Game Recap: Mervis, Suzuki homer in another loss to Astros |
HOUSTON - Throughout the Chicago Cubs (19-23) struggles for the better part of three weeks, one constant could be found within the team. That would be having Justin Steele play stopper as the left-hander has been one of the best pitchers in baseball. Entering the game with a 6-0 record and sporting a 1.82 ERA, the Cubs had all the confidence in the world in the left-hander as he has delivered every time this season.
You had to expect a rough outing sooner or later, and when you face off against the Houston Astros (23-19), those rough outings can come in bunches, especially at Minute Maid Park. While Steele may be the ace of the Cubs staff, you could argue that Christian Javier is the ace of the Astros, as he has been just as good as Steele. Going back to last season, Javier has the second-lowest batting average against in Major League Baseball, as opponents hit just .177 against him. Considering the command he has shown this season, nothing comes easy against Javier, which is not good for a struggling offense. The Cubs offensive struggles continued on Tuesday as they scored just once off Javier, who struck out five in six innings of work. To make matters worse, Steele picked a bad time to have his worst outing of the season. Despite walking one and striking out eight in six innings, Steele allowed five earned runs, with four coming in one inning. That was plenty for Houston as they took the series from the Cubs with a 7-3 win. Steele's ERA rose to 2.44 with the loss, as this team is starting to look like the 2021 Cubs, which is not a good sign. One of the constants for this team all season has been good starting pitching, but even that has begun to disappear on this road trip. Another thing that has been an issue is playing from behind, as the Cubs have allowed a first-inning run in four-straight games. Granted, they didn't allow four runs as they did on Monday, but Chicago still found themselves trailing 1-0 after one as Mauricio Dubon scored on a Steele wild pitch. Thankfully that lead didn't last long as Matt Mervis connected for his first career homer in the second with a screamer off the right field foul pole. Matt Mervis - Chicago Cubs (1)
"I’m just trying to swing at the right pitches," Mervis said in postgame. "I got a lot of pitches in the strike zone today. I wasn’t very passive. I was swinging the bat, and I felt good, so just letting it fly." That was it for the Cubs offensively for quite some time as Javier and the Houston staff continued to handcuff this team. Following that shaky first inning, Steele was getting into a nice groove until a leadoff hit by pitch in the fourth was the turning point. That was followed by a pair of RBI doubles from Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, and just like that, it was a 3-1 Houston lead. Steele would bounce back to retire the next two hitters, but Corey Julks kept the party with a third RBI double of the inning to push the lead to 4-1. Chas McCormick made it four RBI doubles as the Astros used a four-run fourth to take a commanding 5-1 lead and put an end to a strong run of starts from Steele. At this juncture in the game, you had to know things would be an uphill battle, with Miles Mastrobuoni picking up the lone hit for the next few innings. When a team struggles to put runners on base, wins will be hard to come by, and the top of the Cubs order was lifeless today. If there was a positive to take away from this, it might be the games that Seiya Suzuki and Mervis had as they each picked up a pair of hits to lead the way. With Steele giving the Cubs a much-needed six innings, despite his struggles, the recently called-up Nick Burdi took over in the seventh as the Cubs bullpen was tasked with keeping things where they were. Averaging 97 MPH with his heater, Burdi topped out at 102 with AAA Iowa this season and brings a much-needed power arm to the Cubs pen. Not only did Burdi struggle, but Houston put the pressure on him immediately, with Martin Maldonado picking up a one-out walk before advancing to third on the Dubon double. That was followed by an Alex Bregman sacrifice fly, and another Alvarez hit as Houston opened the game up 7-1. Burdi finished the inning with a strikeout, but once again, the Cubs were trailing by a lot lately and didn't have much time to change things. A scoreless eighth by Matt Gage and Julian Merryweather sent the game to the ninth as the Cubs were down to their final three outs. Electing to stick with Gage for the ninth, Dusty Baker saw the Cubs make some solid contact, with Christopher Morel picking up a one-out double. Two batters later saw Suzuki pick up his second hit of the night as his second homer of the road trip pulled the Cubs within 7-3. Seiya Suzuki - Chicago Cubs (3) pic.twitter.com/tbUGD4yEFb
Mervis followed that up with a single, but nothing more would come from it as Patrick Wisdom struck out to end the game and another series loss for this team. Once again, strikeouts continued to be an issue for this team as they topped double-digit strikeouts with 10 for the fifth straight game. Chicago picked up six hits in the game, with Mervis and Suzuki leading the way with two. Chicago will look to avoid the sweep on Wednesday when they turn to left-hander Drew Smyly. Opposing him will be the rookie JP France making his third MLB start. Through two starts, France has allowed one run in 11 innings of work as the Cubs will have their work cut out for them again.
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