Another silent night by Cubs offense leads to seventh straight home loss
The Cubs returned home Tuesday, refreshed with news that two starting pitchers should return from the injured list soon.
Then came the first pitch, and it was another windy, chilly, silent night for the Cubs bats. They managed just 4 hits — one after the second inning — and lost to the Athletics 2-1. After winning 15 straight at home, the Cubs how now dropped seven straight at Wrigley Field.
A few weeks ago, when the Cubs went through a 20-3 stretch, the storyline was about the depth of their lineup. Pete Crow-Armstrong called it “inevitable,” with so many good hitters, one of them was bound to deliver.
PCA collected 2 of the team's 4 hits Tuesday, but the Cubs have been stuck in snoozer mode, where outs are the inevitability.
“I think we're always close to clicking,” Crow-Armstrong said after the game. “When everybody's hot, it will be very fun. It could be tomorrow, it could be a week from now. When it happens, it's going to be fun.”
Maybe next month, there will be more happy stories about the Cubs offense. Right now, it has the look of poor allocation of resources as the Cubs dipped to 5-17 in their last 22 games, or since the 20-3 streak ended.
Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon did a nice job of summarizing the sudden drop in the NL Central standings. They're now 6 ½ games behind first-place Milwaukee.
“This has been a wake-up call, I hope, for everyone,” Taillon said. “It definitely has been for me. Nothing's going to be handed to us, the Brewers are for real again, our division's really good, the league's really tough.
“It's just going to take a lot of work to dig ourselves out of this. Once you lose 10 in a row, I think the urgency's at a pretty high level, to be honest.”
Most every hitter in the lineup is below their career OPS. The exceptions are Ian Happ, on pace to surpass his career-high of 25 home runs; and catcher Carson Kelly, who has been in an offensive revival since joining the Cubs last year.
The biggest drops are by the two highest-paid players on the roster. Alex Bregman sports a career-low .705 OPS, compared to his career average of .839. Bregman always had powerful bats surrounding him in Houston, not so much here.
Then Dansby Swanson is at a career-low .623, and is 4 for his last 34 at-bats (.118). Swanson went 0-for-2, then was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch are closer to their average OPS, but well below last season. When the offense was rolling early this season, Nico Hoerner and Moises Ballesteros were getting on base. Now Hoerner cooled off and Ballesteros is 4 for his last 49 (.081). A minor-league reset should probably happen soon.
The Cubs managed just 4 singles, and two were the first two batters of the game. Hoerner singled and stole second. Crow-Armstrong hit a knuckler past shortstop, Hoerner had to wait on it, then held up at third, while PCA hustled into second base on the throw to the infield.
OK good start. A Bregman RBI ground out brought Hoerner in with the game's first run. But PCA's aggressive mindset backfired, he was thrown out trying to steal third and that was essentially the end of the Cubs offense.
“The wind's blowing in, there's one out, we're going to try to be aggressive on the bases on a night like this,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Baserunning is risky, and they did a good job. Pete's going to continue to run and we need him to continue to run.”
In the ninth, Hoerner started with a walk and PCA followed with a single. After Bregman struck out, Seiya Suzuki ripped a liner that landed about 6 inches foul. But Suzuki and Happ flied out to end the game.
Earlier in the day, the Cubs sent pitcher Jordan Wicks down to Iowa and called up right-handed Tyler Ferguson, who was acquired in a trade from the Athletics about a month ago.
Counsell confirmed this means Edward Cabrera is ready to come off the injured list to start Saturday against San Francisco. He's been out since leaving his May 20 start against Milwaukee after three innings due to a blister.
Matthew Boyd will make his second rehab start for Triple-A Iowa on Saturday, and if all goes well, he'll make a return to the majors. Boyd had surgery to repair torn meniscus in his left knee and went on the injured list May 6.