Hope you weren’t really watching closely, Shohei Ohtani.
The Cubs got out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the second inning. They also got out to a great start on the pitching side, with Hayden Wesneski looking really good through four innings – hey, when you give up a solo homer to Ohtani, you tip your cap. But that was it through four, and the Cubs were up 4-1. Good stuff.
And then the wheels came off in the 5th in every way they can. Walks. HBP. Wild pitch. Hard contact. Baaaaad defense. Wesneski couldn’t finish the inning (largely because of the defense), and then Brandon Hughes came in and couldn’t get an out. 4-1 became 4-6 very quickly.
And in the top of the 7th, the Cubs loaded the bases with a chance to get right back into it, and Yan Gomes lined a 105 mph bullet into a double-play. So the Cubs had bad performance AND bad luck on the night, in case you were wondering.
Which isn’t to say that deciding not to score again after the second inning was a good decision. It was probably bad. I’ll have to double-check. But pretty sure.
Well, Julian Merryweather and Michael Fulmer were incredible, so do with that what you will. Most of the rest you can leave. Especially the other bullpen performances.