Promising start for Alzolay, but Cubs lose again in Milwaukee
There was something different about the latest Cubs' loss.
Instead of weak hitting and bad pitching, like they had in Pittsburgh, the Cubs offered a promising start from pitcher Adbert Alzolay. But one bad inning and more weak hitting resulted in a 6-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
In the last three losses, the Cubs were outscored 21-6, and their hitters collected 16 hits, compared to 33 strikeouts. Obviously, that's no formula for success.
"If we knew exactly what we could do to get them going, we would be figuring it out," manager David Ross said. "These guys are working on a lot of stuff in the cage and continue to press forward,"
Kris Bryant had 2 of the 4 hits Monday, including a solo homer in the fourth. The Cubs made a futile rally in the ninth when Bryant singled, Joc Pederson walked and Javy Baez drove home both runs with a double down the left-field line.
So the only consolation was the Cubs made Milwaukee bring in closer Josh Hader after the Baez double, and he finished it off with a weak grounder from Jason Heyward and a strikeout of David Bote.
The team batting average dipped to .164 after this game. Some of the more alarming numbers are Anthony Rizzo hitting .118, Pederson .129 and David Bote, after "winning" the second base job over Nico Hoerner in the spring, is down to .087.
Before Sunday's game, Ross insisted he's not worried about the state of the sputtering offense.
"We've just got to stay on the attack and we'll get our timing down," he said. "I'm optimistic about this offense, I believe in this offense. I think it's a really special offense and we're going to put up some runs this year."
But Alzolay's performance was legitimate good news. The 26-year-old right-hander cruised through the first five innings with just 53 pitches and allowed only 1 baserunner.
"I think everything starts with my preparation before the game," Alzolay said. "It's simple, attacking the strike zone. I think that there's no doubt about it, when you get ahead in the count, then you have so many options, you have so many things that you can do. You can backdoor breaking ball, you can go in with a sinker. I think the big point today was I was attacking the hitters and staying ahead in the count."
With a mostly veteran starting rotation, the Cubs were hoping Alzolay could bring some hope for the future this season.
"I think he pitched great tonight," Ross said. "This is who he believes he is, a really good version of him we saw tonight. I think that's what we expect. He was dominant, executing fastball command with the slider off that. I just thought he looked really clean tonight and that was nice to see."
Alzolay hit a jam in the sixth, though, when 2 singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Alzolay coaxed a fielder-choice groundout to Lorenzo Cain, who hit it to short and Baez threw home to get the force at the plate.
Alzolay then left the game with the shutout intact, but the first pitch thrown by left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin was belted into the left-field corner for a 3-run double by pinch hitter Luis Urias.
It got worse. Urias scored on a wild pitch, and two more RBI hits made it a 6-run inning. Justin Steele came in for Chafin and in his major-league debut, ended the inning.
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