Cubs suffer gut punch in walk-off loss to Giants |
SAN FRANCISCO - There have been a lot of great baseball players who have died in the past few seasons, but none have been as great as Willie Mays. Arguably the greatest player of all time, Mays passed away at the age of 93 last week and has been an icon of the game since the moment he played.
With the San Francisco Giants (37-42) set to honor him at Oracle Park on Monday with the whole team wearing his No. 24, emotions were already running high, and the Chicago Cubs (37-42) knew they would be in for a challenge. Through eight innings, the Cubs looked like they were more than ready for that challenge as Justin Steele dominated the Giants through 7 1/3 innings as the Cubs held a 4-2 lead. Then came the bullpen as they suffered potentially the worst of all their 17 blown saves as a walk-off walk from Drew Smyly sealed the fate of the Cubs as the Giants rallied for the 5-4 win. When you talk about a player that has a teams number, Steele could be that guy as he has carved up the Giants over his career. Not only did he strike out a career-high 12 against them last season, but when he faced off against them last week, it was more of the same as the Giants don't see the ball well off him. Throw in that he entered this start with just one earned run allowed in his last 20 road innings, and the Giants were going to have a hard time snapping their five-game losing streak. Steele continued his mastery against the Giants as he settled into a nice groove early before allowing a pair of solo homers late in his outing. Still, Steele gave the Cubs 7 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs and striking out a season-high nine as he did his part to deliver the win for the Cubs. Like the Cubs, the Giants have had to deal with their share of injuries this season, but their rotation has suffered the most. With Jordan Hicks listed as the only probable later this week, the Giants could be going with three bullpen games this season, and Monday was one of those games. Anytime that happens, you need to capitalize on those situations, and the Cubs couldn't do that enough, which kept the Giants in the game. In three of the first four innings, the Cubs had multiple runners on base, but per usual, couldn't drive them in when needed. Then came the fourth inning, where the Cubs had a golden opportunity to take the lead and leave a massive dent in the process. With Raymond Burgos making his MLB debut, the Cubs made life difficult for him as a pair of singles from Cody Bellinger and Christopher Morel started things off before the Ian Happ walk loaded the bases with no outs. These are the situations you need to capitalize on, and to the Cubs' credit, they did take the lead on a Michael Busch fielder's choice. However, to only come away with one run hurts, and you had to wonder if that was going to come back to haunt them. However, with Steele pitching the way he was and retiring 11 straight at one point, maybe one run was going to be enough, as the Giants had no answers for the Cubs' left-handed pitcher. The Cubs continued to keep the pressure on in the fifth as they loaded the bases for a second straight inning off the Nico Hoerner walk and singles by Seiya Suzuki and Bellinger as the Cubs were given a second chance to break this one open. This time, they managed to do more damage, with Morel pushing home the second run with a bases-loaded walk while the Happ grounder extended the lead to 3-0. Dansby Swanson added an RBI double later in the inning to push the lead to 4-0, but that was it for the Cubs, not only in this inning but for the game. It took five innings for the Giants to break through against Steele, and Matt Chapman ended the shutout bid with a solo blast to lead off the bottom of the fifth. One inning later, it was Nick Ahmed doing the same thing as the Giants used a pair of solo shots to pull within 4-2. The Ahmed homer came after a leadoff triple from Pete Crow-Armstrong to begin the sixth, but after failing to score on that opportunity, this was starting to have that deja vu feeling for this team. Still holding their 4-2 lead in the eighth, Steele trotted out for another inning of work, but you could see the fatigue setting in. With Ahmed starting things off with a leadoff walk, the Heilot Ramos double put a pair of runners on with one out and had the Cubs in danger of letting this lead slip away. That was until Tyson Miller came in to slam the door as he picked up a massive strikeout against Wilmer Flores before getting Jorge Soler to fly out to end the frame. Given that Miller only threw eight pitches in the eighth, many expected him to come out for the ninth to pick up the save. Instead, Craig Counsell chose to go with Colten Brewer in a questionable move. Two batters into the inning saw the Giants on the verge of tying things up as Chapman led things off with a double before advancing to third on a bunt single from Thairo Estrada. Brewer managed to get Michael Conforto out a few pitches later, but Conforto did his job as a sacrifice fly pulled the Giants within 4-3 and called for Counsell to go back to his pen with Drew Smyly next in line to try and lock things down. Talk about the worst possible scenario for Smyly and the Cubs, Patrick Bailey needed just one pitch to keep the line move as he singled up the middle to put runners on before a walk to Ahmed loaded the bases. In desperate need of an out, Smyly got the out he was looking for, but it came at a price as Austin Slater drove one to deep center field for the Giants second sacrifice fly of the inning to tie things up 4-4. Instead of taking his chances with Ramos, Smyly intentionally walked him to load the bases and was forced to go after Flores. This was one of those times when the Cubs plans backfired as Flores worked a bases-loaded walk to end the game as the Giants walked off the Cubs 5-4. This is just another one of the painful gut-punch losses this team has suffered this season. They have now blown 17 saves. At this point, you have to wonder how much longer the front office can put up with this unless they have made up their mind to become sellers this season. Hoerner, Bellinger, and Swanson led the Cubs with two hits. “There’s no question we left runs on the bases … that was a game we should’ve broken open.” “At the end of the day, we just gotta show up and win ballgames.” “Probably the toughest loss of the year.”
Craig Counsell on the Cubs’ offense tonight. pic.twitter.com/YWvtXxJha3
Justin Steele looks to turn the corner after last night’s loss. pic.twitter.com/4KDcrOS2pK
The Cubs have lost their last 6 series openers. pic.twitter.com/5PnJCwJpOm
