Cubs bullpen squanders lead in series loss to A's |
CHICAGO - There is your dagger for the 2024 Chicago Cubs (77-75). Although technically, they aren't mathematically eliminated quite yet, the Cubs are now 6.5 games out of a playoff spot with only 10 games to play. Essentially, they would need to run the table over the final 10 games and hope for an epic New York Mets collapse and even that may not be enough.
Knowing this team's position, it will be interesting to see how they handle the rest of the season, especially next when the AAA season comes to an end. Do they call up some of the top prospects and give them a chance? If so, who comes up and who sits? Had the Cubs not lost to the Oakland Athletics (67-86) at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, there would've been a slightly different vibe around the ballpark, but this game had one of those eery feelings where you knew this team was basically out of it without saying they are. If the fans still thought this team had a shot heading into Wednesday, all of those feelings have now gone out the window as the Cubs bullpen allowed four runs across the seventh and eighth innings in a 5-3 series. In a rather surprising move, Justin Steele was not only cleared to return to action but also made the start, as many felt he should take the year off. While the thought process was mainly about the Cubs still being alive, you have to wonder if Steele will make another start, as he struggled to find the zone and was clearly on a pitch count. The Cubs left-hander needed 57 pitches to get through 2 2/3, walking three and striking out one before giving way to Ethan Roberts and a plethora of bullpen arms. Opposing Steele was fellow left-hander Brady Basso, who was dialed in early before coming undone in the fifth. Still, Basso kept the Cubs offense in check most of his outing as he pitched into the fifth with five strikeouts before coming out of the game after allowing three runs. His ERA is still just 2.33 for the season as he continues to pitch well. With neither team being able to do much of anything through two innings, you had a sense this was going to be a pitcher's duel until the third inning rolled around. In that inning, Oakland mounted a two-out rally, and a pair of singles from Lawrence Butler and Shea Langeliers were sandwiched around a walk as Oakland loaded the bases. Steele was removed following the Langeliers hit as Roberts came in to extinguish the fire and kept things knotted 0-0. Eventually, you had a feeling that the pressure the A's were putting on the Cubs would come back to bite them, and that happened in the fourth with Tyler Soderstrom taking Roberts deep for his eighth homer of the season and gave Oakland a 1-0. That would be their only run for quite a while, but given how Basso was throwing through four innings, one run was looking to be enough. It took five innings for the Cubs to do anything against Basso, and with Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong leading things off with a pair of singles, the Cubs were in business. Miguel Amaya followed those singles with a walk to load the bases as the Cubs were in a prime position to break things out. Looking to get out of the inning with the bases loaded, Basso got the ground ball he was looking for, but a tricky hop allowed Dansby Swanson to reach first for an infield single, and just like that, this was a 1-1 game. Seiya Suzuki kept the line moving with a seeing-eye single to put the Cubs in front 2-1, with Cody Bellinger adding a sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. Those would be the only runs of the game for the Cubs, as the Athletics bullpen continued to do its job and remained the strength of this team. In what was now a battle of the bullpens, neither team wanted to blink as the trio of Roberts, Keegan Thompson and Tyson Miller kept the A's off the board as the Cubs maintained their 3-1 lead through six. The entire landscape of this game changed in the seventh, and it came from another questionable managerial decision: Craig Counsell elected to go with Drew Smyly. For the most part, Smyly has had a good season, but it has been his past few outings that have frustrated most fans. His struggles carried over into this one as a pair of singles from Soderstrom and Tyler Nevin started the inning off with a sacrifice bunt, moving both runners up 90 feet. After Butler drove home the A's second run with an RBI grounder, Smyly was one out away from keeping the Cubs in front, only to be lifted in favor of Nate Pearson. Like most of the Cubs in season relief pickups, Pearson has been very good with the Cubs, but after allowing a Brent Rooker single to tie things up 3-3, it changed the whole dynamic of the game as Mark Kotsay could now go to his best options late in the game. That all started with Tyler Ferguson in the seventh as he worked a scoreless inning and had the A's thinking Mason Miller in the ninth. To get the ball to him, they needed to figure out a way to take the lead and it didn't take long for them to do that with Seth Brown starting the eighth inning off with a single. A few pitches later saw the A's grab the lead for good as Zack Gelof laced one into the left field corner for an RBI triple to put Oakland in front 4-3. Gelof would eventually come home to score on the Soderstrom fielder's choice as the A's took the 5-3 lead. With the Cubs going quietly in the eighth, Jorge Lopez returned to the mound for the first time in two weeks and needed just eight pitchers to retire the A's, striking out two in the process. That set the stage once again for Miller as he was looking to lock down his second save in as many days. Like on Tuesday, the Cubs managed to put a runner on base as Hoerner worked a one-out walk, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Pete Crow-Armstrong. Of all the hitters that could turn on a Miller fastball, PCA is one of those guys, and he did just that by ripping a well-struck ball toward second base only to have the A's turn a tremendous double play to end the game and give Oakland the 5-3 win. Hits were hard to come by for the Cubs, as they were held to six hits. Hoerner and Swanson were responsible for four of those hits as PCA and Suzuki added the remaining two. The Cubs will now turn their attention to the Washington Nationals as they kick off a four-game set on Thursday night. "They've slipped in September again, they're 7-9, and that's frustrating."
Joe Girardi on the Cubs' struggles this month. pic.twitter.com/ChIOuxe9Pl
