NEWSLETTER
Cubs take an early 3-0 lead. Brewers tie it up. Brewers take the lead in the middle innings. Cubs tie it up late. Cubs lose 6-5 even later. Where have I seen this one before?
The Cubs lost in almost the exact same way they lost yesterday against Milwaukee, but this one makes it three in a row. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Cubs could have just about ruined the Brewers chances at the NL Central this season with a 3 or 4 win series, but the opposite happened and the division is tighter than it’s been in a while. That’s three loses in a row for Chicago, ahead of a very rough week against the Cardinals. Not want you want to see.
As for the game itself, let’s start with the positives … Although Jon Lester allowed more than twice as many runs today (5) than he did in his first three starts combined (2), he managed to stick it out and go 6.0 innings for the Cubs. As you know, the Cubs have five games over the next three days and are missing both Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood. A 6.0 inning appearance was important and so that’s a silver lining. As for his appearance, he didn’t look all that bad. He ran into a little BABIP-fueled trouble in the third inning, but was one strike away from escaping when Keston Hiura took him deep. Orlando Arcia went yard later on a pitch that he had no business hitting that far …
Two-run homer by Arcia yanked to left on this pitch from Lester. I mean… pic.twitter.com/jmFhFnn1P0
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 16, 2020
… and that was that.
Five strikeouts, no walks for Lester. Ultimately, not a concerning outing. Just not his day.
The two other positive signs came out of the bullpen. Despite giving up the game-tying run, the new guy, Jason Adam, actually had a really nice debut. He flashed a lively fastball between 95-96 MPH (touched 97 MPH) with some movement, he had a good enough curve, and solid changeup, as well. Most importantly, he had no trouble finding the strikezone. If Ian Happ didn’t completely misplay a line drive in center field, he may have kept the game tied. Good debut.
And then there was Craig Kimbrel, who had a clean 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts and a pop-up. He didn’t get any swings on his curveball, but he threw only two and they were both strikes.
When he was really struggling, we said that the hitters will tell you what you need to know about Kimbrel – they were all over him.
So far? Two strikeouts looking because the batters had no clue? That's telling you something.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 16, 2020
Kimbrel wasn’t sitting 97-98 MPH like he was the other day, but it was definitely his best outing overall, and his second good outing in a row. This can be a hugely important development over the next 1.5 months.
And that’s the end of the good news … here comes the bad news.
HOLY STRIKEOUTS, BATMAN.
The Cubs struck out an SIXTEEN (16) times today, including at least one K from every single batter in the lineup and two strike outs a piece from everyone besides Anthony Rizzo and Nico Hoerner. With just four hits total, they were lucky to put up even 1 run, let alone 5, so this game wasn’t really their’s for the taking.
Brewers pitchers sure figured out that if you elevate the fastball against the Cubs right now, you're gonna get yourself a lotta whiffs.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 16, 2020
It was a brutal afternoon for everyone, but especially Kris Bryant, who went 0-4 with two strikeouts and two weak infield pop-outs. He’s slashing .182/.286/.385 this season with a 28.6% strikeout rate through 63 PAs. That’s a very rough start.
