Cubs lose frustrating game against Nationals |
CHICAGO - The 2023 season for the Chicago Cubs (43-50) has been an endless roller coaster and one that is far from over. Despite all the struggles that they have had over the past three months, the Cubs are still not out of it and can become buyers at the trade deadline with one big winning streak.
Jed Hoyer indicated that he wanted to be a buyer; the front office has given them the green light to be a buyer, but that can only happen if this team starts to win games. Coming into their series with the Washington Nationals (38-56) at Wrigley Field, the Cubs had to turn things around quickly as they have now lost three consecutive home series. That can't happen for any team, but it is inexcusable for a team trying to make a playoff push. Although the front office wants to be buyers, the Cubs may have played themselves out of that in just four games as they dropped another ugly game to the Nationals on Monday, 7-5. Remember early in the season when Drew Smyly was part of the three-headed monster in this rotation and looked as good as he ever has? Neither do most fans, as Smyly has had a rough go of things for a while now. Sure, he continues to give the Cubs length by tossing six innings, but any time you allow five runs on eight hits, you are asking for trouble. Had the bullpen not given up a pair of runs in the seventh, his start wouldn't have been that bad as fellow left-hander Mackenzie Gore pitched into the seventh and also allowed five runs. Those are the games the Cubs need to capitalize on as they continue to fail miserably at the margins. While scoring five runs is typically enough to win most games, you can't put yourself in a 5-1 hole and expect things to be ok. That happened to the Cubs on Monday, as the Nationals struck early and often against Smyly to build an early lead. Three batters into the game saw the Nationals grab a 2-0 lead as former Cub and potential trade target Jeimer Candelario uncorked a two-run shot off Smyly to build a 2-0 lead. Smyly would allow a double later in the inning before settling down slightly. After a perfect first inning Gore, things went south in a hurry in the second, with Cody Bellinger leading things off with a single ahead of the Yan Gomes walk. Christopher Morel kept the line moving with an RBI single of his own to cut the deficit in half, but things could have been worse for the Nationals. Once the fourth inning rolled around, the Washington offense started to get rolling, with Keibert Ruiz leading things off with a walk as he reached base three times in the game. Stone Garrett followed that up with a double before the Dominic Smith groundout made things 3-1. Throw in a Luis Garcia single to push the lead to 4-1, and the Nationals were in complete control before Smyly finally worked out of the inning. Washington would add their fifth run on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly from Garcia as the Cubs offense continued to struggle against Gore. Despite his domination of the Cubs through five innings, Gore has had a rough season, and you knew it would only be a matter of time until they got to him. The sixth inning was that inning as Seiya Suzuki opened things up with a single and then came home on the Ian Happ homer to make things 5-3. That was a much-needed homer for Happ, as he has been in a power drought for most of 2023. With Smyly out of the game, Daniel Palencia was on the mound as he looked to continue his strong start to his career. The Nationals had other plans, with Candelario picking up a one-out single. That set the stage for Ruiz again, who took Palencia deep for a two-run shot, and just like that, the two-run deficit was back up to four. By the time the seventh inning rolled around, you got a sense that Gore was starting to run out of gas, and with Trey Mancini starting things off with a single, David Martinez got his pen up and throwing. Fortunately for the Cubs, he waited a bit too long as Patrick Wisdom connected for his second homer in three days to pull the Cubs to within 7-5. As bad as things have gone for the Nationals this season, their bullpen has been a strength, but with Mason Thompson allowing a pair of singles from Bellinger and Gomes in the eighth, it looked like the Cubs were about to break through. That didn't happen as Kyle Finnegan pitched out of that mini jam and sent the game to the ninth with the Nats up 7-5. Miguel Amaya would lead the bottom of the ninth off with a sharp single, but that would be the final baserunner for the Cubs as Finnegan toughed up when he had to and locked things down for the 7-5 win. Bellinger continued to lead the way for the Cubs and came away with two of the team's nine hits. The Cubs will look to even things up on Tuesday when they send Jameson Taillon to the mound against Patrick Corbin.
