Cubs momentum hits wall as Cards get third win over Stroman
Some seasons include breaking records. Some seasons carry on like a broken record.
The Cubs' freeway to futility continued Thursday with St. Louis in town. Instead of building some momentum after scoring 25 runs in two games against Washington, the Cubs were shut down by Cardinals lefty Steven Matz, who won his first game of the year after an 0-7 start.
Marcus Stroman had a nice start against Boston in his first time out after the break, making a case for his season-long "Don't trade me" pitch. But he didn't have it Thursday, allowing 7 hits and 4 earned runs before departing in the fourth inning.
Stroman dropped to 0-3 against the Cardinals this season and the Cubs looked bad while losing 7-2 at Wrigley Field.
It was hard to tell which aspect of the game was the worst. Stroman surrendered plenty of hard contact, but Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom also made errors in each of the first two innings, which extended both frames and had manager David Ross frustrated.
"We never gave him a real chance to get in a rhythm," Ross said. "There's a lot of pretty standard major league plays that should have been made behind him. Some of those mistakes we made cost him, it felt like 30-40 pitches. That's hard to overcome, then you fatigue at the end.
"You want your starting pitcher to get out there, get in a little rhythm, play good defense behind him. He's getting ground balls all over the place and unfortunately, we couldn't turn many into outs."
After the initial error, Willson Contreras hit a first-inning double that measured 114.4 miles per hour on Statcast.
St. Louis had 11 hits with an exit velocity of 100-plus, compared to three for the Cubs, and Stroman gave up six of those.
"Just one of those games where it feels like everything works against you," Stroman said. "Didn't help with the (four) walks. Felt like I was slightly off mechanically, missing the zone, getting behind in counts, didn't get ahead much and they put some good swings on balls. It was one of those games I felt like noting could go my way and I couldn't get in a rhythm at any point."
By the fourth inning, the score was still 1-0, but Stroman's pitch count soared into the 90s. He gave up a 2-run homer to rookie Jordan Walker, a double to Nolan Arenado, then left after walking Contreras.
Stroman threw his usual sinker-heavy pitch mix, but the Cardinals were ready for it. They piled up 8 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) against Stroman in London on June 25.
"I just think they're a good lineup," Stroman said. "They do a good job of putting the ball in play. I feel like their swing and miss is not very high and they've got a bunch of guys who put a priority on battling, taking counts deep. Really doing a good job of just swinging at strikes."
Antioch native Paul DeJong hit a 2-run homer in the fifth off Michael Rucker to make it 7-1.
The Cubs' hitting star was catcher Yan Gomes, who somehow managed to hit 2 triples in this game. He usually doesn't get two in a season, but one time Walker dove for a sinking liner in right field and the ball got past him, then Gomes banged another drive off the wall and it rolled a long way.
The triples accounted for both the Cubs early runs. The first one drove home Suzuki and after the second, Gomes scored on a Christopher Morel ground out.
Wisdom was hit in the helmet by a 96-mph fastball thrown by Cardinals reliever Kyle Leahy, but Wisdom shook it off and stayed in the game.
Regarding Thursday's rough defense, Ross referenced a couple of injured players that are expected back relatively soon.
"Our acquisition we got in the offseason to help our defense (Dansby Swanson) hasn't been out there," Ross said. "Nick Madrigal has played phenomenal third base for us and he has not been in there. We've got guys in there that have to step up in moments and we haven't."
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