Chicago Cubs Bullpen Blows Pitcher's Duel in Deflating Loss
When Drew Smyly left the mound after the top of the sixth, Chicago Cubs fans may have thought they were in for a special night. Between their starter and the Milwaukee Brewers' starter Brandon Woodruff, not a run had crossed home plate.
Smyly exited the game with a 0.90 ERA in August, having allowed just three earned runs in 30 innings. It was apparent early on that he would continue the trend against the Brewers on Saturday evening.
But despite a leadoff double to open the game with a man in scoring position, the Cubs were unable to capitalize against one of Milwaukee's several aces.
Woodruff, opposed by one of the hottest starts in Major League Baseball, was unfazed, even outshining Smyly, throwing 10 strikeouts to Smyly's two. After that lead-off double, Woodruff allowed only four more baserunners the entire game. The Cubs' offense, as it has been so often this year, was silenced.
Smyly, for his part allowed only three runners in scoring position and only one extra base hit, a double to Luis Urias in the second inning.
After six, with the score knotted at zero, the Cubs went to their bullpen. Smyly was only at 86 pitches, nevertheless Rowan Wick, who had an ERA of 2.86 since the beginning of July, came into the ballgame.
The Cubs' collapse was swift. Two singles by Victor Carantini and Kolton Wong led off the inning before Jace Peterson scored a runner from second on a sacrifice bunt. Christopher Morel fielded the groundball and threw it into right field.
All of a sudden, runners were on second and third for Christian Yelich who wasted no time in lengthening the Brewers lead. His three-run blast summarily put the game out of reach for Chicago.
If the Cubs were already unable to capitalize on several situations with RISP, it seemed unlikely they would be able to do so four times with the Brewers fearsome bullpen shutting the door.
Wick ended the frame allowing only the four runs, but again in the eighth the Cubs walked twice to set up a dangerous situation, and again Woodruff held them silent.
The Brewers continued to pile on in the eighth, adding three more runs on homers from Kolten Wong and Willy Adames as Brent Suter closed the door in the ninth sealing a 7-0 victory for Milwaukee.
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