Just remember this old adage when thinking about the Cubs’ 5-2 loss to the Brewers and the current four-game losing streak: No team is as bad as it looks when on a losing streak. (Conversely, no team is as good as it looks when on a winning streak, and that includes this year’s Cubs.)
So exactly what sort of team is this Cubs team? A team that needs better starting pitching, for one. A team that needs a couple of key hitters to start hitting like they’re capable of. And a team that needs shutdown
relief.
All of those things were in evidence Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field.
Everyone knew this was not going to be an easy game with Jacob Misiorowski throwing for Milwaukee. His numbers coming in were ridiculous: Of 202 batters faced before Tuesday, he’d struck out 80 of them — a 39.6 percent strikeout rate. And the Cubs couldn’t do anything with him for the first five innings, even while the first two Cubs hitters of the game reached base. Nico Hoerner walked and Michael Busch reached on an error. All that led to was an 0-for-3 with RISP — just for that inning alone. But the Cubs did make Misiorowski throw 26 pitches in the first inning, and that’s not a bad game plan against the Brewers fireballer — see if you can run up his pitch count and get him out of the game early.
It didn’t work, because over the next four innings, Misiorowski dispatched the Cubs on just 40 total pitches. They managed a single by Seiya Suzuki in the fourth and another single by Dansby Swanson in the fifth. Swanson was erased on a double play.
Meanwhile, Ben Brown didn’t have a terrible start. It wasn’t quite as good as his first two. He allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings, striking out six. The key to both the innings in which the Brewers scored, the first and third, were walks. A one-out walk in the first turned into a manufactured run for Milwaukee. A two-out walk in the third led to another such run, and the other run off Brown was on a wild pitch.
Basically, Brown had to be as good as Misiorowski to give the Cubs a chance, and he wasn’t. That’s not a knock on Brown, who looked decent enough. It’s just that the Cubs couldn’t do anything against Misiorowski. Hoerner, in the first inning, was the only Cubs runner past first base through six.
Here are Brown’s six strikeouts [VIDEO].
Jacob Webb threw a scoreless sixth and Caleb Thielbar, just returned from an IL stint, threw a scoreless seventh. So that’s good; perhaps the pen is stabilizing a bit.
Or, maybe it was before Trent Thornton threw the eighth. He allowed a one-out walk and after recording the second out, served up a home-run ball to Brice Turang.
At 5-0 entering the bottom of the eighth, this one appeared hopeless, but the Cubs did put together a rally. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a single and took third when Miguel Amaya doubled into the ivy in left-center.
Nico’s single made it 5-1 [VIDEO].
Busch and Alex Bregman then struck out. After that, Ian Happ walked to load the bases. A single by Suzuki made it 5-2 [VIDEO].
So the bases are still loaded and the tying run is on base. Moisés Ballesteros, back in the lineup at DH, is the scheduled hitter against lefty Aaron Ashby. Craig Counsell sent Matt Shaw up to bat for Ballesteros, knowing that Pat Murphy would counter with a right-hander, which he did, calling Chad Patrick into the game.
Michael Conforto was sent up to bat for Shaw, which is obviously the matchup Counsell wanted. And Conforto, as you know, has had a flair for the dramatic lately.
Not this time, unfortunately. Conforto hit into a force play to end the inning.
Phil Maton entered the game to throw the ninth and that created visions of this 5-2 game becoming a 7-2 game or worse, given Maton’s recent failures. But Maton retired the Brewers 1-2-3. That provides at least a bit of hope that Maton can become a useful part of the Cubs bullpen.
The Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to end it. Swanson thought he had led off with a walk, but Brewers catcher William Contreras challenged the pitch and it wound up strike three [VIDEO].
Close, but definitely a strike.
Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].
With the loss and the Cardinals defeating the Pirates, the Cubs drop to third in the NL Central, virtually tied with St. Louis but a few percentage points behind. Both teams are half a game behind the Brewers.
So again… no team is as bad as it looks when on a losing streak. They just ran into a really good pitcher in this one (Bluesky link):
The Cubs are better than this, and they will win again. Many times. Hopefully, starting tonight at Wrigley Field when they attempt to avoid a sweep. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Kyle Harrison goes for the Brewers. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
