PITTSBURGH — Just when you think it can’t get worse.
It does.
That’s how the Chicago Cubs must be feeling after back-to-back walk-off losses. The latest came on Friday night against the Pirates, when manager Joe Maddon called upon righty Brandon Kintzler to close out a 2-1 game. The only problem? Kintzler is fresh off the injured list and predictably didn’t have his command. He walked three, the first one intentional but the last one with the bases loaded to bring home the tying run, before Kevin Newman singled home the game-winner.
“No one feels worse than Kintzler right now but that’s the way this is rolling lately,” Maddon said after the 3-2 loss. “You can’t give in to it. You have to keep fighting through it. And if you do, you’ll come out the other side. We cannot let it get to us.”
Maddon said similar the night before when the Cubs were walked off by a Bryce Harper grand slam in Philadelphia. Then came an early morning arrival in Pittsburgh where they were met by their general manager, Jed Hoyer. Team president Theo Epstein will join shortly as the organization prepares for a lighthearted day in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League World Series on Sunday.
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Bryce Harper rips a grand slam out of the park to give the Phillies a 7-5 walk-off win over the Cubs.
How much fun will that possibly be if the Cubs lose another road game on Saturday? Because of a 23-39 record away from Wrigley Field, they’re starting to look up at others in the standings.
“I don’t ever remember [this happening] in my whole baseball playing career,” Kris Bryant said of the back-to-back crushing losses. “I don’t know how to respond to it. It’s new to me. It’s new to most of us.”
You’ll excuse Bryant for not remembering May 5 and 6, 2018, when the Cardinals won two games against the Cubs in their final at-bats. But those came when the Cubs still won some games on the road. It didn’t hurt as bad. These sting even more.
“It could be a lot better,” Bryant said. “It could be a lot worse. We’re kind of right in the middle there. Thankfully no one is running away with it. At least we have that on our side.”
That’s the best the Cubs can muster right now. A thankfulness that Milwaukee and St. Louis haven’t run away from them. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. The 2016 World Series winners — long past their championship hangover — were supposed to be closer to the Dodgers or Astros not the Cardinals or Brewers. But those teams have gotten better while the Cubs have, well, stood still. And that might be putting it kindly.
“We can’t keep having this conversation over and over,” general manager Jed Hoyer said about the Cubs’ inconsistent play. “If we continue that cycle we’re going to end up disappointed.”
Maddon will undoubtedly get most of the blame, as most managers do. And there’s already a feeling that his days in Chicago are numbered, considering his contract is up at the end of the season. But he’s been playing a game of whack-a-mole for most of the year based on an imperfect roster.
He can’t make a defensive replacement or pick a reliever to pitch without it coming back to bite him. Both kinds of decisions came into play in Thursday’s and Friday’s losses. He can be the fall guy based solely on the Cubs road record — not that he’s maxed out on the season either. Maddon hasn’t adjusted to the new reality of the Cubs: They may not be as talented as they once were and they’re certainly not as deep. Not even close.
“It’s a cliché. We just have to keep going,” Bryant said. “I don’t know what else to say. I really don’t.”
No one does.