SAN DIEGO – The Cubs’ 10-4 loss to the Padres on Tuesday quickly spiraled out of control in the late innings as the bullpen took over. But the turning point was far subtler than the home runs and multi-run hits that came later.
It was a blooper hitting the grass in between two Gold Glovers.
“A good team like that, you make a couple mistakes, and they’re going to capitalize on it,” left fielder Ian Happ said. “So, yeah, come back tomorrow and play a better baseball game.”
The Cubs had a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning when starter Jameson Taillon handed over the ball to reliever Brad Keller with one out and a runner on first.
Taillon’s pitch count was up to 89 after an 11-pitch walk to Manny Machado.
“I’ve been a little under the weather the last few days, so I kind of figured they weren’t going to push me to like 105 pitches tonight,” Taillon said after holding the Padres to three hits Monday. “Which I’m grateful for because I was just a little tired and fatigued all night.”
Keller got Padres cleanup hitter Gavin Sheets to hit a blooper into shallow left field. Especially considering the Cubs’ reputation for sure-handed defense, it looked like an out.
Happ, shortstop Dansby Swanson and third baseman Matt Shaw all broke towards the ball, with Shaw peeling off when it was clear it wasn’t his. But no one called for it, and neither Happ nor Swanson, who both appeared within range, made the final effort. The ball fell between them.
“High popup, should have been caught,” Happ said. “Down the line – I was playing kind of more straight up, not as much towards the line – but that’s a play where I’m looking for the other two guys, and I should have put my head down and gone and got it.”
Instead of two outs and a runner on first, there was one out with runners on first and second. Keller walked the next batter, Xander Bogaerts, to load the bases. So, when Jose Iglesias chopped a swinging bunt to the left side of the infield, it became an RBI single as Keller picked up the ball with no play.
The Padres had cut the Cubs’ lead to one run and still had the bases loaded. Then Jason Heyward hit a sharp ground ball up the middle, a diving shortstop Dansby Swanson slowing it down but unable to come up with it, to tie the game.
Keller struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. But the game had fundamentally changed.
“Brad threw the ball very well, and we just missed an out there, and then they got some fortune on their side, and some luck on their side, and that hurt us there,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And then from there on, we didn’t throw the ball great.”
Right-hander Nate Pearson gave up three runs in the seventh inning and only recorded one out. Eli Morgan relieved him.
Morgan got out of the inning but then gave up a pair of home runs and a single in the eighth before he left with an athletic trainer. Counsell said Morgan was dealing with some right elbow issues.
“We’re going to have to see how he feels tomorrow, and then see what that means,” Counsell said.
Ethan Roberts finished the game, allowing one inherited runner to score on a fielder’s choice. He was the only Cubs pitcher who wasn’t charged with a run Tuesday.
Counsell confirmed that a roster move was likely coming.