Bulls News: Stroman struggles as trade deadline looms |
CHICAGO - To say this could be the Chicago Cubs (53- 53) biggest series of the season would be an understatement, as they welcomed the first-place Cincinnati Reds (59-49) to Wrigley Field. In what was the first game of a four-game set, the Cubs find themselves four games behind the Reds as this series will go a long way to determining how things pan out for the rest of this season.
Should they get swept or lose three of four, it will be an uphill battle for this team the rest of the way, as they would be between six and eight games out. Should they split the four gamers, the Cubs would find themselves in the same spot they are in right now, but with plenty of challenging games ahead. However, should they take three of four or even sweep the Reds, you are looking at a team that would cement themselves right in the thick of things, as the Cubs will have a say on who wins the Central this season. That is the level they are trying to get to, and with Marcus Stroman taking the ball on Monday, it gave the Cubs the perfect opportunity to strike first. Granted, Stroman hasn't pitched well in his past five starts going 1-3 with an ERA north of 8.00; he has still had a great season up to this point which is all you can ask for. With the Cubs making a few trades, including adding Jeimer Candelario to the team, you could feel a certain buzz in the air that you haven't seen in a while. Then came the game itself, where Stroman's recent struggles continued as the Reds took game one from the Cubs 6-5. Ever since getting roughed up by the Cardinals in London back in June, things have gone South for Stroman, and there are no answers to how this has happened. His ERA is pushing 4.00 after sitting at 2.3 at one point this season, as he allowed six earned runs in just three innings. That is not going to get it done, but when you have a guy in Andrew Abbott posting an ERA of 1.98 entering the game, you are already in for a tough task. The Cubs will be kicking themselves after this, as Abbott had one of his worst starts of the season, allowing four runs in less than four innings of work. However, it is never easy to battle back when you spot a first-place team with a five-run lead, no matter how much their bullpen has been struggling. Neither team was able to get anything going in the first, although the Cubs did waste a leadoff double from Nico Hoerner in the bottom of the first. Once the second inning rolled around, the Reds offense got rolling as Stroman searched for answers. After retiring the first two in the second to give him five straight to start the game, Stroman would allow a pair of singles to Joey Votto and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to keep the inning alive. Those singles were followed by another one from Will Benson as the Reds grabbed the 1-0 lead and never trailed. Luke Maile put a cap on the three-run frame with his RBI double as the Reds opened a 3-0 lead. Playing from behind is not ideal, but the Cubs are comfortable with it as Dansby Swanson opened the fourth with his 13th homer to pull the Cubs within 3-1. That was it for their offense for quite a while, as things only got worse once the third inning started. With singles being Stroman's demise in the second inning, the command did him in during the third as he walked two of the first four hitters he faced. Those walks were mixed with a Jake Fraley single to push the Reds lead to 4-1 as they kept the pressure on. Votto would extend the lead to 5-1 with his second RBI in as many at-bats, while an RBI groundout gave the Reds a 6-1 lead as the night for Stroman was over. Despite being given a massive lead, the Cubs continued to show the fight they have been known for this season as they began to get after Abbott in the bottom of the third. A rare walk from Nick Madrigal started things off before the Hoerner double put two runners on and no outs. A pair of sacrifice followed that flies from Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ as the Cubs were within 6-3. The Cubs continued to keep the pressure on as Cody Bellinger picked up a two-out double ahead of the Swanson walk, putting two more runners on for the Cubs. That set things up for Yan Gomes, who continued to come up clutch and used an RBI single to pull the Cubs within 6-4. It's not too often when a reliever is the MVP of a game, but you could argue that Javier Assad was the MVP on Monday. Assad has been one of the Cub's better relievers over the past month, and after tossing 3 2/3 scoreless frames and picking up four strikeouts, he gave the Cubs a chance to come back as his work was outstanding. The only problem was the Reds bullpen was equally as good early on as Buck Farmer came in to toss 1 2/3 scoreless frames before yielding to Fernando Cruz, who kept the Cubs off the board in the sixth. With the Cubs still trailing 6-4 in the eighth, it was time for their offense to continue to battle back as the Cubs were looking for another late-game rally. Gomes started that rally with a double to left before coming around to score on the Christopher Morel double to make things 6-5. Morel nearly tied things up on his hit as he missed a homer by a few feet. Needing a big hit to tie the game, Morel would be stranded on second before Alexis Diaz retired the Cubs in order in the ninth as the Reds took game one against the Cubs 6-5 and pushed them five games back in the Central. The Cubs had eight hits in the ball game, with Gomes leading the way with three hits and one RBI. Hoerner added two hits from the leadoff spot but did reach base three times as he continues to play well when it counts.
