Missed opportunities characterized the Cubs’ 5-0 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday. And a second loss in a row meant the Cubs’ elimination from the series.
It was the Cubs’ first series loss since they were swept by the Guardians on Aug. 12-14. And a loss that came with a win on Tuesday by the Braves, who hold the National League’s final wild-card spot, dropped the Cubs to 4½ games behind.
“Maybe the fan in you can keep track,” starter Kyle Hendricks said of watching the scoreboard. “But we talk about it day by day. It’s about controlling what we can control and focusing on the group in the locker room. We’ve done a great job of that. The last two days have been tough, but we just have to put that behind us now.”
When the Cubs’ six-game winning streak came to an abrupt end on Monday with a loss in the first of a three-game series to the Pirates at Wrigley Field, it was easy to dismiss it as an inevitable misstep.
“The defeats at the moment are obviously not good for us because we know that we cannot afford many of them,” said manager Craig Counsell before Tuesday’s game. “We should have lost again at some point this year – even if we don’t want to admit it. But that’s just how it is.”
After a second straight loss — and the Yankees are next in line for this home game — the series against the Pirates has been a total gamble for the Cubs as they try to maintain their dwindling playoff chances.
They failed to score against Pirates starter Paul Skenes despite loading the bases in the first and second innings, and they failed to capitalize on the four walks he allowed in the first three innings.
“That’s no consolation; we didn’t score, and that’s not good enough,” Counsell said. “But especially in the first two innings, we did it right, we made him work and just missed one more hit.”
They quickly increased Skenes’ pitch count. The 27 pitches he threw in each of his first two innings were his career high for most pitches thrown in one inning, according to Baseball Savant. Combined, they were the most pitches he had thrown in two innings.
The Pirates have said they have been monitoring their rookie phenom’s workload late in the season and that he has stayed under 90 pitches in his last two starts. But on Tuesday, the Pirates let Skenes go five innings, even though he needed 100 pitches to do so.
That gave the Cubs four innings against the Pirates’ shaky bullpen. They entered Tuesday with the second-worst bullpen ERA (4.61) in the National League, better than only Colorado (5.53). In Pittsburgh last week, the Cubs took advantage of the Pirates’ bullpen woes, allowing just one hit on Tuesday after Skenes left the field.
Hendricks, who stepped in as a starter when left-hander Justin Steele was sidelined with elbow soreness, complained about his inefficiency in the second and third innings.
“I just wasn’t on offense enough,” he said. “We didn’t have enough quick innings to keep the momentum on our side.”
Nevertheless, he limited the Pirates to two runs in five innings.
“He kept us going,” Counsell said. “He gave us a chance.”
Steele said he expects to start pitching again this season.
With their hopes of a postseason berth hanging by a thread, the Cubs pitted Hendricks against sensational rookie Paul Skenes – like pitting a tired old mule against a thoroughbred.
“It’s annoying, but from everything I’ve heard, we’re hoping it’s a short-term thing,” starter Jameson Taillon said. “He means a lot to this group.”
