CHICAGO (AP) — The Cubs have continued their “treading water” pattern, and it’s not helping their waning chances in the National League Wild Card race.
After winning the opener of a three-game interleague home series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, the Cubs couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark Wednesday night, as the Tigers homered three times to even the series with an 8-2 victory at Wrigley Field.
The teams play their rubber match to conclude the series Thursday afternoon, which will also wrap up the Cubs’ six-game homestand.
The Cubs haven’t been playing poorly in August. They’re 10-7 during the month and had won three of four going into Wednesday, but that hasn’t been nearly enough to make a dent in the NL Wild Card standings.
Since winning four straight and five of six between Aug. 4-10, the Cubs have gone 3-5 in their last eight games and continue to languish under .500, at 62-65. They enter Thursday 11.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third and final NL Wild Card spot, tied with one team and behind three others.
FanGraphs’ MLB Playoff Odds give the Cubs a miniscule 2.4% chance of making the postseason entering play Thursday.
Taillon struggles
In Wednesday’s game, Riley Greene, Trey Sweeney and Kerry Carpenter each homered for the Tigers, who won for the seventh time in nine games.
Greene, Sweeney, Carpenter and Parker Meadows, who had three hits from the leadoff spot, were among seven left-handed batters in the Tigers’ starting lineup for the matchup with Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon.
It’s been a rough August for Taillon, who dropped to 8-8 on the season and has a 5.73 ERA in four starts this month. He did manage to work through five innings Wednesday, allowing four runs on six hits, including two homers, with two walks and five strikeouts.
“I feel like the first couple innings were a little out of character,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who celebrated his 54th birthday Wednesday, said of Taillon’s outing. “The misses were a little bigger than usual, and having a little hard time getting ahead of hitters, and they took advantage of it.”
Christian Bethancourt hit a two-run homer off Brant Hurter (1-1) in the fifth, but the Cubs left six runners on base. Hurter, the second of five Detroit pitchers, worked 3 2/3 innings for his first win in his fourth major-league appearance. The 6-foot-6 left-hander was struck by Seiya Suzuki’s comebacker in the sixth, but he stayed in the game for one more batter.
Detroit (62-65) jumped in front on Sweeney’s first homer in his third major-league game. With Jace Jung aboard on a leadoff walk in the second, Sweeney drove a 2-1 curveball from Taillon into the basket in center at Wrigley Field.
The ball bounced back onto the warning track, and Sweeney stopped at third before the umpires confirmed it was a home run.
Baez doesn’t play
Tigers shortstop Javy Baez played at Wrigley Field for the first time Tuesday night since his eight-year Cubs tenure, in which he was a two-time All-Star and helped lead the Cubs to the 2016 World Series title.
The Wrigley Field faithful gave Baez a big standing ovation before his first at-bat.
Baez, mired in a miserable season — his third with Detroit — took a “golden sombrero,” finishing 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He’s batting .182 with a .220 on-base percentage and a .514 OPS in 79 games this season.
Baez was not in the starting lineup Wednesday night and didn’t appear in the game.
Trainer’s room
Cubs: LHP Jordan Wicks (right oblique strain) felt great after pitching four scoreless innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday. He threw 53 pitches, 34 for strikes. He is expected to make at least one more rehab start in the minors. … RHP Hayden Wesneski (forearm strain) was scheduled for a bullpen session in Arizona on Wednesday.
Up next
Justin Steele (3-5, 3.10 ERA) pitches for Chicago on Thursday in the finale of the three-game series. The left-hander has a 1.23 ERA in 14 2/3 innings over three August starts. The Tigers hadn’t announced their starting pitcher.
First pitch at Wrigley Field is scheduled for 1:20 p.m.