What can go wrong does for Cubs in 6-1 loss
They're not all going to be works of art, even with these new and improved Cubs.
But Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers was something else again.
The Cubs spoiled the nicest weather day of the season by stinking it up in all facets of the game before a Wrigley Field crow of 34,878.
To wit:
• Cubs batters struck out 18 times against Milwaukee pitching, including 12 against starter Mike Fiers, who snapped a six-game losing streak dating to last September but improved to 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA against the Cubs.
• The Cubs looked almost comical in the field during one ninth-inning play, as the Brewers' Logan Schafer circled the bases on what should have been a routine groundout.
Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro threw the ball away. First baseman Anthony Rizzo was slow in retrieving it. He ended up throwing to third base, where no one was covering, enabling Schafer to score on the double-error.
• Brewers runners stole three bases in four attempts. For the season, Cubs catchers have thrown out only two of 22 runners trying to steal.
At the end of the day, there wasn't much else to do but move on.
"There's always something you can learn, regardless of the outcome," said Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, who fell to 3-2 as he worked 5 innings, giving up 7 hits and 4 runs. "We're coming out to win a series tomorrow."
The scariest moment for the Cubs came in the second, when Rizzo and rookie second baseman Addison Russell collided in short right field chasing Carlos Gomez's RBI pop single. Both players lay on the ground for a few minutes, but each remained in the game.
"It's just one of those plays with two outs you got to try and make that play at all costs," Rizzo said. "He went all out. I went all out. Thankfully, we didn't hit our heads on each other. He kind of skidded a little bit there. We were both laying down. We both asked each other if we were all right. Thankfully, we are."
Much to the relief of manager Joe Maddon.
"I was concerned," Maddon said. "It was really just awkward from the side, from the dugout. Got out there and neither one seemed to be in trouble. We're just fortunate it wasn't worse than it was."
As far as the other talking points go, Maddon credited Fiers for keeping the ball elevated in the strike zone. Rookie Kris Bryant led the Cubs' strikeout parade with 4, while Dexter Fowler, Castro and Chris Denorfia each struck out twice.
Maddon said defending the running game should be a team effort, starting with the pitchers holding runners better and ending up with catchers throwing runners out.
The capper play in the ninth inning drew a resigned chuckle.
"First of all, it was a routine groundball," he said. "Starlin makes that 101 out of 100 times. And then it turns into that. It seems to be as though KB (third baseman Bryant) thought he had to cover second, which isn't a bad thought because the second baseman's gone, the shortstop's in, 'I'm going to go to second.' And as you do that, somebody's got to get over to third. That would be the catcher or the pitcher. That's all.
"It looked awful and it was. But it just comes down to a play we normally should make."