Wind blowing in costs Cubs runs in loss to Pirates

Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya turned as soon as the crack of Pete Crow-Armstrong’s bat reverberated and looked to center field.

The Cubs star and National League MVP candidate crushed a fly ball 106.4 mph off his bat in the third inning to the deepest part of the park and appeared to have given his team an early lead. Instead, the wind, which was blowing in at 10 mph at first pitch, knocked the ball back 18 feet, the scoreboard at Wrigley Field said. It nestled in the glove of Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz for the second out of the inning, and Amaya meandered back to first base.

Two innings later, Crow-Armstrong hit another ball — this one 103.2 mph — that appeared destined for the seats. Again, Cruz caught the ball. Two swings, two outs and three runs wiped off the board, which proved to be the difference in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Pirates. The loss gave the Cubs an 83-67 record and tied them with the Philadelphia Phillies for the top NL wild-card spot. The Cubs hold the tiebreaker over the Phillies after winning the season series 6-1.

“Look, some days it plays for you, the hitter, some days it plays against,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of the weather conditions. “It’s random on who it affects, and who it helps, and who it hurts. It hurt us today. Some days it helps us. We can be mad about it, but there’s nothing we can do about it. If it’s out of our control, it’s hard to focus too much on it.

“As the hitter, you got to take good swings, and Pete took two very good swings. They’re home runs on neutral days, they’re home runs on mild days, but when he hit them, the wind was blowing in hard.”

Instead, the Cubs will focus on what they are able to control, especially with 12 games left in the season and the postseason on the not-so-distant horizon.

The performance of Daniel Palencia was one of those outings the Cubs will circle from Sunday. Palencia, who was the Cubs’ closer in 2025, has struggled since returning from right-elbow inflammation that caused him to miss two months. The right-hander had a 9.95 ERA in seven appearances after throwing a scoreless inning in his first game back.

The Cubs have cause for worry beyond the counting stats. Palencia’s four-seam fastball velocity was averaging 98.2 mph in September, down from a 99.9 mph average in May. His 6.1% whiff rate, a measure of swings-and-misses, in September was the lowest of his career and down significantly from last season (27.5%).

On Sunday, Palencia garnered five whiffs on the 18 pitches he threw, averaged 98.8 mph on his fastball, touched triple digits on his four-seamer and struck out Bryan Reynolds swinging to end the ninth inning.

“Definitely, I feel better. I feel in a good spot right now,” Palencia said. “I feel more confident in myself. I just go there and just trying to enjoy the game, have fun and being healthy. When I’m doing that, everything’s working, so, right now, I’m just trying to be a kid playing baseball.”

The Cubs know that to solve the bullpen woes that have plagued them lately, they need in-house improvements. The answers aren’t necessarily coming from some of the injured pitchers who are nearing returns or other arms in the minor leagues. The current bullpen needs to step up.

And, in Palencia’s case, it’s about game repetitions. Sunday’s outing was just his 28th of the year. He pitched in 60 games last season across the regular season and playoffs.

“I thought it was Danny’s best outing since he’s been off the injured list, absolutely,” Counsell said. “That was encouraging to see. That’s why you just keep putting them out there. When it happens, or did he figure out something in this outing? Did he feel something? It’s going to happen on the mound.

“It’s encouraging to see, and hopefully we can build on it.”

Beyond the on-field results, seeing Palencia’s celebration after punching out Reynolds was noteworthy. He became popular with Cubs fans during the playoffs last season for his large displays of emotion after big moments, plus his walkout music and stadium light show when he entered games.

“Yeah, because that’s me,” Palencia said of his final-out emotions. “I’m just trying to enjoy the baseball. I’m having fun right now. I am on a good team. I like (being) with those guys. Everybody here is playing for wins. That’s me.”