Cubs limp home after another one-run loss |
WASHINGTON DC: It has been a while, but for the first time since the first week of the 2023 MLB season, the Chicago Cubs (15-16) have fallen below the .500 mark. That comes off a terrible and frustrating 1-6 road trip which ended against the Washington Nationals (13-18) at Nationals Park on Thursday.
The theme for the entire road trip was missed opportunities and close games, as five of the Cub's six losses on this trip were one-run decisions. That included Thursday's game as the Cubs rallied from three runs down to tie it up in the eighth before Alex Call delivered the walk-off solo shot in the ninth against Brad Boxberger for the 4-3 win. Chicago is now 2-7 in one-run games but 0-5 on this trip as they let several games get away. That can't happen if you want to be taken seriously, and Chicago will have to address many unanswered questions in the coming weeks. In a surprising turn of events, Jameson Taillon came off the IL to make the start as he was facing Patrick Corbin on the mound. Expected to be on a limited pitch count, Taillon gave the Cubs three innings but was touched up for three runs in the process. He gave way to Javier Assad, who was as locked in as ever and gave the Cubs an impressive performance out of the pen. Assad kept the Cubs close and silenced the Nationals offense as he held them to just two hits in five scoreless frames. He desperately needed this outing after struggling the first few weeks of the season. Despite the strong outing from Assad, the real story was Corbin, who entered the game with a 5.47 ERA. Since signing with the Nationals, Corbin has been a shell of himself and has yet to reach the level he once was in Arizona. On this day, however, Corbin turned back the clock and pitched into the eighth inning after shutting the Cubs out through seven. He also allowed a questionable hit to Cody Bellinger in the second and needed just 80 pitches to get the job done, as he was brilliant on the mound. Not knowing what to expect from Taillon, he got off to a strong start before the command wavered in the second. That is to be expected when you have nearly three weeks off as Joey Meneses and Dominic Smith greeted him with singles to lead of the second and had the Nationals offense in business. A few pitches later saw Lane Thomas deliver the big blow as his three-run shot to left gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead. It was Thomas's third homer of the year, two of which came in the series. Taillon responded to that homer by striking out the next three, but that homer certainly hurt. Apart from that homer, there was not much of anything going on offensively as a total of two baserunners reached base, both on Nationals hits. With Assad doing his part to keep the Cubs close, you had to think the Cubs offense would solve Corbin sooner or later. It looked like Miguel Amaya and Dansby Swanson had doubles in consecutive innings, only to see Call come away with great plays in center. After being silenced through seven innings, the Cubs finally started to solve Corbin in the eighth, with Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom starting things off with singles. That forced the hand of Dave Martinez, who went to the pen in favor of Hunter Harvey. Pitching in his third straight game, Harvey was not at his best as Trey Mancini narrowly missed a three-run shot but settled for an RBI double to put the Cubs on the board. Following a Nelson Velazquez strikeout, Amaya came through with his first career RBI using a sacrifice fly to pull the Cubs within 3-2. Chicago wasn't quite finished as the struggling Nico Hoerner came through with a clutch single the opposite way, and just like that, this game was tied 3-3. .@Cubs rally to tie it! pic.twitter.com/Swew1Dux6z Looking to keep that momentum going, Assad retired the Nationals in order in the eighth and put the pressure back on the Cubs offense as they looked to solve Kyle Finnegan. Also, pitching in his third straight game, Finnegan has an ERA north of 6.00, but you would have never guessed that based on how he has looked this weekend. Like in the eighth, the Cubs came out fast, with Ian Happ working a leadoff walk before advancing to third on the Seiya Suzuki as the Cubs had a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs. There was a lot of questioning on that hit, as many felt Willie Harris should have sent Happ home on the play. That cautious gamble backfired on the Cubs as Finnegan responded by striking out Bellinger and Wisdom before getting Mancini to pop out as the Cubs woes with runners on base continued. Looking to send the game into extras, Brad Boxberger entered the game for his first action since Monday. All it took was one pitch as Call turned on a Boxberger heater and wrapped it around the left field foul pole for the solo shot as the Nationals walked off the Cubs 4-3. GOT THAT DAWG IN HIM SO HE TOOK EM FOR A WALK OFF pic.twitter.com/EUymCRDdg1
Although this road trip was about as frustrating as it could be, there was some good news to take away from this loss, as the Cubs will be calling up Matt Mervis to join the team on Friday. While it is unclear what the corresponding move will be at this point, it may be Edwin Rios going to AAA or an Eric Hosmer release to make room. Me simultaneously trying to process the Cubs finishing a 1-6 road trip against WAS/MIA and Matt Mervis finally being called up pic.twitter.com/NXVNwyb6Kp
