Missed opportunities characterized the Cubs’ 5-0 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday. And a second straight loss meant the Cubs dropped the series.
It was the Cubs’ first series loss since being swept by the Guardians on Aug. 12-14. And a loss that lined up with a win Tuesday for the Braves, who occupy the last National League wild-card spot, sunk the Cubs to 4½ games back.
“Maybe the fan in you can keep track of things,” starter Kyle Hendricks said of scoreboard watching. “But we talk about it, day in and day out, it’s control what we can control, keep our focus on that group in the clubhouse. We’ve been doing an amazing job of that. These last two days have been tough, but just got to wash it.”
When the Cubs’ six-game winning streak screeched to a halt with a loss Monday in the first game of the three-game set against the Pirates at Wrigley Field, it was easy to shrug off as an inevitable stumble.
“Losses for us right now, certainly, they don’t feel good because we know we can’t afford a lot of them,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game Tuesday. “We were going to lose again at some point this year — as much as we don’t want to admit that. But that’s the way it works.”
A second loss in a row, with the Yankees up next on this homestand, made this series against the Pirates as a whole a whiff for the Cubs as they try to keep their dwindling playoff hopes alive.
They didn’t manage to score against Pirates starter Paul Skenes, despite loading the bases in the first and second innings. And they failed to take advantage of the four walks he issued, all in the first three innings.
“You can’t take solace from it; we didn’t score, and that’s not good enough,” Counsell said. “But the first two innings especially, we did it right, and we made him work and just missing one more hit.”
They did quickly run up Skenes’ pitch count. The 27 pitches he threw in each of his first two innings tied his career high for pitches thrown in an inning, according to Baseball Savant. Combined, it was the most pitches he’d thrown through two innings.
The Pirates have said they were monitoring their rookie phenom’s workload late this season, and he’d stayed below 90 pitches in each of his last two starts. But on Tuesday, the Pirates let Skenes get through five innings, even though it took 100 pitches.
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 successfully exploited the Pirates’ bullpen woes. On Tuesday, they logged just one hit after Skenes exited.
Hendricks, who stepped in to start when elbow soreness sidelined left-hander Justin Steele, lamented his inefficient second and third innings.
“I just wasn’t on the attack enough,” he said. “Didn’t get quick enough innings to keep that momentum on our side.”
Still, he limited the Pirates to two runs through five innings.
Their postseason hopes hanging by a thread, the Cubs sent out Hendricks to oppose rookie sensation Paul Skenes — like racing a tired, old mule against a thoroughbred.
“It stinks, but from everything I’ve heard, we’re hoping it’s just a quick thing,” starter Jameson Taillon said. “He means a lot to this group.”