CLEVELAND \u2014 Something was off with the Cubs on Friday.<\/p>\n
Aside from Cade Horton\u2019s injury status being up in the air, the team looked discombobulated, particularly in the seventh.<\/p>\n
Reliever Hunter Harvey needed 30 pitches to get through \u2154 of an inning, allowing three runs on two hits with a walk and no strikeouts. Right-hander Jacob Webb relieved Harvey and needed 12 pitches to get the final out.<\/p>\n
Aside from the runs, the team unraveled in the seventh. There was the fielding error by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong that allowed Guardians All-Star Jose Ramirez to advance to second after his line-drive single. Second baseman Nico Hoerner also bobbled a routine ground ball before getting the out at first to end the inning.<\/p>\n
Though Horton\u2019s injury loomed over the game, the Cubs still weren\u2019t good enough in Friday\u2019s 4-1 loss to the Guardians.<\/p>\n
\u201cOffensively, that just wasn\u2019t enough today,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t create traffic, really. We created one inning of good scoring [opportunities] and didn\u2019t cash in on it, but not enough offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
After Miguel Amaya\u2019s RBI double in the third inning, the Cubs totaled just 2 hits the rest of the game. The offense failed to put much pressure on Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo, who cruised throughout Friday\u2019s game, controlling the Cubs\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n
Cantillo was good at \u201cplaying the front and back game\u201d with his velocity. He generated most of his whiffs (six of 10) with his changeup that flummoxed the Cubs\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis changeup is just kind of a floating changeup, but [it] just feels like it never gets there,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cSo you either get it off the end or you get beat by a fastball.\u201d<\/p>\n
ABS one-week review<\/p>\n
The implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike System was going to take some time for teams to adjust to. Though many focus on the number of calls that umpires get wrong, Counsell is looking at it from a different perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had some games already where it\u2019s like, \u2018Man, that umpire was unbelievable,\u2019\u201d Counsell said. \u201cAnd I wish that would actually get highlighted a little more in this new system. We should highlight how good some of the umpires are, which we don\u2019t, but we should.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, the first day of the Angels series, the umpire was brilliant; he was incredible. [He saw] 270 pitches [and] he missed, like, two of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entering Friday, catcher Carson Kelly had challenged four calls behind the plate, winning three and losing one. He\u2019s gained two strikes and eliminated a walk through six games.<\/p>\n
But Counsell is holding off on judging ABS until after three weeks, which he feels is an appropriate amount of time to assess the system. He wants to see more information about it proliferate through more video and data.<\/p>\n
Suzuki rehab assignment<\/p>\n
Right fielder Seiya Suzuki began his rehab assignment at Double-A Knoxville on Friday. Suzuki is recovering from a PCL strain that he suffered playing for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n
The plan is for him to play five innings in right field, and Suzuki could return on the Cubs\u2019 six-game road trip if the knee is feeling good after a couple of games.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Horton left in the second inning of Friday\u2019s game against the Guardians after walking the first batter he faced, and in a 1-1 count against Bo Naylor before calling for the trainers. <\/p>\n [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] read<\/p>\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775264442_204_.jpeg\"\/)
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