Boos rose from the crowd as Cubs star Kyle Tucker grounded out to second to lead off the sixth inning, and then again when he flew out to left field to left to end the eighth.
“The fans are frustrated, and Kyle’s -frustrated,” manager Craig Counsell said -after the Cubs’ 7-0 loss Monday to the Brewers. “And it’s unfortunate, because when you make outs, it doesn’t look great, but he’s -trying. It’s not clicking”
Tucker, who has tallied just four extra-base hits since the beginning of July, was the recipient of Cubs fans’ message Monday. But their frustrations extend beyond him.
The Cubs (70-54) have slid to nine games back of the Brewers (79-45), who lead the NL Central with their MLB-best record. And a stubborn offensive rut has been a major part of their recent woes.
“The Brewers have played brilliantly,” Counsell said before the game. “It’s made our position in the division kind of unfortunate as you compare it to the other divisions. But we’ve got a very good baseball team, and we know that, we’ve played like that. The major-league season is a great test. It’s the best test for regular seasons, because you prove it over 162 games. You can’t fool people over 162 games.”
In between meetings with the Brewers, dating back to the beginning of August, the Cubs put together a middling 7-8 record. The Brewers, on the other hand, went on a 14-game winning streak that finally ended -Sunday in a loss to the Reds.
“Right now, we’re not scoring enough,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Monday morning. “And because of that, those one-run games are coin flips. You never know what day a hot streak starts and a cold street ends. You’ve got to come to the ballpark optimistic every day that we’ll start scoring runs. We have one of the best position playing groups in baseball, offensively and defensively.”
Monday afternoon was one of the Cubs’ worst offensive showings of the year, before thunderstorms wiped out Game 2 of the doubleheader.
They managed just two hits, tied for a season low. Only one came off Brewers starter Freddy Peralta — a first-inning single on Seiya Suzuki’s hard ground ball up the middle. The other was rookie Owen Caissie’s first major-league hit, a line-drive single into shallow left-center field off reliever Abner Uribe in the seventh.
While Peralta certainly showed his mettle, he faltered in the fourth inning, issuing three consecutive one-out walks to load the bases. The Cubs didn’t capitalize.
Caissie struck out chasing too far out of the zone. Then Nico Hoerner, who has been clutch with runners in scoring position all season, stepped up to the plate.
The outfield ribbon boards displayed
Hoerner’s impressive career numbers with the bases loaded: .298 batting average, .364 on-base percentage, .404 slugging percentage, .767 OPS. He lined a changeup to right field, but the Brewers’ Sal Frelick was there to catch it.
To twist the knife, the Brewers found themselves in an almost identical situation in the eighth inning, albeit against a less established pitcher. They squeezed a four-run rally out of Cubs reliever Gavin Hollowell’s three consecutive one-out walks.
“When you’re trailing another team, there’s nothing you want more than to play them head to head,” Hoerner said Monday before the game. “Obviously, they’ve been on a really impressive run for an extended time now. And also just a test in general to see where we’re at at this point in the season.”
It was the right attitude. But the Cubs failed the first test.
Counsell planned to give Tucker Game 2 off, before the weather took it upon itself to rest both teams for the evening.
“We’re going to have to take a little step back here, for sure, give him some days off to reset him hopefully,” Counsell said after the game. “Because he’s frustrated, and we’re not coming up with solutions for him, and he’s not coming up with solutions. So, sometimes you have to take some steps back to go forward again.”
Maybe the rainout was for the best. Tucker isn’t the only Cubs hitter who could use a reset.
