Cubs battle Snell, umpire in frustrating loss to Padres |
SAN DIEGO - The past year has been a struggle for Kyle Hendricks, which is sad to see. The former Ace of the Chicago Cubs (26-33) staff sent the Cubs to the World Series, pitched in Game 7 of the World Series, and was one of the most consistent starters for five years until a shoulder injury forced him to miss half of last season and half of this season.
Everyone knew he would go through some bumps along the way, but it is frustrating when he starts to show signs of the old Hendricks only to have horrible umpiring ruin his night. That was exactly the case at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres (28-32) as the Cubs were bitten by an inconsistent strike zone that saw David Ross earn his 12th career ejection as a manager as the Cubs fell to the Padres 5-0. Hendricks was far from perfect but gave the Cubs six innings for the first time in nearly a year. The right-hander allowed four runs on six hits across his outing and struck out four. While the umpiring didn't help, it wasn't the only reason why the Cubs lost, as Blake Snell was sharp. Ever since his trade from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Padres, Snell has struggled to discover his elite form. Monday was a blast from the past as Snell held the Cubs to two hits across six innings while striking out eight. What stood out the most in his start was the velocity, as he was touching 96 and even 97 several times. This was one of his best starts since joining the Padres. Despite the Cub's struggles against him, they had a chance to do some damage early, which could have changed the outcome of this game. Nico Hoerner led off the game with a walk while a one-out single from Ian Happ put a pair of runners on base. Snell bounced back with a couple of strikeouts which was the case again in the second after Yan Gomes led off the second with a single. All of the damage against Hendricks came in two innings, with most of that coming in the second. Manny Machado picked up a single to start the bottom half of the single as he finished with a three-hit night. This is where things got a bit heated as David Ross got into it with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi for the strike zone, and the result was Ross being tossed from the game. Before the Sanchez homer, David Ross got tossed. Some guy named Andy Green is now managing for the Cubs pic.twitter.com/nFcgQbZU6Y Three pitches after his ejection saw Gary Sanchez put the Padres in front for good as his two-run blast would be all the support they would need. That homer was followed by back-to-back doubles from Matt Carpenter and Ha-Seong Kim as the Padres pushed their lead to 3-0. With Snell appearing to settle in on the mound, it was the Padres offense that kept the pressure on in the third, with Machado picking up a two-run double in the third and coming home to score on the Jake Cronenworth single to push the lead to 4-0. Those would be the last of the Padres runs for a while as Hendricks settled in to retire the final 10 hitters he faced and started to look like the Hendricks of old during that stretch. Trailing by four in the sixth, the Cubs were hoping a walk by Happ would be the jumpstart the offense would need, only to see them come away empty as Snell got through the sixth with 109 pitches and set things up for the bullpen to take over from there. Steven Wilson was first out of the pen for San Diego as he made quick work of the Cubs in the seventh. It was also time for the Cubs to go to the pen in the seventh as Javier Assad was called on to make his first appearance in quite some time. Assad was shaky in his first inning, allowing one-out singles to Kim and Brandon Dixon before getting out of the inning unharmed. The same can't be said about the eighth inning, with Machado picking up a one-out single, followed by a pair of walks to load the bases. Needing to make a big pitch to get out of the inning, Carpenter got into one and drove what looked to be a Grand Slam to center field, only to have Christopher Morel come down with the catch. A run did score on the play as the Padres scored their first run since the third and pushed the lead to 5-0. Assad walked Kim shortly after but wiggled his out of the jam to prevent any further damage. Down to their final three outs, the Cubs were hoping to do something against Tim Hill, but all they could muster was a one-out single from Miles Mastrobuoni before falling 5-0. Despite earning the series split, the Cubs did take the season series as they finished the season 4-3 against the Padres. The Cubs had four hits in the loss as the inconsistent offense continues to struggle. Umpire: Phil Cuzzi
Final: Cubs 0, Padres 5#NextStartsHere // #BringTheGold#CHCvsSD // #SDvsCHC
More stats for this game 👇https://t.co/KFxUOmOuVb pic.twitter.com/KEJEBAr0G3
