This was going to be a happy recap of a Cubs win powered by Carson Kelly’s two-homer game, the third multi-homer game for Kelly this season.
Unfortunately, Daniel Palencia had a disaster of a ninth inning, allowing a pair of homers including a three-run, pinch-hit job by Josh Bell, and then he left the game with a shoulder injury:
All of that added up to a 6-3 Cubs loss to the Nationals,
and a series loss, their first at Wrigley since the Reds took two of three in early August.
None of this is good. Let’s look at some of the things that were.
Drew Pomeranz threw a 1-2-3 first inning as an opener on just eight pitches. More on that from BCB’s JohnW53:
Drew Pomeranz’s eight-pitch start today was the fewest by a Cubs pitcher who completed at least one inning. (Reliable pitch counts date only to 1988.)
Pomeranz had thrown nine pitches in his one-inning, three-batter start against the Reds at home on May 31.
Three pitchers threw no more than eight and left due to injury: Shawn Boskie, eight, in 1992 (two batters); Alec Mills, seven, in 2022 (two); and Frank Castillo, three, in 1991 (one batter).
Kelly gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead with this line drive home run leading off the second [VIDEO].
Colin Rea was the “bulk guy” following Pomeranz and he had one of his best outings of the year, 5.1 innings, allowing just three hits and a run, with six strikeouts. He had some defensive help from Matt Shaw [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Rea’s outing [VIDEO].
More from John:
Colin Rea became the third Cub this year to pitch at least 5.1 innings in relief. Rea did it at Washington against the Nationals on June 5 (5.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 SO) and Ben Brown did it on May 31 at home vs. the Reds (6.0 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 9 SO).
Caleb Kilian did it last year, Javier Assad in 2023 and Mark Leiter Jr. in 2022.
There have been only 11 total such appearances since 2000. There were 695 (!) in 1901-99.
The run off Rea scored in the fifth. The Cubs got that run right back in the bottom of the inning. Kevin Alcántara walked with one out and went to third on a double by Nico Hoerner. Alcántara was thrown out at the plate on a contact play [VIDEO].
Seiya Suzuki followed with this RBI single, scoring Hoerner [VIDEO].
The Cubs nursed the 2-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth, thanks to good relief work from Caleb Thielbar (last two outs of the seventh) and Brad Keller (1-2-3 eighth on just 11 pitches).
Kelly provided what appeared to be an important insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with his second homer of the day (and 16th of the year) [VIDEO].
Then came Palencia’s disastrous ninth: Home run, single, walk, home run, triple, and then the injury that forced him from the game [VIDEO].
Porter Hodge finished up, allowing a sixth Nats run to score on a sacrifice fly which eventually turned into an inning-ending double play [VIDEO].
While we don’t know how serious the injury to Palencia is, here are a few comments from Craig Counsell:
And here’s Counsell on Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong:
Seriously, if Tucker is not going to be available for a fifth straight game, why was he not placed on the injured list? The Cubs wound up playing this game essentially two men short, and playing a game like this with Carlos Santana and Justin Turner in the lineup, frankly, means basically two automatic outs. They went 0-for-7 with a walk.
Oh, yes, the game wasn’t over when the Nats had their five-run ninth. The Cubs still had a chance at a comeback. And they did bring the tying run to the plate with a leadoff single by Matt Shaw, a force play and a two-out walk drawn by Ian Happ. Suzuki had a chance to be a hero, but hit into a game-ending fielder’s choice.
This game is not the end of the Cubs’ season, but it certainly did not feel good, not at all. Personally, I think I’d try Hodge at closer again, as I suspect Palencia is going to be out for a while. He’s been pretty good since his latest recall, seems healthy and he did well in the role last year. That would leave Keller and Andrew Kittredge as setup men.
First, though, the Cubs need to right the ship. There’s plenty of time and they still reside in the first wild-card spot by three games over the Padres, who are leading the Rockies late in their game Sunday. The Giants lost to the Cardinals, so that does cross one more number off the Cubs’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot. That stands at 11.
They’ll have to get better offense and better ninth-inning pitching to do it, though.
The Cubs open a three-game series against the Braves Monday in Atlanta. Shōta Imanaga will start the series opener for the Cubs and Bryce Elder, who shut the Cubs down pretty well at Wrigley last Wednesday, will go for Atlanta. Game time Monday is 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
