About that cruise-control glide into the playoffs?
Never mind.
The Cubs still have the best record in the majors, but after Saturday's 6-5, extra-inning loss to the Brewers, they seemed just a little less invincible than they have looked through most of the first three weeks of this nine-week, coronavirus season — losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
The Cubs were the last team to lose back-to-back games in 2020. And they're still the only team that has not lost a series. But they'll need a win in the finale of a four-game series Sunday to keep that streak alive.
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Colin Rea looked good through most of a spot start necessitated by Tyler Chatwood's bad back, and Anthony Rizzo had a big day at the plate. But not much else went the Cubs' way on a day they still needed nearly seven innings from the bullpen.
Yikes: two losses in a row!
Obviously, nobody's panicking over consecutive one-run losses to the Brewers -- regardles of how "tough" Rizzo suggests those losses were in the moment on the guys in the Cubs' hyper-enthusiasm dugout.
“These last two games were pretty stressful for them to win,” said Steven Souza Jr., who entered as a pinch-hitter in the sixth and delivered a game-tying homer into the left-field basket with two out in the eighth.
“We lost by one run both games and had the winning run at home plate. We had the bases loaded against [Josh] Hader [Friday] and obviously [David] Bote up with a chance to tie it up [Saturday]. It’s not like we’re getting steam-rolled out here.
“Good, bad or indifferent, we’re just trying to move on and focus on the game at hand. Especially with such a short season, you can’t dwell on any wins or losses.”
No chains needed
Rizzo, who had a big game in Cleveland earlier in the week after breaking out some heavy gold chains to wear during the game, didn't need the props to go 3-for-5 with a first-inning home run and second-inning, run-scoring double.
He also singled in the seventh, boosting his on-base percentage to .432 and OPS to .940 three weeks into the season.
Top groans
When leadoff man Kris Bryant singled in the ninth in his return to the lineup from a jammed left finger and wrist, he improved to just 10-for-51 (.196) this season — almost exactly the same as No. 3 hitter Javy Báez in his last 13 games (9-for-51).
They have a combined 36 strikeouts to go with their 19 hits in the slumps and on this day went a combined 1-for-10.
But manager David Ross is “not panicked” about the 2016 MVP and 2018 MVP runner-up.
“I trust in players who have the track record,” Ross said before the game when asked about Báez. “I don’t worry about the big boys that have resumes. They’re our horses. We ride them through the good and the bad.”
Rea of (almost) hope
Exactly 1,478 days since his last big-league start, Rea picked up where he left off — but then left off where he picked up.
Rea, who missed 2017 because of Tommy John surgery, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Marlins on July 30, 2016, against the Cardinals the last time he pitched before Saturday.
When he got Keston Hiura to pop to Rizzo in foul territory for the first out of the fourth in this one, he had matched that performance (on one hit) 38 pitches into a 55-pitch limit — but then came a pair of soft-contact singles followed by Justin Smoak’s two-run double, and Rea was done for the day.
Rea, last year's Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year, was charged with the third run when Smoak scored on a two-out single by Luis Urias.
Ross said he liked how Rea looked in the manager's first glimpse at his sixth-man rotation depth in a season that figures to be especially critical -- with doubleheaders common throughout the game, including four already squeezed into the Cubs' schedule in the next 21 days.
Rotation station
The Cubs are the second-to-last team to need a sixth starter this season (Diamondbacks).
And despite the fourth-inning runs off Rea, a Cubs rotation that was second to Cleveland in the majors in ERA entering the day still has a sparkling 2.92 mark.
Where they stand
The Cubs’ 13-5 record is still the best in the majors despite the back-to-back losses. But the second-place Cardinals, who returned to action with a doubleheader against the White Sox after a long COVID-19 shutdown, cut into their NL Central lead with two wins Saturday.
On deck
The Cubs and Brewers finish their four-game series Sunday afternoon at 1:20, just ahead of a five-game series against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field, including doubleheaders Monday and Wednesday. Chatwood's back was improved enough by Saturday that he has been scheduled to start one of the seven-inning games Monday.
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