Pretty easy to play the what if game after this one, even if most of them wind up appropriately critical of the Cubs.
What if Kyle Schwarber hadn’t dropped that easy fly ball in the first? What if the umps hadn’t called fan interference on that Anthony Rizzo foul ball with two runners on? What if multiple Reds bloops hadn’t fallen in for run-scoring hits? What if the bullpen didn’t let the game get away in the 8th? What if the Cubs hadn’t once again performed abysmally with runners on base? What if the Cubs didn’t insist on starting automatic outs at the plate on a near daily basis?
Alas. The only certainty is that it’s *another* lost road series for a Cubs team that has barely tread water for well over a month now.
Jon Lester pitched really well, despite the line score. Eugenio Suarez obliterated one in the first after the Schwarber error, but that was really the only time Lester looked bad. It’s a bummer.
Offensively, Schwarber got a dinger, and Jason Heyward stayed scorching hot. And it’s not like 6 runs is a small amount. But they had so many more opportunities.