Cubs comeback attempt starts too late in loss to Reds
This would have been a good time for more of that late-game lightning by the Cubs' offense. They trailed Cincinnati 6-0 and rain clouds were looming over the left-field bleachers at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs collected four extra-base hits in the final two innings, but it wasn't enough to overcome the steep deficit and they lost 6-2 on Friday. The Cubs had been 9-0 in the first game of a home series this season.
“There's a reason the game's 27 outs,” Dansby Swanson said. “You just can't give any of them away. This team does such a good job of taking each inning and trying to produce runs no matter how it comes. No matter when it comes, we feel like we can give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Cubs had two thunderous comebacks in Cincinnati last weekend, winning after they trailed 6-2 through six innings and 8-3 through five.
This one was a much tougher assignment because the Cubs managed just a single hit through seven innings against Reds starter Andrew Abbott.
The appearance of a Reds reliever in the eighth inning perked up the bats. A double by Nico Hoerner, pinch-hit triple from Michael Busch and RBI single by Matt Shaw scored a pair of runs, but Kyle Tucker hit into a double play to end the inning. Seiya Suzuki and Pete-Crow Armstrong added doubles in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough.
On the other side, the Reds belted 3 home runs against Cubs starter Colin Rea, which accounted for 5 of their 6 runs. After home runs, the Reds shoot a hand-held money cannon at the hitter when he returns to the dugout, so there was plenty to clean up on the visitors' side Friday.
“I think the biggest thing was just my misses were kind of middle,” Rea said. “If you go back and look at the homers, they were all kind of middle of the plate.”
Maybe the Reds are just a bad matchup for Rae. His two worst starts of the season were the last two, both against Cincinnati, with 4 home runs allowed.
After 10 starts, Rea's season ERA was 2.38. But add these two games against the Reds and it has ballooned to 3.96.
“It's just a little more focus, I guess, on where my misses are going to be with the ball coming on my hand,” Rea said. “Just have better misses. Delivery feels good, physically feel good.”
Abbott (5-0) isn't necessarily a hard thrower; his fastball averaged 92.5 miles per hour Friday. But he hit the top of the zone consistently, coaxing 10 fly ball outs, then got swing and miss on three different secondary pitches — the curve, change and cutter.
“He made a bunch of good pitches and got his fastball to good places,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Even when we would get some leverage, some good counts, he continued to make good pitches.”
Left-handed reliever Genesis Cabrera made his Cubs debut and struck out three in 1 1/3 innings, while Chris Flexen finished the last two frames That frees up Drew Pomeranz to open Saturday's game ahead of Ben Brown.