Costly mistakes sink Cubs two games behind Brewers

MILWAUKEE — It takes a lot to overcome defensive miscues, a lack of timely hitting, and suboptimal pitching. The Cubs dropped a crucial game against the Brewers Tuesday night, 9-3, thanks in part to uncharacteristically poor play on both sides of the ball from guys who are usually reliable.

Down a game in the division after Monday night’s 8-4 loss, the Cubs slipped further behind the Brewers because of moments like Dansby Swanson striking out with runners on second and third in the fourth inning and Seiya Suzuki grounding into an inning-ending double play with a runner on third, or a pair of surprising misplays in center field by Pete Crow-Armstrong in the fifth inning.

“This is an out of character game defensively, for us, 100 percent,” Craig Counsell said. “We’ve [usually] created outs, and then tonight we gave away some outs. We’ll get back to playing good defense, I’m sure of that.”

It is certainly uncharacteristic to see Crow-Armstrong make two mistakes in the outfield in one inning; that may very well be something Cubs fans never see again. It’s also atypical for Nico Hoerner to miss what looked like a routine catch on a soft liner to second base. To make matters worse, in both of those instances, the extra Brewers on the bases turned into runs for Milwaukee.

In all, the Cubs made three errors Tuesday night, something highly unusual for a team with one of the highest defensive rankings in the league. But the errors were not solely to blame for the loss. Starter Collin Rea gave up four runs on eight hits, and then Ryan Pressly’s pair of walks helped load the bases for an Andrew Vaughn grand slam in the sixth inning.

“I felt like from the beginning it was just kind of a battle,” Rea said. “They had some really good at-bats, really no easy outs. Made me work.”

The Cubs offense had a lot of traffic on the basepaths, but they stranded eight runners and went 1-for-12 with guys in scoring position. That, on top of sloppy defense and substandard pitching makes for a very bad recipe, especially against one of the hottest teams in baseball.

There are five more games against the Brewers between now and mid-August, and although the Cubs expect to get help at the trade deadline, they could have used a series win in Milwaukee this week. The Cubs went .500 in June and are now 13-10 in July, while the Brewers went 16-9 last month and are 17-6 in this one so far. There are still 55 games left in the season, but at the rate both these teams are going, Milwaukee could be hanging their third consecutive NL Central banner.

“The group has handled every part of this season pretty maturely and done it with the big picture [in mind] but also staying day by day,” Hoerner said. “But yea, of course, this series means a lot. Playing the other top team in our division. And the [trade] deadline does carry some weight. I don’t think that’s affecting anything on the field right now, but it is a unique time in the season.”

It’s important to be careful not to pin too much on games in July before the trade deadline. A lot can and will change in a matter of days, and by the time the Cubs have returned to Wrigley Field this weekend for their next homestand, there are bound to be some new faces in the clubhouse.

The Cubs will likely add to their starting pitching and they have been strongly linked to Eugenio Suarez, who would help further spark an offense that has been one of the best in baseball all season. Complicating things is Ian Happ’s injury, suffered during Tuesday’s game when he lined a foul ball off of his left shin and had to leave the at-bat. After the game, Counsell expressed hope that Happ might be available Wednesday, and Happ said his x-rays were negative, adding to the optimism that he might only need a day or two to recover. But Happ is reportedly headed to the 10-day IL and catcher/designated hitter Moises Ballesteros is being recalled from Triple-A Iowa. One possible replacement for Happ in the farm system is Owen Caissie, but he’s been heavily rumored as a piece in several trade possibilities, so he might not be available for the Cubs to call up.

In the very short term, the Cubs have a chance to salvage a series in Milwaukee on Wednesday. In the slightly longer term, they have a trade deadline on Thursday. Beyond that, there’s the final two months of the regular season to keep pushing for the team’s first division title since 2017.

“That’s the cool part of what we do,” Hoerner said of these high-stakes games. “It’s fun to have games that mean a lot and have high stakes. You play in great atmospheres and against another strong team in your division and go head-to-head. We haven’t played well the last two days, but those are opportunities we all look forward to, and [we] plan on turning it around here soon.”