Reds sweep Cubs despite Wisdom's huge day |
CHICAGO - Any time you get swept at home by the Cincinnati Reds (24-29), you know things are a struggle. That is the case for the Chicago Cubs (22-30), as they can't seem to do anything right. What hurts the most is that two of the Cub's three best pitchers are starting to struggle, and both have had strong runs at Wrigley Field the past two seasons.
Looking to salvage the final game of a rough weekend series, the Cubs turned to the surprising Drew Smyly as he took on the Reds young right Graham Ashcroft. Smyly has been a breath of fresh air in the Cubs rotation this year as he and Justin Steele have formed quite the lefty pairing. Like Steele on Friday, Smyly got knocked around and failed to make it out of the fifth inning after allowing five runs on seven hits. That proved too much as the Reds overcame a two-homer five RBI day from Patrick Wisdom to sweep the Cubs 8-5. The Reds wasted little time jumping on Smyly, needing just two innings to grab the lead. A one-out double from Stuart Fairchild started that rally as he came around to score on the Nick Senzel single. After a Kevin Newman single moved Senzel up before he advanced to third on a wild pitch, the Jake Fraley groundout doubled the Reds lead and put them in front 2-0. Fortunately for the Cubs, their offense had a huge inning up their sleeve as they capitalized on the struggling Ashcraft early. A leadoff walk by Seiya Suzuki was a solid start, as was the two-out single from Mike Tauchman to keep the inning alive. Looking to pick up a rare hit with runners in scoring position, Wisdom delivered his first of two big flies as his three-run shot gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Patrick Wisdom goes DEEP into the Wrigley Field bleachers. pic.twitter.com/DfWXk8d0uj
That was the only lead the Cubs had in the game, as the Reds not only used that inning as motivation but managed to do something very few teams have been able to do against Smyly this season. All it took for the Reds to tie things up in the third was a pair of doubles to begin the inning, with Matt McClain continuing his massive series with another RBI hit. That score remained tied until the fifth, when the Reds took the lead for good and chased Smyly from the game. That came after Trey Mancini and Tauchman led off the bottom of the fourth with singles before Ashcraft got out of the inning without allowing a run. Ashcraft was far from perfect, but take away that second inning, and he did a great job settling in to neutralize the Cubs offense. Like he has done a lot during this series, McClain started the fifth-inning rally for the Reds as his one-out single put a runner on base. Following a throwing error by Smyly and a walk, David Ross elected to go to his pen. He called upon the young Jeremiah Estrada to escape a challenging situation. Unfortunately, Estrada was not on top of his game, allowing a go-ahead TJ Friedl double to put the Reds up 4-3 before a pair of walks made things 5-3. The Reds continued to hammer the Cubs pen in the sixth, as this has been an ongoing struggle all year. This time, Brandon Hughes was roughed up in the sixth as the Reds used a Spencer Steer homer to extend the lead to 7-3 and had the Cubs on the ropes. With Ashcraft out of the game after five, Chicago hoped they would be able to solve the Reds bullpen, but they have done a great job this series. That appeared to be changing when Lucas Sims entered the game in the sixth as the Cubs used a one-out rally to make things interesting. Mancini started that rally with a walk, while a Tauchman single and Wisdom walk loaded the bases with one out. All the Cubs needed to make things interesting was a hit, but per usual, they couldn't cash in as Sims worked through that jam to keep the Reds in front 7-3. By the time the seventh inning rolled around, it didn't seem to matter who the Cubs trotted out as a leadoff single from Friedl off of Michael Rucker was followed by a Senzel double to push the lead to 8-3. Despite his struggles across his two innings, that was the lone run Rucker would allow as he pitched into and out of trouble to limit the damage. Trailing by five and only six outs to work with, the Cubs needed offense in a hurry and again turned to Wisdom to provide the offense. A one-out double from Mancini put a runner in scoring position before Wisdom connected for his second homer of the day to make things 8-5. Patrick Wisdom smacks his 14th home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/RubPyEUDc3
The five RBI game was the second most for Wisdom in his career, but when the rest of the offense doesn't back you up, the result is never good, as the Cubs suffer a rare and ugly sweep to the Reds 8-5. Wisdom was one of four players to record a multi-hit game, with Tauchman leading the way with three hits. Dansby Swanson, Wisdom, and Mancini added two hits in the loss as the Cubs fell to 2-4 on this homestand. “We’re not playing up to our caliber. I think everyone’s aware of that,” said Wisdom after the loss. “But it’s baseball. At any point, it can turn in our favor. We still have a lot of belief in this clubhouse and we believe in one another and so I think that’s key for us to keep going and not lose that faith.”
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) May 28, 2023
