The Cubs entered Thursday as the only team in baseball to not be swept in a three-game series.
That run was snapped, as the Cubs fell to the Giants 4-3 in walk-off fashion and lost their third in a row to San Francisco after sweeping the Los Angeles Angels before this set.
Willy Adames hit two home runs off Shota Imanaga and drove in three runs before Jung Hoo Lee singled – the third straight knock off closer Daniel Palencia – in the ninth for the game-winning blow.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was ejected in the third inning after arguing with home plate umpire David Rackley when the Giants executed an inning-ending, strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play.
The loss keeps the Cubs (76-58) 6.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers (who lost to the Diamondbacks on Thursday) in the NL Central. They’re a game ahead of the San Diego Padres for the top spot in the NL Wild Card race, who were off on Thursday.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
Busch’s marathon
There’s been plenty of discourse by Cubs fans about Michael Busch serving as the team’s leadoff hitter and it’s fair to wonder – he entered Thursday slashing .205/.260/.393 (.653 OPS) hitting in the No. 1 spot in the lineup.
But as Counsell has stated in the past, you only lead off the game once. It’s more important that the Cubs’ best hitters are getting the bulk of the turns at the plate and the order itself isn’t as important.
To that end, Busch is actually doing well in the first plate appearance of the game as the team’s leadoff hitter; entering Thursday he’s slashing .296/.367/.667 (1.033 OPS) in 30 games as the No. 1 hitter. Busch been a strong hitter for the Cubs this season, and when the offense was clicking early in the year, it was Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki doing the heavy lifting.
Busch can be aggressive at the plate, swinging at the first pitch of if it’s one he likes, but he can also drag out counts and get on base, the crux of what makes a modern-day leadoff hitter.
That’s what he did in the sixth inning – leading off the frame, too. Busch worked an 11-pitch at-bat against Giants’ ace Logan Webb before taking the final pitch for a home run to center field to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead.
Sure, the results haven’t been what the Cubs would have hoped with Busch leading off, but that’s probably more of a result of the slump he’s been in as of late. In August, he was slashing just .202/.244/.357 (.602 OPS) entering Thursday.
Shota’s gem
It’s hard to predict things in baseball – you can fail seven out of 10 times and be a Hall of Famer, yada, yada, yada.
So even when you think you can foresee something coming – like the Cubs being 21-3 in Imanaga starts after a loss – the unexpected can still happen; they fell to 21-4 in those situations with Thursday’s loss.
Imanaga once again gave his team a chance to win on Thursday, turning in a quality start in a classic pitcher’s duel against Webb. Both pitchers finished in the top five of voting for the NL Cy Young Award last year.
The left-hander is clearly the team’s ace and his ability to give the Cubs a chance to win each day is vital. Yes, the Cubs offense will need to find its groove and needs some of its stars – Tucker, Crow-Armstrong, Busch and Suzuki – to regain their mojo at the plate if they hope to make a deep October run. But the continued contributions of Imanaga are important, too and Thursday he showed exactly what he can bring to this team.
Suzuki’s day off
Speaking of Suzuki, the Cubs designated hitter was given the day off on Thursday with Tucker serving in that role and rookie Owen Caissie patrolling right field. Against a starter who carves up right-handed hitters, Counsell opted to keep Suzuki on the bench.
That’s because Suzuki has been mired in a prolonged slump. Since the All-Star break, he’s slashing just .182/.322/.256 (.578 OPS) with two home runs, three doubles and 10 RBI. It’s a far contrast from the .867 OPS, 25 home runs and 77 RBI that he posted in the first half of the year when he was a prime candidate to participate in the Midsummer Classic.
His hard-hit rate is down about five percent in July and August to 45% compared to the beginning of the year when it was over 50%.
“Seiya’s doing a really good job of getting on base, getting his singles – the power has not been there,” Counsell told reporters in San Francisco before the loss. “His expected numbers are very good still, but we’re seeing a bunch of foul balls straight back and that just means he’s just a little bit off on that pitch that he gets to hit.
“That pitch you foul straight back is often your good pitch to hit.”
Counsell and the Cubs hope the day off can help him get back on track.