Same old story for Cubs — few runs and another loss

There aren't many ways to keep describing the same story.

The Cubs haven’t scored enough runs to win consistently. They found a sudden scoring surge just before the all-star break, then turned quiet as a lakefront breeze during this six-game homestand.

It ended Wednesday with a 3-2 loss to Milwaukee. The Cubs got some early hits and took a 2-1 lead on Seiya Suzuki's solo home run in the third.

After the third inning, though, the Cubs managed just two more baserunners. Both reached after two outs and, even though Miles Mastrobuoni stole second and went to third on a throwing error in the seventh, neither runner scored, obviously.

Milwaukee catcher William Contreras laced an RBI double in the top of the ninth against Hector Neris to score the winning run.

“We just didn't do enough offensively,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We had rallies first and second inning, then their guys shut us down. It was very quiet. There just wasn't any traffic, weren't any innings to put pressure on them and it was just a light offensive day.”

The Cubs went 2-4 on the homestand and the clear highlight was Monday, when they hit a high water mark of 3 runs scored against Milwaukee. Had they scored 3 runs in every game, they would have gone 3-1-2, pending extra innings. The final tally was 9 runs scored by the Cubs over six games. Suzuki and Ian Happ hit the only 2 homers of the homestand.

The Cubs are now 15-22 in 1-run games, while the Brewers are 18-18.

A look at this series as a whole might explain why Milwaukee (59-43) is leading the NL Central and the Cubs (49-55) aren't going anywhere. The hits were about the same, Cubs 21, Brewers 22. But Milwaukee reached base more often with walks 14-7, and struck out fewer times (25-22).

A few more walks and maybe there's a runner on base when the timely hit arrives. Put the ball in play and sometimes the cheap hits will lead to something positive.

Cubs starter Justin Steele had a frustrating first inning. He started with a walk on a pitch that should have been strike three. One out later, Rhys Hoskins hit a little dribbler to the first-base side of the mound that squirted under Steele's glove for an infield hit.

After another walk loaded the bases, Jackson Chourio drove in a run with a sinking liner to center field that Mike Tauchman barely missed catching.

“Obviously don't want 3 walks, but felt like I did a good job of gaining my composure in that first inning, regaining my command of everything and going back in,” Steele said.

Here's a quick rundown of Cubs hitters since the all-star break: Miguel Amaya has been on fire (.667); Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Mastrobuoni are between .250 and .286; everyone else is below .200. Happ is 3-for-21, Christopher Morel 2-for-16, Tauchman 2-for-20 and Pete Crow-Armstrong, who got Wednesday off, is 0-for-17.

The Brewers expect to be without Christian Yelich for a while because of a back injury, but got 2 hits from No. 9 hitter Blake Perkins and put enough pressure on the Cubs to finally break through.

“Losing Christian's huge, it could be devastating,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “This team hasn't been devastated by much. They don't give in. They just keep battling no matter who's out there.

“I'm grateful to have that group. I keep saying this, this game's about people.”

Meanwhile, Cubs players are getting questions about possibly being traded before Tuesday's deadline. Steele is an extreme long shot to be moved by the Cubs, but he gave a decent answer when asked about the topic.

“I don't pay much attention to it,” he said. “The only GMing I do is over a few fantasy football teams.”