CHICAGO -- With the exception of a quiet May, the Cubs have featured one of baseball’s more prolific lineups this season. The North Siders headed into Wednesday ranked fourth in the Majors in runs scored and the Tigers felt it first-hand one night earlier when Chicago rattled off six runs in the first inning.
The Cubs’ offense went quiet against starter Keider Montero in the finale against Detroit, which sent the North Siders into Thursday’s off-day with a 5-1 loss and series defeat at Wrigley Field. The off night for Chicago’s lineup made two mistake pitches from righty Colin Rea -- both resulting in homers -- more damaging.
“This is a good pitcher,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Montero. “You might not know his name, but this is a guy having a really good season. He’s a good pitcher.”
Here were three key aspects of Wednesday’s loss to the Tigers:
1. Cubs struggle vs. Montero
It looked like Chicago's offense was off and running in the first inning, when Seiya Suzuki connected with a full-count pitch from Montero and sent it rocketing out to left field for a solo homer.
The blast was Suzuki’s 17th of the season and came off a sinker that started outside before running into the heart of the zone. Michael Busch followed with a single to right off another sinker from Montero, who made an adjustment with his pitch usage after that early showing for Chicago.
“You can tell he was making adjustments,” Suzuki said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. “My at-bats after the first, they weren’t good. He kept us scoreless, so he made the adjustments he needed to.”
As Montero navigated through the Cubs’ order for 5 1/3 innings, the righty leaned more on his breaking pitches (slider and knuckle-curve) deeper into the outing. The North Siders struggled to counter, going a combined 1-for-17 against Montero after the consecutive hits by Suzuki and Busch in the first.
The Cubs entered the night with an MLB-best 11.2% walk rate, but Montero ended with eight strikeouts and no free passes issued. Chicago did not draw a walk until Ian Happ reached with two outs in the ninth.
“We got off to a good start,” Counsell said. “And then I thought [Montero] just took over and did what he’s done all year, really. We just didn’t create any baserunners. We like to create baserunners with the base on balls. He allowed zero. He pitched really well.”
2. Homers cost Rea
Home runs have been an issue for the Cubs’ rotation this season. Heading into play on Wednesday night, only the starters for the A’s had surrendered more homers (95) than Chicago’s group (92) in the Majors this season.
While Shota Imanaga (22) and Jameson Taillon (22) have given up the most blasts, Rea has yielded 17 this season for the Cubs. That includes two on Wednesday night that accounted for all four runs on his line, and were magnified by the lack of run support.
In the second inning, Spencer Torkelson went down and got a 1-2 slider from Rea that pulled the game into a 1-1 tie. In the fourth, Rea gave up a leadoff double to Riley Greene and then walked Torkelson, but he was on the cusp of escaping the jam. That was until Hao-Yu Lee drove a 3-0 fastball in the heart of the zone out to left-center for a three-run shot.
“I just threw a get-me-over fastball and he put a good swing on it,” Rea said. “With two outs there, you’ve got to be thinking a little bit better. Even though it’s 3-0 there, you’ve still got to make a better pitch.”
3. Bullpen did its part
When an offense is struggling to find its spark, the best thing a bullpen can do is hold the line to buy time for a potential comeback. That rally never surfaced on Wednesday night for the Cubs, but the relief corps did its part to at least make it a possibility.
Following Rea’s five innings, lefty Ryan Rolison and righty Gavin Hollowell handled the sixth and seventh by setting down all six batters faced in order (four via strikeout). Veteran lefty Caleb Thielbar got through the eighth unscathed, ending with a pair of strikeouts after Dillon Dingler singled.
Cubs righty Tyler Ferguson was on the hook for one run in the ninth inning, but Chicago’s lineup had a window to break through prior to that point and did not make the most of it.
“We did a nice job. We had a bunch of strikeouts with the bullpen,” Counsell said. “Not enough offense tonight.”