Swanson's big day not enough as Cubs fall to Tigers |
DETROIT - At some point, David Ross and the Front office need to address the monkey in the room for the Chicago Cubs (65-60), which is figuring out what to do with their rotation. With every passing start that Marcus Stroman misses, it makes the Cubs miss him more, as he played a massive role in the team's success this season.
Sure, Stroman has been struggling since the latter part of June, and if you go back to June 1, he has been one of the worst pitchers in the National League. However, even he is a better option than what the Cubs have now, and that isn't saying much for Ross and his team. After being sent down to the bullpen two weeks ago to figure out his struggles, Left-hander Drew Smyly was forced back into the rotation, where he made a start against his former team, the Detroit Tigers (58-68), at Comerica Park on Tuesday. Like the Cubs have seen far too often from Smyly lately, he simply can't be trusted, and after allowing seven earned runs in less than four innings, the Cubs can no longer go to him for starts as the Tigers evened up their series with the Cubs with an 8-6 win. Smyly wasn't the only one who struggled on Tuesday as Tigers right-hander Reece Olson nearly matched Smyly in terms of what their lines looked like. The difference was Olson allowed six runs and not seven while also picking up seven strikeouts compared to just four from Smyly. Unlike Monday, which saw the Cubs get off to a fast start, the Tigers returned the favor Tuesday as the first inning continues to be a massive issue for Smyly. Andy Ibanez got to Smyly first as his one-out homer gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead and was the first of two for Ibanez in the game. After Spencer Torkelson worked a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Kerry Carpenter came through once more as his RBI single gave the Tigers a quick 2-0 lead. Detroit would extend their lead to 3-0 in the second as former Cub Zach McKinstry picked up a sacrifice fly to drive home Parker Meadows as the Cubs were searching for answers early. Even with a second-inning rally that saw the Cubs put two runners on and one out, Olson managed to pitch out of trouble as he kept the Cubs off the board through three. The same can't be said about the fourth inning, as the Cubs not only used the long ball to get back into the game but used it to take their first and only lead of the game. A leadoff walk from Ian Happ got the inning started for the Cubs, with Dansby Swanson ripping his 19th homer two hitters later to make things 3-2. For Swanson, that homer had to feel good, as his past seven games have been brutal, to say the least. Following that Swanson homer, you had a Seiya Suzuki single and the Jeimer Candelario two-run shot, and just like that, it was the Cubs in front by a score of 4-3. All that work the Cubs did battling back to take the lead quickly went away as the struggles of Smyly continued to get worse in the bottom half of the fourth. Walking Meadows to start the inning is never a good thing, nor is allowing a one-out single to McKinstry to put a pair of runners on. Another single from Matt Vierling followed that up to tie the game while Ibanez connected for his second homer in three at-bats with the Tigers back in front by a score of 7-4. That was the end of the road for Smyly, who was replaced by Hayden Wesneski and the Cubs pen as they proceeded to do a phenomenal job. Despite trailing on the scoreboard yet again. one thing this Cubs team has done well with this season is showing a ton of fight. That was once again on center stage in this one, with Mike Tauchman starting the fifth off on the right foot with a walk. His walk was followed by a pair of outs, while the Cody Bellinger double had a couple of runners in scoring position. Needing one swing to make things interesting, Swanson delivered as his opposite-field single brought home a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 7-6. Little did the Cubs know, those would be the final runs of the night for them as they would need the bullpen to step up in a big way. That they did as Wesneski and Daniel Palencia managed to keep things right where they were to give the Cubs a chance late. With Jason Foley on to replace Tyler Holton, the Cubs had one last rally left as the Suzuki single kept the inning alive with two outs. His single was followed by the Candelario double as he represented the winning run at second base. That is where he would stay as Foley managed to recover and kept the Tigers in front by one. Detroit would then build on their lead off of Jose Cuas in the eighth inning as a hit by a pitch and a pair of walks had the bases loaded with one down. Cuas recovered nicely as he got out of the inning with limited damage. Cuas did, however, hit Carpenter with the bases loaded to push in one run as the Tigers took an 8-6 lead into the ninth. To close things out was another former Cubs farmhand, Alex Lange. Despite allowing a one-out single to Nico Hoerner, Lange managed to get the job done as the Tigers evened things up with a solid win. Chicago had eight hits in the loss, with a trio of hitters coming away with strong days. Swanson led the way offensively with two hits and four RBIs as he snapped out of his prolonged slump. Suzuki and Candelario added two hits, with Candelario driving in the other two for the Cubs. Chicago will turn to Jameson Taillon on Wednesday as they look to cap off Interleague play with another series win.
