This Was Literally the Most Feeble Cubs Game in a Decade
Dylan Cease struck out 12 batters in seven innings and then two San Diego Padres relievers combined to finish off a 3-0 shutout win over the Chicago Cubs in Wednesday’s series finale at Wrigley Field. Cease completely dominated on the mound in what turned out to be the most feeble performance by a Cubs lineup since Statcast became a thing a decade ago.
The Cubs were held to one hit in the 3-0 loss and had a total of four runners on base, as Cease walked a pair and hit a batter. The lone hit by the Cubs came in the third inning, when veteran catcher Yan Gomes dribbled a slow roller to second base, barely making contact on a slider, but getting just enough and placing it perfectly to beat out the throw for an infield single.
That was a booming 61.2mph off the bat from Gomes and it pretty much told the story of the day. Cease was in control from start to finish and the hardest-hit ball against him came off the bat of Mike Tauchman later on in the third, registering at 94.6mph, on a liner to left-center field.
Wandy Peralta and Robert Suarez pitched two perfect innings after Cease and here’s the stat that shows just how awful the Cubs were on Wednesday. This was the first game at Wrigley Field since the start of the 2015 season in which the Cubs did not have a single ball hit 95mph or harder.
You know how sometimes your team loses, but you can at least say how they got unlucky with a few hard-hit balls that should have been hits? Yeah, well no one can say that about the Cubs on Wednesday. The lineup finished with 15 strikeouts and out of the 12 balls put in play none were considered hard-hit.
Just a brutal end to this series that the Cubs were fortunate enough to not get swept. The offensive struggles continued, as the Cubs only scored six runs in three games against the Padres.
Hopefully having an off day on Thursday after playing 16 straight games without a day off helps these guys reset. Plus, right-fielder Seiya Suzuki is expected to come back this weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates, so he should also give the lineup a boost.
Anyway, we know the real culprit to the first series loss at home of the season.
Please stop with Joe Girardi in the booth.