly.
For the second day in a row, a Cubs starter got knocked around in Minnesota's "Land of Rakes." The usually reliable Marcus Stroman couldn't survive a 7-run third inning and Minnesota clobbered the Cubs 16-3 on Sunday at Target Field.
The Cubs made it twin brutal losses when combined with Saturday's 11-1 defeat. Before this weekend, the Cubs had not allowed double-digit runs in any game this season, then did it two days in a row.
"I was just off mechanically a bit, just made some bad pitches," Stroman said. "It's just one of those starts you've got to flush and look forward to the next one.
"It's hard to explain, but I know exactly where I need to get to. I'm not worried about it. I know I'm going to get there and probably go on another run soon."
The 29 runs scored in the three-game series was a Target Field record for the Twins. Minnesota already had 11 runs Sunday before infielder Miles Mastrobuoni took the mound for some additional Twins batting practice in the eighth inning.
"They're a good lowball hitting team as a group and that's where he (Stroman) lives, so there's less margin for error when the two strengths line up," manager David Ross said. "They got the best of him today. He's a guy we usually count on for win day. We'll turn the page, get ready for Houston."
This will go in the books as the Twins taking two of three from the Cubs, but troubling signs continue. The Cubs are now 7-14 since April 22, 5-11 since April 28.
They can chalk this up to a couple of bad outings against a hot-hitting team, but the Twins' offensive prowess made the Cubs' shortcomings even more glaring. The Cubs could use more slug in the offense.
They got home runs from Christopher Morel and Seiya Suzuki on Sunday, which are good signs for the offense, but they didn't get much else. The Cubs left just four runners on base.
"The best way to go about it is just move forward," shortstop Dansby Swanson said. "I feel at some point we're really going to hit a stride and be able to play a complete game. It's a matter of trying to get them all going and synced up at the same time and I think we'll be a pretty dangerous team when that happens."
Suzuki's home run was his second this season and the feeling is he might be getting comfortable after missing all of spring training with an oblique injury.
"I tell him every day I love his swing, it's so good and so pure," Swanson said of Suzuki. "Even in the last few weeks he's gotten so much better at just being aggressive. When you're aggressive, you tend to swing at the right pitches."
In that third inning, the Twins had runners on second and third with two outs, leading 1-0. Stroman got ahead 0-2 against Trevor Larnach and was one pitch away from getting out of the inning. But Stroman missed with a fastball, then Larnach sent a slider over the center-field fence for a 3-run homer.
It got worse. Kyle Farmer and Nick Gordon followed with doubles and Stroman departed after 2 2/3 innings. Then on the first 3 pitches thrown by Michael Rucker, Christian Vazquez smacked an RBI single and Joey Gallo deposited another massive home run well over the seats in right field, his second in as many days.
The Cubs used six actual pitchers on Sunday, leaving the bullpen thin heading into a series with the defending champion Astros.
"It hurts a little bit, we've got a couple guys banged up," Ross said. "We'll assess and we'll try to fix some things and see where everybody's at tomorrow. Covering that many innings is tough sometimes, but there was some positive notes. Keegan (Thompson) looked really good. Hopefully we c an get a good start out of Jamo (Jameson Taillon) tomorrow."
Hendicks back on mound: In his fourth rehab start for Iowa, Kyle Hendricks went 5 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks with 4 strikeouts. He threw 79 pitches.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports