Stroman shines in frustrating loss against Nationals |
WASHINGTON DC - Throughout an MLB season, every team will go through their peaks and valleys, and right now, the Chicago Cubs (15-15) are in a deep valley. This was expected to happen at some point this season, but no one expected this to happen against teams like the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals (12-18), which has put this team at a crossroads about where to go from here.
Already with a losing road trip in hand, the Cubs were hoping to gain the series edge against the Nationals Wednesday as they turned to Marcus Stroman at Nationals Park to face off against Jake Irving, who was making his MLB debut. These are the games you need to capitalize on if you want to be taken seriously, and the Cubs had Irving on the ropes early, only to come away with one run. Unfortunately, that run was all they could generate on offense as another late-game letdown by the bullpen ruined a strong start from Stroman as the Cubs fell to the Nationals 2-1. Losses like this put things into perspective, and you have to start questioning Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins as to whether or not the 26 best players are in the majors right now. When you look at what Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel are doing in AAA, it is hard to justify that the Cubs have the best 26 players on the Northside right now, which is discouraging. Since the start of the season, Stroman has looked the part of an ace for Chicago, even if the results have not been there. He is now six starts into his 2023 campaign, and the Cubs have given him a total of 13 runs, four of which came on opening day. It is hard to win consistently when your offense doesn't give you much support, and Stroman was the victim of that again. Marcus Stroman, Filth pic.twitter.com/UqMQ6wBx5H
Although he wasn't as sharp as he typically is, Stroman was still able to limit the damage as he allowed one run on five hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out five to lower his ERA to 2.18 this season. Considering there was a rookie on the other side making his first MLB start, you had to think those numbers would be good enough to win, especially when you look at how things started for Irving on the night. Irving started the game by hitting Nico Hoerner on the first pitch, as you could tell the nerves were there. Following a strikeout to Dansby Swanson, Irving would walk Ian Happ, and the Cubs had something going in the first. Looking to break through with two outs, Seiya Suzuki delivered an RBI single to right field to bring home the game's first run and a 1-0 Cubs lead. 2-out scoring 🤌@suzuki_seiya_sb | @nico_hoerner pic.twitter.com/j7BZJwt2IY Unfortunately, the offense couldn't do anything else, and they let Irving off the hook for what should have been a bigger inning. With the lead, Stroman was able to do his thing on the mound, but to the National's credit, they didn't make things easy. Joey Meneses started the second with a single to right and then advanced to third on the Jeimer Candelario single to put runners on the corners and no outs. Stroman recovered nicely and got Dominic Smith to ground into a double play, but a run came home to score and tied things up 1-1. Apart from that, Stroman was excellent, as he allowed two hits the rest of his outing. Both Stroman and Irving had to deal with traffic through five innings but managed to pitch around it as things were deadlocked 1-1. In the fifth, the Cubs had a chance to make things happen using walks by Patrick Wisdom and Hoerner to chase Irving, who lasted 4 1/3. Andres Machado took over and induced a Swanson double play to end the threat as the Cub's offense continued to struggle, driving people in. Stroman continued to flirt with danger in the fifth, only to pitch out of trouble before finishing his outing after six solid innings but leaving with the game tied. .@STR0 gets out of the jam in the 5th! pic.twitter.com/BgZoi4ObWa
What was now a game of who had the better bullpen, Carl Edwards Jr pitched the seventh and induced another costly double play by the Cubs, while Adbert Alzolay took over in the seventh for Chicago. One of the more consistent pitchers in the Cubs pen this season, it was time for Alzolay to have his rough outing, which has been a theme on this road trip. Lane Thomas led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple, and just like that, the Nationals were threatening. That single was followed by another CJ Abrams single to put the Nationals in front for good, 2-1. Mark Leiter Jr took over for Alzolay to close out the frame, but the damage was done at this point, and the Cubs were playing catchup again. Down to their final three outs, it was now or never for the Cubs offense as they looked to solve Kyle Finnegan. Singles from Suzuki and Trey Mancini to start things off certainly had things going in the right direction until an Eric Hosmer forceout erased Mancini. The Cubs still had runners on the corners with one out and only needed a fly ball or a hit to tie the game, with Wisdom coming to the plate. Not an ideal candidate to have in a high-leverage situation, Wisdom did something he usually doesn't do: put the ball on the ground for a game-ending double play as the Nationals hung on for the 2-1 win. The Cubs had six hits, all coming from Happ, Suzuki, and Mancini, who all had two hits in the game. Chicago will look to earn a series sweep Thursday when Jameson Taillon returns from the IL to face Patrick Corbin.
