Of course you don’t want to see the Cubs lose, and you especially don’t want them to lose to the team immediately behind them in the standings when they’ve got a real chance to create some distance. But I don’t feel awful about that loss.
For one thing, I like the way Jose Quintana battled through a number of tough spots, got some Ks, but also let his defense do work. His pitch count had reached 80 by the end of the 4th inning, and he still managed to go 6 innings. I like that.
For another thing, I like the way the Cubs were hitting the ball hard all night. You do that, and often, you get hits. Often you get extra-base hits. Often, you get hits that score guys who also had hits. It just didn’t happen tonight, as the hard-hit balls kept finding gloves, with the exception of a truly mammoth shot by Javy Baez.
I can’t be too mad about the BABIP stuff, either, because the Brewers were doing the same thing. They had a whole bunch of hard shots tonight that were right at Cubs, or were robbed at the wall. This game easily could have swung in either direction, but it also easily could have been a Brewers blowout.
The Cubs got the tying run to third base in the 9th, but they couldn’t quite come through against one of the best closers in the game this year.