One of completing a perfect first turn via the Guardians' batting order on Saturday, Marcus Stroman made a rare mistake – walking to the No. 1 hitter. 9 Bo Naylor – and punished for it. Amed Rosario ripped two hits, two singles two hits later to put Cleveland in third.
One off Stroman completed a strong six innings, the wheel fell completely for the Cubs (38-43) in a 6-0 loss; fifth loss in their last six matches.
Andres Giménez ended Stroman's night with an RBI single to the right. And instead of stopping the bleeding there, the two runners Stroman inherited scored back-to-back lone goals from reliever Julian Merryweather; the latter slipped under Cody Bellinger's gloves in the middle on a scoring error as the game sailed out of reach.
“Just weird, I felt like I was throwing a lot better than my line,” said Stroman, who was charged with five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings and reported no ill effects from the abrasion on his right index finger that forced him to leave the start. the last one was early.
In between the outbursts, fans waiting through a two hour and forty-five minute rain delay at Wrigley Field saw very little strung together, or pushed into the air, by the Cubs' offense.
Talented newcomer Tanner Bibee equaled a career high with nine strikeouts during a scoreless 5 2/3 innings. Equally confusing, would-be Bellinger's fly to center-left fell due to a defensive miscommunication in the second half and Jared Young's line to right to have two runners in the fourth registered as the only balls hit by the Cubs that made it to the outfield quickly against the Cleveland starters.
“Fastball is real,” said Cubs manager David Ross of Bibie. “We didn't get anything attacking.”
After a 10-hit blast against Cal Quantrill and co on Friday, the Cubs' offensive struggle against right-handers is making a comeback. All five of their hits that night had come from the left side of the plate.
By OPS, the Cubs enter Saturday night 17th in baseball against right-handers, and are 39 points worse than they got against lefties. Nearly all of the platoon's splits were due to the production of lesser forces against the rightists.
Prior to the game, Ross admitted the Cubs' lineup wasn't cut out for beating opponents most nights, but needed a well-timed hit to capitalize on the fifth-best on-base percentage in the National League.
On Saturday night, the Cubs' hitter went 0-for-6 with the runners in scoring position. Stroman's ERA is up to 2.76, eighth best among qualifying starters in MLB. Adding a pair of singles to his bloop double, Bellinger had the Cubs' only multi-hit appearance and extended his active hitting streak to seven games.
“I love our team,” Stroman said when asked to rate the Cubs after 81 games. “I felt like things weren't going our way at all but the commitment, drive and attention to detail were all there.”