Hendricks gem wasted as Giants beat Cubs |
SAN FRANCISCO — At some point, the Chicago Cubs (37-43) will be faced with the tough question: Are we buyers or sellers at the deadline? Judging by how this team has played for two months, the answer is clear to the fans, but it doesn't seem clear to the front office, which invested 233 million dollars into a roster that is simply lifeless right now.
If the answer to that question wasn't clear before, perhaps their last two games against the San Francisco Giants (38-42) at Oracle Park can make it clear to them that this team isn't very good and has failed to deliver a competitive product to the fans. This was a Giants team that came into this series on a five-game losing streak and has virtually no starting pitchers left, so they have had to go with a bullpen game the first two games. Despite that, the Giants have emerged victorious both times, including a 5-1 on Tuesday as the Cubs suffered another embarrassing loss. Where is the emotion from this team? Where is the fight? It's almost as if everyone in the organization has punted this season away and no longer cares about what happens with this team going forward. For the second straight game, the Cubs wasted a great effort from their starters, as that has been the team's lone bright spot this season. This time, it was time for Kyle Hendricks to take the mound after he put together his best outing of the season last week against this same Giants club. It's no secret that things haven't gone well for the Professor this season, but with three months to go, he does have a chance to end his season on a high note. Dealing 12 2/3 nearly flawless innings and 12 strikeouts in your last two starts is the way to put it on track, as Hendricks gave the Cubs seven impressive innings, allowing two runs and striking out four. He has been known to have great games against this team, and this was another one of those games, but it was the offense again that couldn't reward him for his efforts. Both of the runs Hendricks allowed came in the second inning, and they came after he put the first two men on base. Michael Conforto opened the scoring with an RBI single, but it was the David Villar sacrifice fly that made things 2-0 and would go down as the game-winning RBI. That is a tough pill to swallow if you are a fan of this team, as the Cubs have given off a strange vibe this season. It's almost as if they fall behind by one or two runs early and get it in their heads that they are down by 10 or more. They are defeated before the game is over, and at that point, you have no chance of picking up a win. With Randy Rodriguez coming out on fire to strike out four Cubs in the first two frames, it was only a matter of time until the Giants bullpen would be active again. That came in the third inning as the Cubs offense finally had something going. What started with a two-out walk to Nico Hoerner turned into a 2-1 game as Michael Busch delivered a base hit up the middle to bring Hoerner home. Michael Busch brings us within one! pic.twitter.com/Bzb1MXscEg Although he isn't hitting for much power right now, Busch continues to see the ball well and has been the Cubs best hitter for the past two weeks. A Cody Bellinger single followed his hit to extend his hitting streak to seven games, but that was the only run the Cubs would be able to muster in this one. A big reason for that was the Cubs inability to get any lift on the ball as one ball, yes one ball made it to the outfield from the sixth inning on. That was the Seiya Suzuki single in the top of the sixth, as the Cubs couldn't generate much offense and could barely generate much contact. Fortunately, Hendricks was able to keep things close, as has been the case for the Cubs staff all season, but at some point, you have to think the starting staff will start to fade and, if that happens, what comes next. With the Giants still leading 2-1 entering the eighth, it was time for Craig Counsell to go to his pen as Colten Brewer was the man he went with. After struggling in the ninth inning on Monday, Brewer had a chance to redeem himself, but that was far from the case as the Luis Matos single, and Brett Wisley double put a pair of runners on before a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Brewer did his best to pitch around this bases-loaded jam, and after inducing a forceout, he was one pitch away from a potential inning-ending double play. Brewer was unable to get the ground ball he was looking for but did get Jorge Soler to fly out for the second out to make things easier, but another run did score to put the Giants in front 3-1. The big blow in the eighth came from Matt Chapman, who followed up that sacrifice fly with the back-breaking RBI single as the Giants scored three times in the eighth to take a commanding 5-1 lead. The game ended shortly after as Camilo Doval plowed through the middle of the Cubs lineup 1,2,3 in the ninth as the Giants take the first two games 5-1. With four hits, this offense needs to give these pitchers a chance, as all four hits came from the top four guys in their lineup. “You’re not gonna have a big night offensively with numbers like that.” The Cubs have recorded a quality start in 10 of their last 17 games.
Craig Counsell on the Cubs’ offense. pic.twitter.com/61PxLc3zhH
They’re 6-11 over that stretch. pic.twitter.com/ntPqY1X2VO
