In many ways, the Chicago Cubs’ script to losing games over the last four weeks has followed the same pattern.
Each day has played out similarly: solid starting pitching, bullpen inconsistencies and an offense that can’t be counted on to carry the team for a game let alone a series right now. But the Cubs added a new, painful twist to falling short Friday against the Cincinnati Reds when Nick Madrigal, representing the tying run, was waved home on an aggressive send by third base coach Willie Harris.
Madrigal was easily thrown out at home for the second out of the bottom of the ninth inning, and Cody Bellinger hit the next pitch from Reds closer Alexis Díaz to right field to seal the Cubs’ 5-4 loss.
Seiya Suzuki’s double to left field had driven in Pete Crow-Armstrong from third as Madrigal scampered around the bases from first. Reds left fielder Jacob Hurtubise kept the ball from getting to the wall and delivered an on-target throw to cutoff man Elly De La Cruz. From the grass near the infield dirt, De La Cruz fired a 93.3 mph relay throw to catcher Tyler Stephenson to nail Madrigal by roughly five feet.
“My job is just to put my head down and give it my best effort and it’s tough, looking back on it he made a perfect throw,” Madrigal said. “Willie’s one of the best third base coaches in the game and we have full faith in him. This time it didn’t work, but we’re not going to get down about it at all.”
It marked the Cubs’ big-league worst 27th out on the bases and their second in the game. The Cubs have dropped 13 of their last 17 games, including 8 of 10.
“I mean, look, Willie has been fantastic and his aggressiveness has got us a lot of runs this year,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It didn’t work this time.”
Bellinger’s fly ball for the final out appeared deep enough to have scored Madrigal on a sacrifice fly had Harris held him up. Harris knew Bellinger was on deck but thought the Reds were probably going to walk him, which would have brought up Christopher Morel with the bases loaded. In hindsight, Harris said he would not have sent Madrigal home and that moving forward he plans to be less aggressive with one-out situations.
Tyler Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds tags out Nick Madrigal of the Chicago Cubs at home plate during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field on Friday, May 31, 2024. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
“I took a chance on trying to score right there,” Harris said. “It didn’t work out for us. Unfortunately for me and for the team, but you have to be aggressive, you have to try to score runs.
“The only way you win is if you score runs, right? This is the major leagues, guys make plays and today they made a play on us. … Today it’s on me. And I know those guys in the clubhouse, they know me, they know I’m for them, and they will pick me up tomorrow.”
Controversy proceeded the game-changing sequence at home. Counsell pinch-hit Madrigal for Patrick Wisdom in the ninth, preferring that matchup against the hard-throwing Díaz. With two on and nobody out following a Crow-Armstrong single and Michael Busch’s pinch-hit walk, Madrigal appeared to get hit on his hand by an 0-1 fastball and started to go to first base. Home plate umpire Brennan Miller immediately called back Madrigal and ruled the ball hit the knob of his bat for a foul ball.
“I felt it hit my hand pretty immediately,” Madrigal said. “I couldn’t tell how much you got it. I just knew I got it and I dropped the bat. … You can’t really tell in the moment whether it hit your hand, where, but I definitely felt it get me and then watching the replay kind of confirmed that it got it.”
A game-saving throw by Elly De La Cruz!
(MLBStats x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/tliz4gJK1Q
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 31, 2024
Counsell immediately popped out of the dugout to argue the call. As the play went into a replay review, Counsell was ejected for the second time since he’s been with the Cubs. The replay confirmed Miller’s ruling.
“Replay’s not going to change the call because it hits some of your hand, hits some of the bat and so you can’t tell,” Counsell said. “It’s just it’s too hard for replay to tell, it’s too hard to tell, it’s too hard to overturn it so a call in the field is what matters.
“I knew once that they called it a foul ball it wasn’t going to change.”
Mercifully, May is over for the Cubs (27-29) as they finish the month 10-18, again left trying to regroup entering June.
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Harris’ decision and Madrigal getting thrown out at home in the ninth understandably will garner attention, but the Cubs’ loss shouldn’t be pinned solely on that sequence. The offense continues to fall short in taking advantage of runners on base to put pressure on all other areas of their game. They left eight on base Friday and couldn’t take advantage of a chance to blow the game open in the fifth. Morel’s walk versus Reds starter Graham Ashcraft loaded the bases, and Ian Happ followed with a walk off reliever Fernando Cruz to put them ahead. However, the threat ended on Nico Hoerner’s flyout.
Happ was responsible for driving in three of the Cubs’ runs in the loss with his two-run home run in the second — his fourth in his last six games — giving starter Javier Assad an early lead. Left-hander Drew Smyly surrendered the deciding runs in the seventh, giving up a two-run home run to Santiago Espinal.
The Cubs showed some fight in the ninth as they tried to rally against the Reds (25-32). Their 21 ninth-inning runs this year are tied for ninth-most in the majors. At some point soon, though, the Cubs need to get rolling before their May troubles turn into a season-defining June swoon.
“It’s obviously a great trait, a team that never quits no matter what the situation is,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “It’s just one of those things everyone’s trying to figure out how to bottle that up for the first part of the games. We obviously have another opportunity tomorrow to come and do that.”
