9 games left: Cubs drop series against Bucs |
CHICAGO - At this point in the season, most Chicago Cubs (79-74) fans have thrown in the towel as they continue to stumble down the stretch. However, there is still a glimmer of hope on the horizon as the Cubs are tied for the third and final Wild Card spot, although technically behind via the tie-breaker scenarios.
That means, although the Pittsburgh Pirates (72-81) came into Wrigley Field and knocked off the Cubs 8-6 to take the series, Chicago is still alive, although it will be an uphill climb the rest of the way. In what may have been his final Wrigley Field start as a member of the Chicago Cubs, Kyle Hendricks wanted to go out and deliver one of his classic performances. For the most part, Hendricks was solid as he struck out five in six innings of work while scattering seven hits. He was, however, victimized by an error that led to two unearned runs as he finished the day with three runs allowed, but just one earned run in his six innings. He did his part on the mound, but with Johan Oviedo on the mound, the Cubs bats were silenced until the later innings, which has been an all too common theme lately. Oviedo struggled with his command from start to finish as he walked five and struck out five across six innings. All that matters is the damage done, and the Cubs couldn't capitalize off of him as he scattered just four hits with those walks while tossing six scoreless frames to pick up a rare win. Both pitchers appeared to be on top of their games early, although the Cubs did have a scoring opportunity in the first, only to have Dansby Swanson strikeout to end the threat. The Pirates responded with a scoring chance of their own in the second, but the Professor gave them a lesson in how to escape trouble as he pitched around a two-on-no-out jam to keep things tied. Not only did Swanson fail to drive in the go-ahead runs in the first, but he wasn't as sharp as he would have liked to be in the field as a costly fielding error followed a leadoff single from Connor Joe as the Pirates had two on and no outs for the second straight inning. For the second time in as many frames, Hendricks was close to working out of the jam, but this time, it was Miguel Andujar coming as his RBI double put the Pirates in front for good 2-0, with neither of those runs being charged to Hendricks. Looking to bounce back in the bottom of the third, Mike Tauchman started things off with a one-out single while walks to Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger loaded the bases with two outs. Once again, with an opportunity to do damage, Swanson came up empty, striking out to end another threat as his season-long woes in the clutch continued. The Cubs continued to have their chances in the fourth inning as they put two more runners on base, but once again, their inability to come through in the clutch haunts them as the score remained 2-0 after four. The same can't be said about the Pirates, as they have come up clutch pretty much all series long when given the opportunity. A one-out double from Ke'Bryan Hayes set the Pirates offense up in the fifth, with Jack Suwinski adding a single to put runners on the corners. For the second time in as many at-bats, Andjuar came through as his RBI single made things 3-0 Pirates, or should we say 3-0 Andujar. That would be the lone earned run Hendricks would allow and the final run he would allow in the game, as it would be up to the Cubs pen to keep things close. Drew Smyly did his part by tossing a scoreless seventh, but with the offense squandering another scoring opportunity in the fifth, it was starting to look like one of those nights for the Cubs. That was until the seventh inning rolled around, as Oviedo was pulled from the game in favor of the hard-throwing Colin Selby. Two batters into his outing saw Ian Happ extend his on-base to 59-straight against the Pirates as he picked up a one-out single. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Swanson finally came through in the clutch and delivered an RBI knock to put the Cubs on the board as they were within 3-1 entering the eighth. For the most part, the Cubs bullpen has been solid all season, but when you ride the same four guys most of the season and have two injured, fatigue will set in as other guys need to step up. One of those guys needs to be Brad Boxberger, who recently returned from a four-month stay on the IL. Boxberger has struggled most of the season, but he has pitched better since his return, which is a good sign. After walking the leadoff hitter to begin the eighth, Boxberger retired the next two, only to see Ji-Hwan Bae rip an RBI triple to right field to extend the lead to 4-1. Bae would come home to score on a Joe single to make things 5-1, but Joe was thrown out on the bases to end the inning. Needing runs in a hurry, the Cubs offense finally started showing signs of life, and it came off of Colin Holderman. After Yan Gomes worked a one-out walk to put a runner on base, Miles Mastrobuoni singled to left as he has five hits in his last two games. Mike Tauchman kept the line moving with an opposite-field single to make things 5-2, while a wild pitch pulled the Cubs within 5-3, and Hoerner came to the plate. Holderman managed to retire Hoerner for a huge second out, but another run came across to score as the Cubs were suddenly within 5-4. Arguably, the Cubs best reliever this season, not named Adbert Alzolay, could be Julian Merryweather, as he was called on to pitch the ninth. Needing to toss a scoreless frame to keep things close, Merryweather showed signs of fatigue as he walked two of the first three hitters with a Hayes double mixed in. The good news is that Bryan Reynolds was thrown out trying to score on that double as Merryweather was one pitch away from escaping trouble. Unfortunately, the Pirates were one pitch away from putting this away, with Josh Palacios unloading for his second homer in as many days to extend the Pirates lead to 8-4. Down to their final three outs and with David Bednar on the mound, things were not looking good for the Cubs, but they wouldn't go down without a fight. With Bellinger starting the inning with a double, it was Swanson making things interesting as he connected for a two-run homer to make things 8-6. Bednar then found himself in a lengthy battle with Seiya Suzuki, only to win that battle with a strikeout. That was the wake-up call he needed as the Cubs final two hitters were retired in order as the Pirates came into Wrigley Field and took two of three from the Cubs. “It is a sense of urgency,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “We've got to throw up wins. That's how we're going to get to the postseason. We've got to win baseball games. This is a big boy league. There's big boys in there. "They've been up against adversity all season long and have answered the bell. That group's not going to shy away from a challenge.” Now tied for the final Wild Card spot, the Cubs will look to take care of business on their last home series of the season as Jordan Wicks will kick things off against the Colorado Rockies Friday afternoon. “When we hit, we didn't pitch,” Ross said. “Some calls didn't go our way. We're not going to win when we don't play clean baseball. We've got to pitch better. … Mistakes in the field. Guys that don't make mistakes made mistakes. “It's just where we're at right now. … We've just got to turn it around. It's on me. It's on the guys in that room.”
