Not pretty: Cubs fall in 0-3 hole after sloppy loss

A dropped third strike.

Misplayed balls in both corners of the outfield.

A bobble at third base.

An error at shortstop on the first play of the game.

Out-executed running the bases, too.

The Cubs didn’t hit, again, against a tough trio of New York Mets starting pitchers, who have held them to five runs in three games. That in and of itself will get you in a 3-0 hole, which is where the Cubs find themselves in the National League Championship Series after a 5-2 loss Tuesday night. But the long list of miscues on a night when the they needed absolutely everything to go right to get back in the series left a bad taste.

In Games 1 and 2 in New York, the Cubs’ top two pitchers got outpitched. In Game 3, it was that but they lost ugly, too.

“At this time of year everything does magnify a bit,’’ said manager Joe Maddon, who also said the Mets have done the little things well and taken advantage of when the Cubs haven’t.

“We’ve not been able to overcome that because we’re not hitting the ball like we normally can,’’ he said.

The big play came with the game tied at 2 with two outs in the sixth. The Mets’ Michael Conforto struck out on a Trevor Cahill breaking ball in the dirt but it got past catcher Miguel Montero for a dropped third strike – allowing Yoenis Cespedes to score the go-ahead run.

“I know I have to block it but it’s not as easy as it looks,’’ Montero said. “Did I try? Yeah. Try’s not good enough for me. Try for me is for losers.’’

“He blocks that 99 times out of 100,’’ Cahill said. “I’ve thrown to him for three years before this year and he’s good at that. Unfortunately it kind of skipped right and went to the one place where he wasn’t blocking.’’

Cespedes scored after stealing third when Cahill let him get a running jump.

“Yeah, that was our fault,’’ Maddon said. “We permitted him to do that. That was a very big play right there.’’

The Cubs then caught a break when Wilmer Flores, the next batter, hit a liner that dropped in front of and skipped past Jorge Soler in right field, the ball going to the wall but getting stuck in the ivy. Conforto, who was running on the pitch, would have scored easily but was sent back to third on the ground-rule double. Cahill retired Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom on a fly to left.

Then theMets added two insurance runs in an unsightly seventh. After David Wright doubled, third baseman Kris Bryant couldn’t get Donnie Muprhy’s grounder out of his glove and was safe at first. Cespedes then hit a liner that Schwarber went back for and got a glove on but couldn’t catch, scoring a run. Lucas Duda then hit a chopper to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who in one motion stepped on first and threw late to home as Murphy slid across with the Mets’ fifth run.

Maddon cut Schwarber and Bryant some slack, saying neither play was easy and that Murphy’s grounder to Bryant had a lot of spin.

Schwarber said he misjudged it.

“It’s baseball. Things are going to happen,’’ Schwarber said. “We have to find a way to dig out of this situation we’re in. We have to get back to playing the good baseball we were playing. Our backs are to the wall but there should be no pressing because we know we’re a special club.’’

The Cubs clubhouse, the scene of countless postgame celebrations all year, was subdued after this one. It left them contemplating an 0-3 deficit

“It’s a tough one,’’ Montero said, still answering questions about the dropped third strike. “That one really hurt me.

“It ain’t over till it’s over. Are we in a bad situation? Yeah. But I’ve seen it done before.’’