Division race tightens as Cubs lose twice to St. Louis
The Cubs have been calling Yu Darvish's turn on the mound “win day.”
So what should they call the day after, when Adbert Alzolay and Colin Rea provided short stints as starting pitchers in a doubleheader against St. Louis? A lose-lose situation.
Ian Happ returned from an eye injury to hit 2 home runs in Game 1, but otherwise the Cubs were quiet in Saturday's doubleheader, losing 4-2 and 5-1.
This was a friendly reminder that the NL Central race is not over yet. The Cubs' lead over the Cardinals dropped to 2½ games, although St. Louis has played nine fewer games because of a COVID-19 outbreak early in the season. There are two more games left in this series, with the Cubs set to throw Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks.
A key moment in Game 1 happened in the second inning when the Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out and couldn't add to their 1-0 lead. Steven Souza Jr. took a called third strike, Nico Horner lined out, then Happ grounded out.
“Nobody out, for sure, we've got to move the baseball, at least push one across there,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “That really was a huge difference-maker in this game.”
The Cubs are now batting .213 (10 for 47) with the bases loaded this season.
Between games of the doubleheader, Souza was designated for assignment, while the Cubs brought back pitcher Tyson Miller as an extra arm. Souza struck out twice in Game 1, dropping his batting average on the season to .148.
The Cubs also claimed infielder Ildemaro Vargas off waivers on Saturday. He's played for both the Twins and Diamondbacks this season.
Depth of hitters continues to be an issue for the Cubs. They added veterans Cameron Maybin and Jose Martinez at the trade deadline, but Martinez is now 0 for 13 with the Cubs.
“We needed an arm and we've acquired some players with a similar skill set as (Souza),” Ross said. “Just haven't been able to use him with coming off an injury and a rough game in Pittsburgh. Seemed like the right move for the group. I think Vargas gives another skillset we don't have a lot of, versatile utility guy.”
Adbert Alzolay looked decent early in his second start of the season. But he left before the third inning was over after walking five and giving up 2 runs.
“I thought it was the first time the youth showed up a little bit, just got a little rushed, think he was trying to do too much at times and got a little out of sync with his rhythm,” Ross said. “Stuff's there. We have a lot of faith in Adbert. He'll learn from this outing and continue to get better.”
With Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood both on the injured list, Alzolay will probably stay in the rotation until someone else gets healthy.
In Game 2, Colin Rea got behind in a hurry when he gave up a home run to Paul DeJong, a walk, then another homer to Tyler O'Neill in the second inning. Rea left without recording an out in the third inning and trailing 4-0.
“Personally, I didn't execute at all tonight,” Rea said. “I was out of the game pretty quick. That definitely didn't help after that first game loss. I felt like I could have come out and set the tone and got us off to a good start in that second game and I didn't do that.”
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