Hendricks, Cubs bullpen struggle in loss to D-backs |
PHOENIX - At some point, the Chicago Cubs (10-7) will be forced to make some tough decisions, which may happen sooner than anyone hoped. Following a dramatic win against the Arizona Diamondbacks (9-9) at Chase Field on Monday, the Cubs were involved in another close game as they looked to clinch a winning record on this road trip.
Once again it was another rough outing by Kyle Hendricks as he simply can't be trusted to take the ball right now which will put even more pressure on the Cubs pitching staff. Hendricks has struggled since the start of spring, and after allowing seven earned runs in less than five innings, he is in shambles as his ERA sits at 12.71 for the season. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Hendricks is the first pitcher in MLB to allow 5+ ER in his first four starts of the season since 2019. He's the first Cubs pitcher to do this since ERA became official in 1913. Despite his struggles, the Cubs offense broke out of their lengthy slump, pushing across 11 runs. That was the most they have had since Colorado, and normally, 11 runs are more than enough for this team to pick up the win. However, as bad as Hendricks was, the bullpen was even worse. Their early season struggles continued to leave this team in shambles, as the Diamondbacks walked off the Cubs 12-11 in 10 innings to return the favor. Things weren't that bad early on for Hendricks. He managed to get through the first without allowing a run while only allowing a Blaze Alexander fielder's choice through two to keep things close. Vintage Kyle Hendricks. The same can be said about Tommy Henry who was very good early on by allowing only a Miguel Amaya double in the third before coming undone later in the game. A big reason for Hendricks' struggles this season has been his lack of command paid with his usual home run issues. The long ball proved to be his undoing in the bottom of the third, with Lourdes Guriel Jr going deep to make things 3-1, with Joc Pederson adding a second homer later to push the lead to 4-1. As you have seen with the Cubs' offense a lot this season, not only can they strike fast, but when they do, it often leads to plenty of runs. That was the case in the fifth, as the Cubs went into an extra-base frenzy to push across four runs and take a 5-4 lead. Amaya started that with an RBI triple, as he was the offense in the early stages. BATS! pic.twitter.com/J3PNhFxYyW That triple was followed by a pair of doubles from Alexander Canario and Nico Hoerner, with Cody Bellinger putting the Cubs in front with their second triple of the inning. Belli triples for the LEAD! pic.twitter.com/fCBGVY2nWm Hoerner has been struggling most of the season, but with four hits in this one, he is snapping out of that slump, which will be good for this offense. Almost as quickly as the Cubs battled back to take the lead, Hendricks promptly gave it up as he labored through the fifth inning before departing with the bases loaded and putting the bullpen in a tough spot. Luke Little felt the wrath of that, although he didn't do himself many favors with three wild pitches, one of which led to the tying run scoring with a bases-loaded walk, putting Arizona in front 6-5. Little then allowed a sacrifice fly to Eugenio Suarez and an Alexander single as the Diamondbacks answered the Cubs four-run frame with one of their own to retake the 8-5 lead. At this point, it was all about survive and conquer for this team as the Cubs offense refused to go away. It was in the seventh inning when the Cubs not only retook the lead but also put them in a position to put the game away as the Arizona pen struggled just as much as the Cubs. Christopher Morel started the big inning with a sacrifice fly, while the Garrett Cooper single made things 8-7. The @Cubs won’t go away! pic.twitter.com/iwyLIDb809 However, the big blow came from Ian Happ, whose grand slam down the left field line capped off a six-run inning and put the Cubs back in front 11-8. A Happ-y, Happ-y slam 💣 pic.twitter.com/C31c6S18Ua Ian Happ’s first homer of the year is a grand slam! #Cubs pic.twitter.com/Y3qebV8lym This was the perfect time for Happ to break out of his homerless drought, as he was stuck in the middle of the longest drought to begin a regular season. Had the Cubs bullpen been at full strength, you had to like their chances to close this one out, but with Mark Leiter Jr being the only one Craig Counsell can trust, it makes for a challenging situation. YENCY ALMONTE GETS OUT OF IT! 🙌 With the Diamondbacks grabbing runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull within 11-10, the Cubs turned to Adbert Alzolay in the ninth to try to lock things down. Alzolay was one of the most dominant closers in the game last season, but his season has started on a negative note, which has the Cubs questioning their closer situation. Alzolay looked good early, retiring the first two hitters he faced and putting the Cubs within one out of securing the win. That was until Ketel Marte turned on another hanging slider and deposited it over the right-field fence to tie things up 11-11 and send the game into extra innings. That has been the biggest issue for Alzolay this season, as he is struggling to locate his slider, leading to hard contact and homers. After failing to score in the 10th and going down relatively quickly, it would be up to Drew Smyly to keep things alive for this team as he was called on to pitch the 10th. Given the struggles of Hendricks right now, you have to wonder if Smyly will get a look in the rotation, although he has been good out of the pen since last season. Smyly didn't last long as Randal Grichuk came off the bench for the second straight night to deliver a hit off of Smyly, with this one coming as a walk-off single to lift Arizona to the 12-11 win in 10. Chicago had 14 hits in the game, with Hoerner leading the way with four hits, and Happ added three to go with his four RBIs. Michael Busch was the only regular without a hit as he saw his consecutive games with a homer streak ended at five. The Cubs will now look to clinch the series on Wednesday and a winning West Coast trip when they send Jordan Wicks to the mound against Brandon Pfaadt.
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