SAN FRANCISCO – The Chicago Cubs continue to find excruciating ways to lose. The lack of stars continues to appear in these one-run games. The offense doesn’t have a true middle-of-the-order slugger to hit the opponent. The bullpen doesn’t have a dominant closer with a game-over song. And even when Justin Steele pitches like an ace, other things go wrong.
The Cubs already wasted a Cy Young-caliber season at the hands of Steele, finishing one win shy of last year’s playoffs. Keeping most of the same team intact under a new coach hasn’t made any difference. If anything, watching the same game over and over again has exposed the organization’s weaknesses.
A nightly silence enveloped the Oracle Park visiting clubhouse after Monday’s 5-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Several players sat quietly in their chairs, staring straight ahead at a locker or staring at their phones. Add this to the current list of games that will doom the Cubs if another season ends with 83 wins when 84 is enough to make the playoffs.
The rut the Cubs are in right now can be looked at in two ways: A strong rotation led by Steele can get them out of it by giving them a chance to win virtually every night. Or the team has wasted a great run of starting pitching, digging itself a hole that will be difficult, if not impossible, to escape from.
“They don’t hand out wins,” Steele said after allowing just two runs in 7 1/3 innings, controlling most of the game only to see save No. 17 blown by the bullpen.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell indicated that Hector Neris was available, although Neris is clearly no longer considered the default closer. Colten Brewer led off the ninth inning by allowing a hit that Matt Chapman turned into a double when Pete Crow-Armstrong failed to make a spectacular catch in center field. Thairo Estrada’s perfectly placed bunt ended up being a hit. After a sacrifice fly, Counsell brought in left-hander Drew Smyly to protect a one-run lead.
Smyly got a grounder against pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey, but it rebounded and had a hit. Smyly then walked San Francisco’s ninth batter, Nick Ahmed, before another sacrifice fly tied the game. The Cubs intentionally walked Heliot Ramos, a move that loaded the bases for Wilmer Flores, who drew a five-pitch walk against Smyly to force in the winning run.
“We’re all trying to figure it out, fix it,” Smyly said.
Counsell’s bullpen decisions might have been different had Seiya Suzuki not missed another fly ball in right field, ending Steele’s night. Counsell brought in Tyson Miller, a reliable and influential reliever, to put out that fire in the eighth inning. The Cubs also scored just four runs and generated 10 hits and seven walks, stranding 12 runners. Nobody asks about the pitcher in the ninth inning of a spectacular game.
“There’s no question we left runs on the bases,” Counsell said. “We could have had 5, 6, 7 on the board just moving the ball forward, and we didn’t. We have to do better at that. That was a game we should have opened up. “That cost us.”
Bad luck and bad timing haven’t stopped Steele from developing into a top-line starter. The left-hander has added more wrinkles to his fastball-slider combo, occasionally mixing in a changeup and curveball to keep hitters guessing. He is no longer a pitcher trying to find his identity or a young player hoping to prove that he belongs.
Steele’s big question heading into this season was whether he could do it again. Another All-Star selection became unlikely as soon as he suffered a strained left hamstring on Opening Day, an injury that sidelined him for more than a month. Failures in other phases of the game have left him winless in his first 11 outings, which is hard to believe considering he allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight of those outings.
The push is supposed to start with tomorrow’s starting pitcher, but an unreliable bullpen and low-scoring offense have repeatedly undermined this team. Combined, Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Ben Brown have posted a 2.97 ERA in 61 starts. However, the Cubs (37-42) have still sunk to five games under .500, making the idea of a hot streak seem increasingly elusive.
“You’re going to have ups and downs,” Steele said. “There are a lot of different things that each unit will have to deal with throughout the season. I feel like they’re doing a great job down there (in the bullpen). This game is not easy. Hitters always say pitchers drive good cars too. And all the pitchers say the hitters drive good cars too, because both sides have a lot of talent. These are the big leagues. Any inch you give, the teams will take a mile.”
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