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The month of April was defined by the Cubs’ inconsistency at the plate, but the offense finally appears to be on the verge of turning a corner.
The Cubs fell 8-6 to the Reds on Friday at Great American Ball Park, but not before mounting a ninth-inning rally that could’ve flipped the outcome with one swing. The loss stung, but for an offense that hadn’t found its footing all month, it was a positive step forward.
“I thought we worked hard all night, to be honest with you,” said manager David Ross. “I thought we had a nice game plan going in.”
Chicago entered the ninth inning down four runs but plated a pair through tough at-bats. The Cubs sent eight batters to the plate, drawing four walks and forcing Reds manager David Bell to make two pitching changes.
Eric Sogard started the rally with an unassuming infield single. Chicago had life. Tony Wolters, who replaced Willson Contreras after he exited with right thigh tightness, drew a five-pitch walk. Bell brought in Lucas Sims. The Cubs wouldn’t fade into the night. The energy began to shift.
Kris Bryant drew a seven-pitch walk. The boo birds came out. Anthony Rizzo flew out. Cincinnati fans temporarily exhaled.
Those in attendance held their breath when Javier Báez just barely missed clearing the bases, getting a run across the plate with a sacrifice fly that looked destined for the bleachers off the bat. The Cubs made it a three-run deficit but now had two outs. Still, they kept battling.
Jason Heyward and Jake Marisnick drew back-to-back walks, the latter of which brought home Wolters. Two-run game. Bell, once again, had to go deeper into his bullpen.
Tejay Antone ultimately slammed the door on Chicago. David Bote hit the ball hard earlier in the night but grounded out this time. The Cubs lost, yes, but not before scratching and clawing like only contenders know how.
“That’s the type of stuff for me that can win you a series,” Ross said. “To get into the bullpen a little bit deeper on a night where they’ve got a little bit of a cushion. To get the back end of their bullpen cranking and to spend some energy, that’s the stuff that can affect a series moving forward.
“I’m super proud of the offense. Great at-bats, staying within their approach, just couldn’t come up with that last hit.”
Those two runs at the end weren’t insignificant in the grand scheme of their season. With six runs tonight, Chicago has finally scored five or more runs in back-to-back games this season, a feat that had eluded them due to inconsistency.
The Cubs’ four-game series against the Braves illustrated the two-faced nature of the offense. In the series opener, they scored seven runs. In the next two, they scored none. To conclude the series, they plated nine. They’re capable of crooked numbers; they just hadn’t strung them together until Friday.
“It really was pretty impressive seeing what we did there,” Bryant said. “We didn’t come through with the win, but good at-bats all around.”
While the late offense left the Cubs in a glass-half-full mood, there were still shades of the problems that mired April.
Jake Arrieta, who entered play as the closest thing resembling Chicago’s ace, allowed seven runs and three homers in just 3 1/3 innings.
There were also some preventable mistakes. Marisnick misplayed Kyle Farmer’s single in the sixth, allowing Farmer to advance to third and eventually score. Bote misread a ball in the dirt and was caught stealing, going back into first with an awkward half-slide.
Contreras’ early exit, Ross said, was precautionary. But it was a scary development nonetheless given that the Cubs have already lost Joc Pederson to the injured list.
Pitching and defense will need further ironing out, but as far as the offense goes, it’s trending in the right direction.
“We fought throughout the game,” Arrieta said. “We were in it until the last out — bases-loaded there with a chance still to win the game. That is a good sign, even though I wasn’t able to help us out more than I did.”