Game Recap: Twins blast Cubs with five homers |
MINNEAPOLIS - We said it yesterday, this current stretch that the Chicago Cubs (19-20) are in could ultimately make or break their season, as this could be their most brutal stretch of the entire season. After securing a series-opening win against the Minnesota Twins (22-18) on Friday, the Cubs returned to Target Field on Saturday for game two of their weekend set.
Looking to continue his recent run of strong starts, the Cubs turned to right-hander Hayden Wesneski who appears to have rediscovered himself as a pitcher, posting a 2.25 ERA across his last four starts. Opposing him has been one of the bigger surprises of this year's MLB season thus far as Joe Ryan and his sub-2.3 ERA took to the mound. Since retooling a few of his pitches and changing the grip, Ryan has been on a tear this season and was at it again on Saturday as the right-hander struck out 10 in six scoreless frames while scattering four hits. Throw in what Sonny Gray did on Friday, and the Twins starters have combined for 19 strikeouts, as the Cubs haven't looked good against their starters. Knowing he needed to be on top of his game, Wesneski was good in terms of his command as he walked one and struck out five in five innings of work. His problem was throwing too many strikes and too many hittable strikes as the Twins took him deep four times to route the Cubs 11-1. Wesneski was responsible for seven of those earned runs, as all of his recent progress has gone to waste. “Just execution, it felt like,” Ross said. “A lot of balls over the heart of the plate, a lot of hard contact, really good swings. You could kind of tell that a little bit early. … We haven’t had many of those. We haven’t had many clunkers like that early on where we’re out of the game. So, we’ll be back at it tomorrow.” The long ball has been an issue for Wesneski all season which is a surprise when you look at his track record going back to last season. With Alex Kirilloff taking him deep in the first, you got the sense that it would be one of those days for Wesneski as the Twins grabbed an early 1-0 lead. Minnesota made that lead hold up for the entire game, but it didn't come easy in the early innings as the Cubs had their chances against Ryan early on. Seiya Suzuki picked up a double in the second inning, with Tucker Barnhardt and Nick Madrigal leading off the third with singles. The result was an all too common theme, but the Cubs came away empty-handed with those chances and left several opportunities to go to waste early on. While the Cubs may have let opportunities get away, the Twins didn't, as they began to pull away in the third inning. Willi Castro led things off with a double while Ryan Jeffers worked a walk to put two runners on with no outs. A few pitches later saw Joey Gallo deliver the big blow as his three-run shot busted things open 4-0. To make matters worse, Kirilloff took Wesneski deep for the second time in as many at-bats as the Twins led 5-0. Minnesota continued to flex their muscles in the fifth inning as Wesneski has seen better days on the mound. Kirilloff picked up a one-out double to set the table, with Jorge Polanco making it four homers off of Wesneski to push the lead to 7-0. Wesneski finished the fifth, but the damage was done as the Cubs were facing a massive deficit with a starter dominating on the mound. “I think, overall, our execution was a little suspect relative to what it has been,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “Just one of those days. He made some good pitches. But a lot of times, attacking lineups is execution over stuff and it felt today that we just didn’t have our best execution.” Following the fifth, Ryan struck out the side in the sixth to cap off his dominant start, as it was up to the bullpens to finish things off. Michael Rucker was on first for David Ross and the Cubs as they worked around a pair of singles to keep the Twins off the board. Considering how most of the game went, that has to be considered a win, as Rucker has pitched very well this season. It may have taken seven innings for the Cubs to break through, but they can say they avoided a shutout which can be considered a moral victory. Jovani Moran took over for Ryan in the seventh and allowed a leadoff single to Christopher Morel to get the offense rolling. Two batters later saw Eric Hosmer work a walk before the Tucker Barnhardt single put the Cubs on the board, but still trailing 7-1. For Barnhardt, that was a hit he desperately needed as things haven't gone smoothly for him the past few weeks. Making his first appearance since returning from the IL was Brandon Hughes, who took over for Rucker in the seventh. Hughes was not at his best, allowing a Carlos Correa homer in the seventh for the Twin's fifth homer of the game and an 8-1 lead. In the eighth, things went from bad to worse for the Cubs as both Hosmer and Ross were ejected before Hughes ran into trouble, thus yielding to Brad Boxberger. Forced into a challenging situation with plenty of traffic on the bases, Gallo doubled home a run to make things 9-1, with Correa adding a two-run single to cap off the scoring 11-1. Before the ejection in the top half of the eighth, the Cubs loaded the bases on three walks, so clearly, the strike zone appeared to be an issue. Patience continued to play a massive role for the Cubs in the ninth as they worked two more walks, but once again came up empty as the Twins evened the series with an easy win. With six hits, the Cubs were not going to compete with five homers as Barnhardt led the way with two hits. Those hits helped him raise his average above the Mendoza line, as he is back to .213 for the season. The Cubs will turn to their Ace, Marcus Stroman, on Sunday as he will look to pitch them to a series win. Speaking of Stroman, the right-hander has made it clear that he wants to remain in Chicago and wants an extension. The Cubs feel the same, as the two sides are in the process of some extension talks.
