Quiet offense, bad bunts lead to Cubs' fourth straight loss
Kyle Hendricks had never faced Kyle Schwarber in a real game.
The first pitch Hendricks threw on Thursday at Wrigley Field was to Schwarber, who sent a low line drive over the fence in right field for a home run.
"We had to have 40 or 50 at-bats (in practice)," Hendricks said. "Especially during COVID, we were both in Arizona for a long time, so we faced each other a ton. He took me deep a few times there too. It is what it is."
Hendricks went 7 innings, giving up 3 runs, 6 hits and no walks. So it was a decent outing, but the Cubs couldn't get any clutch hits and lost 3-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies, completing a three-game sweep and dropping their fourth game in a row.
The Cubs (37-42) put a runner on second base and beyond in each of the first six innings, but scored just the 1 run in the second inning on Jared Young's RBI triple into the right-field corner.
A couple of oddly-timed bunts stood out. With runners on first and third with two outs in the fourth, Nick Madrigal bunted to the first baseman and was quickly tagged out to end the inning.
Since returning from Iowa earlier this month, Madrigal was hitting .356 heading into Thursday's action, but went 0-for-4 in this game.
In the fifth, Mike Tauchman reached second on a deep fly ball to left that bounced out of Schwarber's glove for an error. Nico Hoerner followed with a single that landed just in front of the right fielder, so Tauchman only got to third.
Christopher Morel followed with a bunt that just sent Hoerner to second. Ian Happ lined out and Dansby Swanson struck out to end another threat.
After the game, manager David Ross said both bunts were decisions by the hitters.
"Mo, you know how good he's been for us and what a great player he is," Ross said. "I think he's still learning a little bit what's expected of him. He thinks he's helping the team, trying to do anything he can to get runs in.
"Nick just forgot the outs, forgot how many outs there were. We've got to be better in that way. Gave away a game and a chance, the two innings we had there were not our smartest baseball. We'll be better for it."
Madrigal was not available postgame, while Morel essentially repeated what Ross said.
"I was trying to help the team," Morel said. "I was just trying to score (a run) and help the team because I knew we had no outs."
The go-ahead runs were scored in the third on a two-out, 2-run single up the middle by Bryce Harper, which followed a couple of singles.
"Those two hits in the third were just tough," Hendricks said. "Made really good pitches. That's just baseball, it happens."
This game featured an unusual collection of outfield misplays. Happ lost a fly ball in the haze, which landed on the warning track for a ground-rule double. Cody Bellinger misjudged a catchable line drive to center in his first game back in the outfield since suffering a knee injury in Houston on May 15.
Besides Schwarber's error, Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh dropped a fairly routine fly ball.
Young became the sixth player to start at first base for the Cubs this season, joining Trey Mancini, Matt Mervis, Eric Hosmer, Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom. Seiya Suzuki was out of the lineup for the second straight day due to a sore neck.
"Just trying to mix and match, to be honest," Ross said of the first base job. "Trying to couple good defense with who's swinging the bat well. Feels like a pretty open spot, if I'm being honest. Nobody's really grabbed that thing offensively or defensively. I think Belli has filled that role nicely coming back for a minute when Mervis got sent back down."
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