Marlins 11, Cubs 1: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Cubs lost to the Marlins 11-1 Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Discuss.

Oh. You came here for a recap of this game, and I suppose you will have one, after a fashion.

The game was over after Jake Arrieta got the first three hitters to hit ground balls. The first one was a dribbler, beat out for a hit by Jazz Chisholm Jr. After Chisholm stole second (more on that later), Starling Marte hit a ground ball to short. Javier Báez went for the out at third — a reasonable choice. Kris Bryant dropped the ball, both runners were safe. Jesus Aguilar also grounded to Báez. The inning could have been over, instead Adam Duvall smashed a three-run homer, his third in two games.

Everyone could have gone home right then, because the Cubs managed just one hit in the first seven innings, a bloop single by Joc Pederson with one out in the second. He was immediately erased on a double play. The only other Cubs baserunner through seven was Arrieta, who was hit by a pitch in the third.

I’m gonna get into some fun trivia here because honestly, that’s more interesting than this game. It was the first time Arrieta had been hit by a pitch in 416 career plate appearances. The last Cubs pitcher to be HBP was Kyle Hendricks, by Miles Mikolas of the Cardinals July 31, 2019.

The complaint department is open for the following:

• Jose Lobaton is WAY past his sell-by date. He’s 36 and hadn’t played in the big leagues before this year since 2018. The Marlins knew they could run on him and did, stealing five bases, and it likely could have been more except I think they had mercy on him. There has GOT to be a better backup catcher out there somewhere. Beyond that, it doesn’t appear he can hit anymore; he’s 0-for-7 (and was hitting .179 at Iowa when recalled).
• What on Earth are they doing pitching to Duvall with one out and first base open in the third? It’s only 4-0 at that point and MAYBE the Cubs could have mounted a comeback. You could see the homer coming, Duvall’s fourth in the series.

The only Cubs run scored on a homer by, of all people, Jason Heyward, who was 3-for-31 since returning from the injured list up to that at-bat.

Here, have a video highlight.

That one went a long way:

Eric Sogard threw the ninth inning, which I thought was kind of strange because Dillon Maples has pitched just once in the last 12 days and that’s the perfect situation for him. Sogard retired the Marlins 1-2-3 on just seven pitches, the only 1-2-3 inning for Cubs pitching all afternoon.

More fun trivia, or maybe not so fun: The last time the Cubs allowed 10+ runs in consecutive games, before now, was August 18 and August 19, 2015, 10-8 and 15-8 losses to the Tigers. The last time (before now) where the Cubs lost consecutive games by 8+ runs was April 29 and April 30, 2006, 16-2 and 9-0 defeats at the hands of the Brewers.

I’d say that’s enough of that, wouldn’t you? Sounds like David Ross has [VIDEO].

The worst the Cubs can wind up after Saturday’s MLB action is over is tied for first place. The Brewers (at Colorado), the Cardinals (at Atlanta) and the Reds (at San Diego) all play this evening. Who knows? Maybe that one-game lead the Cubs came home from New York with will hold.

They’ll try to salvage the final game of this three-game set Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Alec Mills will start for the Cubs and Zach Thompson is scheduled to pitch for Miami. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.