NEWSLETTER
If I knew the Cubs were playing a re-run tonight, I wouldn’t have tuned in.
For the hundredth time this season, the Cubs got a really nice outing from their starter, Justin Steele (The Ankin Law “Making It Personal” Player of the Game), who handed the ball over to the bullpen with a tiny, scraped-together lead. And for the hundredth time this season, the Cubs bullpen blew that lead almost immediately, while the Cubs offense failed to put anything close to a rally together. It was lifeless, painful, garbage. The usual.
Tonight, the damage was all done against Mark Leiter Jr., who just didn’t have his splitter. And when that’s the case, he has zero effectiveness. Zilch. Nada. None. We all know how good he can be when he’s on, but without that pitch, he’s just not all that useful. We saw it down the stretch last season, and we saw it tonight in Tampa Bay.
I suppose it wasn’t entirely his fault, as the inning started with a should-be out that turned into an error (called on Patrick Wisdom, but Cody Bellinger was at least equally as guilty) that put a runner on second base with no outs. But whatever. Get the job done. This is so unbelievable. And so tiring.
I am also sick of playing this game of whose fault was it more – the bullpen or the offense? It’s the same story every night. And it’s starting not to matter whose fault it was. Tonight, the Cubs bullpen may have stood out more, but what exactly did the offense do to deserve a win? They scored two runs (on three consecutive bunts) while recording just two hits and three walks against 11 strikeouts. Horrible.
Oh, and they have a late-night flight tonight heading into an early game at Wrigley tomorrow against the Cardinals. So not exactly ideal there either. With EITHER a semi-competent bullpen or merely mediocre offense, this could have been a series sweep. Instead, it’s another series loss against a not good team.
