After riding high and believing the playoffs were well in sight, the Chicago Cubs have dropped the first two games of their three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are now in danger of being swept for the third time this season, the first time at home. It could have been prevented if they had just capitalized on early opportunities.
We were all gearing up for a pitching duel between rookie phenom Paul Skenes and Cubs’ ace Justin Steele. However, Steele was scratched from his start on Tuesday due to elbow discomfort. Instead, Kyle Hendricks took the mound for his second matchup with Skenes in a week. Hendricks struggled early that day, but the offense made up for it.
The Cubs could not have asked for much more from Hendricks on Tuesday night. In five innings of work, he allowed just two runs on five hits and struck out five. In hindsight, there’s not much more anyone could have asked of The Professor. Seeing that line now would make anyone feel the new offensive attack of the Cubs could have capitalized.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. It took a couple of innings, but Skenes settled into his dominant self. The Pirates’ bullpen did not budge, as they’ve been known to do. On a night the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets were victorious, the Cubs lost ground in the race for the final Wild Card.
They cannot say the opportunity wasn’t there to win, though. Early in the game, the Cubs threatened to the maximum capacity, but nothing came of it.
The Cubs loaded the bases against Paul Skenes twice in two innings to start the game. They put two men on in the third inning as well. However, Skenes worked his magic and got out of all three jams with no runs allowed. The Cubs left eight runners on base through the first three innings.
After that, the Cubs had just one more base runner on the night – a single from Ian Happ in the seventh inning. Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger, and Dansby Swanson hit balls hard to the warning track. However, nothing came of those knocks. Once again, the Cubs were shut out.
Monday night felt like a crushing blow after having a lead and surrendering it. Tuesday night was a different kind of punch to the gut, knocking the wind out right out of the sails of momentum at a crucial time. The Cubs are now 4.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot, three games behind the Mets.
This team was crafted to begin the competitive window in 2024. The Cubs must avoid nights like these the rest of the way to make the playoffs. They’ll send their best in Shōta Imanaga to the mound on Wednesday night to generate a new wave of momentum.
