To take full advantage of Pete Crow-Armstrong’s torrid stretch at the plate and gain ground in the National League playoff race, the Cubs will need the rest of their roster to come through.
On Saturday, their patchwork bullpen blew up and cost them.
Staked to a five-run lead, Cubs relievers gave up a combined eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings of an 8-6 loss to the Blue Jays. Jacob Webb allowed a tiebreaking three-run home run to Kazuma Okamoto in the eighth, capping the relievers’ implosion that began with rough outings from Trent Thornton and Caleb Thielbar.
‘‘I didn’t [expletive] execute today, period. Plain and simple,’’ Webb said. ‘‘Coming in to stop the game right there, it’s not anything else other than that, literally.’’
The Cubs appeared to be on track for their third consecutive victory and fourth in their last five games, and it should have been straightforward.
A three-run homer by Matt Shaw in the second gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run homer, singled and walked to extend his on-base streak to 23 games. During that period, he has a .468 on-base percentage and has jumped into the MVP conversation.
But that wasn’t enough because of the bullpen, which didn’t build off starter Colin Rea’s 5⅓ scoreless innings.
Unlike he has with the rest of the roster, which is full of big names and salaries, Cubs president Jed Hoyer hasn’t committed top-line resources to the relievers. That group also has seen Rea and Ben Brown switched to the rotation to fill holes there, further depleting the ranks.
For much of the season, the bullpen has been serviceable. It had a 3.82 ERA — 12th in the majors — entering Saturday. That didn’t continue.
‘‘We didn’t have a good day in the bullpen,’’ manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘Colin pitched great, definitely put us in position to win. When you have three guys that have bad days . . . we gave up a lot of runs because of it. We just didn’t get it done in the bullpen.’’
To get by, the Cubs are looking to pitchers such as Webb.
A journeyman, Webb signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract in December. After being effective for most of the season, including an 11-game scoreless streak, Webb has given up runs in three consecutive outings and in four of his last five.
‘‘The last few outings, I’ve made mistake after mistake, truly,’’ Webb said. ‘‘And it’s pretty [expletive] frustrating, I’m not going to lie. Back to the drawing board [to] figure some stuff out.’’
The Cubs must do the same with their pitching staff.
They’ve gotten a combined seven starts from Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele. Boyd, who is recovering from an injury to his left knee, was scheduled to make a rehab start Saturday for High-A South Bend, Horton is gone until 2027 and Steele’s return is a question mark. That makes the Cubs a candidate to add starters before the trade deadline Aug. 3.
The bullpen also could use some help, and at least the Cubs got some good news about closer Daniel Palencia.
Counsell said that the MRI exam on Palencia’s right elbow showed only a mild flexor strain and that he will be shut down through the upcoming road trip to New York and Milwaukee. Palencia hopes to be able to start throwing again when the Cubs come home June 29 against the Padres.
With or without Palencia, however, the relievers need to get outs. And for Webb, that means improving his location and tweaking his pitch selection.
‘‘Every outing I have, I’m trying to go out there and do my best,’’ he said. ‘‘Not always does it work that way.’’