These are the games that make you want to tear your hair out.
The Cubs fashioned a late-inning lead, a lead most bullpens should be able to hold. This Cubs bullpen did not do that. And some questionable baserunning decisions — and questionable replay review calls — didn’t help either. The result was a 3-2 Cubs loss to the Orioles, ending their brief three-game winning streak.
Cubs nemesis Tyler O’Neill did it again. After homering twice in Wednesday’s game, O’Neill homered in the second inning off
David Peterson to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead. That gave him homers in three consecutive at-bats and 14 home runs in 56 career games against the Cubs, by far his most against any team. Let’s just hope the O’s don’t trade O’Neill to a team the Cubs play later in the year.
The score remained 1-0 Baltimore through five innings. That, in part, was due to Questionable Baserunning Decision No. 1. In the top of the fourth, Michael Busch hit a two-out single.
That was followed by a double by Nico Hoerner and oh, no, Quintin Berry, don’t send Busch! [VIDEO].
In fairness, it did take two perfect throws from Taylor Ward and Gunnar Henderson to get Busch, and the play did go to replay review, and it was very, very close.
Still. If Busch holds at third, you have two runners in scoring position and Ian Happ up next. I’d rather have taken my chances with that.
Apart from the homer given up to O’Neill, Peterson threw a nice game. He completed five innings with just the one run allowed and only one other hit given up. He did walk four, but managed to pitch himself out of trouble. That makes two good outings and one bad one for Peterson as a Cub, and so I think with the All-Star break to reset, he’ll still be a valuable part of the rotation.
Here’s more on Peterson’s outing [VIDEO].
And more, from BCB’s JohnW53:
David Peterson’s start was the 17th by a Cub this season of exactly 5.0 innings. His two hits tied for the fewest with Colin Rea, at Tampa Bay on April 8, and Shota Imanaga, at Colorado on June 10.
Imanaga gave up no runs. Peterson and Rea gave up one, as did Imanaga on April 5, at Cleveland (3 hits), and Ben Brown on June 13 at San Francisco (7 hits).
The Cubs were 8-8 in the previous 16 five-inning starts.
Seiya Suzuki tied the game up with this monster home run in the sixth [VIDEO].
That ball was absolutely demolished! [VIDEO]
The Cubs bullpen did okay, for a couple of innings. Gavin Hollowell and Caleb Thielbar combined to throw two scoreless innings, the sixth and seventh, though Hollowell did issue two walks.
The Cubs then took the lead in the eighth. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double, extending his hitting streak to nine games. He advanced to third on a fly ball by Alex Bregman, and scored on this double by Suzuki [VIDEO].
Suzuki was in scoring position with one out, but Carson Kelly struck out and Busch grounded out to end the inning.
Could the Cubs bullpen get six outs without giving up two runs?
Well, you know the answer to that. Tyler Ferguson struck out Taylor Ward to begin the eighth, but then hit Henderson and Pete Alonso. A left-handed pinch-hitter was sent up, so Ryan Rolison was summoned. The Orioles flipped and put in the right-handed hitting Jeremiah Jackson. This is a swap you don’t see too often in modern baseball, what with four-man benches.
This time it worked, as Jackson doubled to deep right-center, with both runners scoring, giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead. Alonso, not a fast runner, just barely beat Hoerner’s relay [VIDEO].
That also went to review and was ruled “call confirmed.” Rolison finished up the inning without further incident, so the Cubs trailed by just one going to the ninth, where they faced old friend Andrew Kittredge.
Nico led off with a routine ground ball that Henderson booted for an error.
Then Hoerner took off for second, and here’s what happened [VIDEO].
This play also went to review. To me, it looks like Hoerner was either a) blocked by the fielder or b) pushed off the base or c) both, and you can’t do that. But the call on the field was upheld and he was out, instead of being in scoring position with nobody out.
Ian Happ followed with a single, but he was forced at second by Dansby Swanson. Now there are two out, but Swanson stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position after all.
Michael Conforto batted for Miguel Amaya. Conforto’s been really good as a pinch-hitter this year. Coming into this game he was batting .348/.400/.870 (8-for-23) as a PH, with three home runs.
As rain began to fall pretty hard in Baltimore, Conforto hit the ball hard but right at Ward in left to end the game [VIDEO].
So they made the right call moving this game to an afternoon start, as it appears there are several hours’ worth of waves of storms heading through the Baltimore area for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Ferguson and Rolison have had their moments for the Cubs, but remember these guys are scrap heap pickups and they’re starting to show that. The Cubs need a) the guys on the injured list back, or b) to go out and get some help by trade, or c) both.
A couple of notes from John to wrap this up:
This was the 49th consecutive game in which the Cubs have allowed at least one run, since a 2-0 win at Atlanta on May 14.
Since 1901, the Cubs have had 45 longer shutout droughts, including ones of 50 in 1934 and 2009.
Their longest was 101 games, in 1901, then 91 in 1953 and 88 in 1958.
This is their longest since 55 games in 2021.
…
The Cubs had won the previous 10 games in which they had erased a lead, beginning June 11, when their current surge began. For the season, they are 25-12.
They had won the previous three games and five of the previous six in which they blew a lead. They are 15-16 for the season.
They have both erased 40 total deficits and blown 40 leads.
This loss isn’t the end of the world, of course, not with 69 games remaining. Nevertheless, it was winnable, and the Cubs will simply have to pick up and try to take two or three in Cincinnati, where they head to open a three-game series Friday evening. Shōta Imanaga will start the series opener against Reds right-hander Hunter Greene. Game time Friday is 6:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
