Chicago Cubs' Bullpen Deserves Blame For Historic Meltdown

The Chicago Cubs' bullpen suffered a historic collapse against the San Diego Padres.

The Chicago Cubs' bullpen suffered a historic collapse against the San Diego Padres. / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs should have had an easy win on Monday. Instead, they suffered a humiliating defeat as their bullpen apparently had other ideas.

The Cubs appeared well on their way to victory for most of the evening at Petco Park. They scored four runs in the second inning and four more in the fourth, taking an 8-0 lead against the San Diego Padres into the bottom of the sixth.

Chicago's bats were hot and Javier Assad was dealing. What could go wrong?

The shorthanded bullpen promptly imploded, squandering a great start from Assad (5 IP, 2 ER) and eight runs from the lineup. The Padres erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, turning a blowout into a nailbiter.

Jose Cuas deserves much of the blame for surrendering four runs and three hits while recording just one out. He's now given up seven runs in 3 2/3 innings over his last three appearances, so naturally Cubs fans are already calling for his head on social media.

“Now pitching, right hander Jose Cuas” pic.twitter.com/eq680C61vD

— Jacob Zanolla (@jz2016cubs) April 9, 2024

Cuas wasn't alone, however, as all four Chicago relievers were charged with at least one run. The last two came on a crushing two-run homer by Fernando Tatis Jr. in the bottom of the eighth that put San Diego in front, tying the largest comeback (eight runs) in franchise history.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, they ended up on the wrong side of history in this one. Their bats went cold, their relievers floundered, and they somehow lost a game where they had a 99.4% win probability at one point.