MIAMI – Maybe the Cubs wouldn’t have done much against Jose Fernandez regardless of their own problems.
But by the time the Marlins ace rolled through the Cubs lineup like a Toro through dandelions Sunday for a 6-1 victory over the Cubs, every weakness and deficit on a suddenly depleted Cubs roster was exposed.
“It’s one of those patches we’re running through right now,” said manager Joe Maddon, whose team has lost six of its last seven – a stretch that started the day after leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler (hamstring) went on the DL.
In five of those losses, the Cubs have scored a total of 10 runs. They’ve also broken down enough in the field to give up six unearned runs the last three games alone. And a struggling, beat-up bullpen has allowed 13 runs (11 earned) in the last five games.
“We’ll come back from this little bump and get everybody well,” Maddon said. “But in the meantime, when people are not well, we still have to be able to take care of business, and we have to be a little bit more efficient in the bullpen, and we can’t make the same mistakes on defense.”
Utility infielder Tommy La Stella (hamstring) and reliever Clayton Richard (blister/torn nail) both left Sunday to join Class AAA Iowa to start minor-league rehab assignments.
And the Cubs remain optimistic Fowler’s return will coincide roughly with his 15-day eligibility date.
For now, they head to Cincinnati staring at their worst seven-game stretch since a seven-game losing streak during their last-place 2014 season.
“Ooh, yeah, we better call in reinforcements and [hit] that panic button,” said sarcastic first-baseman Anthony Rizzo, who missed the first two games of the four-game Marlins series because of lower-back soreness.
“We put ourselves in good position to go through these stretches,” said Rizzo, who led off the second with one of just four hits off Fernandez on Sunday. “I’m not saying it’s OK. I’m not saying it’s fun. But it’s part of the season, and that’s just the way this game is.”
In fact, the Cubs will wake up Monday morning still with the best winning percentage in the majors, if only part of a closely bunched pack of leaders that includes the surging Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.
Beyond getting healthy again, the Cubs’ bigger-picture concern might be the bullpen woes that have made low-scoring and close wins a relative rarity this season.
“I think what we did really good last year was win a lot of the one-run games and the lower-scoring games, but this year it seems like the complete opposite,” said third baseman Kris Bryant, who was in the middle of two plays that contributed to turning a 1-1 game in the sixth into an eventual loss.
The Cubs won 17 games last year when they scored two or fewer runs, eight before the end of June. Five of the 17 were 1-0 games.
This year’s it’s four. Much of that’s a function of a higher–scoring lineup this season.
But the bullpen also has been a factor in that difference, and this difference: The Cubs are 10-11 in one-run games this year (2-2 in extra-inning games), compared to 34-21 last year (and 13-5).
“I’ve always said you win championships by winning games 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2,” Maddon said. “And we will.”
Until an unearned run in the seventh (because of a Bryant throwing error) and a big eighth against rookie relievers Spencer Patton and Gerardo Concepcion, this was one of those games.
But even the go-ahead run scored on a mix-up, when – with runners at the corners and one out – Bryant took a sharp one-hopper and started what appeared to be an inning-ending double play. But second baseman Ben Zobrist was late getting to second because the Cubs were playing him in and toward first for a possible bunt – and the relay throw to first was consequently late (sorted out only after a safe call and successful challenge by the Marlins).
“Looking back, I probably should have gone home,” said Bryant, who would have had an easy play on Giancarlo Stanton.
Not that it would have – or should have – made the difference in the game.
“Obviously, we wish we could have done a little better here and against the Cardinals [in the previous series],” Bryant said. “But I think it’s to be expected to go through a run like this a couple times a year.”
Especially with key players banged up and/or on the DL.
“It’d be great to have all the guys back,” Maddon said. “But over 162 games your depth is going to be tested.”
Said Rizzo: “There’s no excuse. Whoever’s on this field, we expect to win.
“We’ve got to honestly just tighten it up a little bit on defense,” he said. “And that’s it. A ball falls here, a ball falls there, and we’re right back in the game or we’re winning games again.”
