Series proves gap between Cubs and Brewers is at once slim and craterous
The crack of the bat drew a surge of cheers from Cubs fans in the ninth inning. But their last scrap of hope for a comeback died as Mike Tauchman’s fly ball landed in Brewers right fielder Garrett Mitchell’s glove.
The inning, which capped the Cubs’ 3-2 loss Wednesday, had no momentum. The two batters in front of Tauchman had struck out. And the Cubs lost another close game with strong pitching and a quiet offensive effort.
“Sometimes it just feels like ... still just waiting for that break,” Tauchman told the Sun-Times after the game. “But everyone’s frustrated. Everybody's obviously pissed off about it. It's tough. I think it puts more pressure on those few opportunities we have.”
The Cubs don’t play the division-leading Brewers again, finishing the season series with a 5-8 record.
The Brewers took a tough blow, announcing Wednesday that Christian Yelich is scheduled to see a spine specialist to decide next steps, which could include season-ending surgery. But they've built up a comfortable lead in the division, six games ahead of the No. 2 Cardinals and 11 games up on the last-place Cubs.
The series set up an interesting dichotomy. The Cubs never looked outmatched. Over three games, each team scored five runs. But the chasm between the two teams only deepened. The Brewers have their sights on the playoffs, while already on Monday, the Cubs had all but ruled out adding win-now rental talent before the deadline.
“There's a group of teams in the National League that are very, very evenly matched,” Tauchman said. “And wins and losses are going to be on the margins. So, you have to play really, really clean baseball, you have to take care of the baseball on defense, you have to throw strikes and make pitches, and you have to get big hits with guys on base.”
Wednesday marked the Cubs’ 37th one-run game. They’ve only won 15 of those contests.
They also haven’t put up promising numbers against division opponents, sinking to 13-23 in National League Central play.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer pointed to the timing of those games as a major factor. The Cubs didn’t play any division opponents in April, their best month of the season, and played most of those contests during a May and June rut.
“That's one things we talked about so much in today's game is, there’s a lot more parity, there are very few teams that are at the bottom of the league. So, so much of it comes down to when you play teams, [whether] you play them when you're hot, and you play them when they’re not. And unfortunately our pocket of playing the central was at a bad stretch.”
The Cubs were coming out of that bad stretch just before the All-Star break, gradually heating up during a homestand before sweeping in Baltimore and splitting a four-game series at St. Louis.
Their momentum dwindled out of the break. They dropped their first two games against the Diamondbacks, who are fighting for an NL wild-card spot, before the Brewers came to town.
Manager Craig Counsell summarized the homestand succinctly: “We pitched well. We didn’t score enough runs.”
The Cubs’ loss Friday was a fitting example. Cubs starter Justin Steele recovered from allowing two walks and a run in the first inning to throw 5 ⅓ innings with just one more walk and one more run charged to him. Reliever Héctor Neris also gave up a run in the ninth.
For an offense that’s clicking, surpassing three runs is an easy task. But five of the scuffling Cubs' six hits Wednesday came in the first three innings. And Seiya Suzuki, who hit a double and a solo homer, was the only Cub with an extra-base hit.
“I believe that situational hitting is really momentum-based and confidence-based,” said Tauchman, who also singled in a failed second-inning rally. “And when the opportunities are few and the successes are few, it can definitely cause some guys to press a little bit.
“We know what's at stake. So of course it's important. Of course you press on stuff like that. It matters, and it matters to everybody in here.”