Coming into this game, I was prepared for the Cubs to maybe drop this one, but not at all based on what actually played out.
If you’d told me, for example, the Cubs would bounce Jack Flaherty before the second inning was over, I’d be feeling pretty good, since he was the main reason I was expecting today to be tough. As it turned out, though, the Cubs didn’t do any meaningful damage against Flaherty, and it was really more about what was already going to be a very short outing for him.
Moreover, Alec Mills came out with absolutely nothing. The command wasn’t there, he was uncharacteristically wild, and the Cardinals just hammered him. It was ugly right out of the gate, and even as the Cubs got into the Cardinals’ bullpen almost immediately, they were way behind the eight ball.
… which is not to say they didn’t have plenty of chances to get back into the game. Twice the Cubs left the bases loaded with no damage, which has been such a bizarre offensive problem this year.
Also, Ian Happ’s leadoff home run was the team’s only hit until Josh Phegley bookended it with a homer with two outs in the final frame. Rough game. Try again in an hour.