Marlins 14, Cubs 10: A tweetstorm

When the Marlins scored 11 runs in the second inning of Friday night’s game, I seriously thought about writing this line: “The Cubs lost Friday night. Discuss.” ... and have that be the entire recap.

But damned if the Remnants Cubs didn’t make a comeback in this ridiculous affair and actually have a chance in the ninth inning.

The Cubs lost 14-10, and I’ll spare you the “Bears/Dolphins football score” joke. Oh, wait. I just made that joke anyway. The 2021 Cubs now have two losing streaks of at least nine games for the first time in franchise history.

What I did decide to do during that ridiculous inning that you’re going to see here is to post a number of tweets I found around that time. So, as promised in the headline, a tweetstorm:

Also, note Robinson Chirinos’ BA in MLB’s tweet. That got higher — a LOT higher — before this thing was over.

Those 20 innings in 1999 were in a 19-12 loss to the Brewers July 1, a 14-1 loss to the Phillies July 2 and a 21-8 loss to the Phillies July 3, and the latter is the last time any Cubs team allowed 20 or more runs in a game, and ... well, let’s just say I suspect that one’s going to change before the end of 2021.

In connection with that:

That led to this question, and my reply:

That one might wind up happening again. With 10 runs allowed Wednesday, 17 Thursday and 14 Friday, that’s 41 runs in three games. The 1999 three-game sequence was 45 runs allowed. That team had some parallels to this one — they were a game out of first place June 23 with a 32-23 record and went 35-72 the rest of the way. That included a 6-24 August... and looks like this month, with the Cubs already 1-11, might eclipse that.

More Twitter fun:

My favorite reply to that one:

All right, I guess I’ll show you a few highlights, because there were some. The Cubs actually led this game 4-1 going into that 11-run inning, thanks in part to this two-run homer by David Bote [VIDEO].

Adbert Alzolay, who pitched well in the first inning, had his first career extra-base hit, a double, in the second. That turned out to be a bad thing, because during that disastrous Marlins bottom of the second:

Why, yes, I am going to assume that came from running the bases, although this pitch also could have been the reason [VIDEO].

This injury likely ends Alzolay’s season, as he was probably going to be on an innings limit soon. Whether this came from running the bases or not, I sincerely hope we are in the final six weeks of seeing pitchers bat. Enough already.

The Cubs began sort of a comeback in the fifth. Robinson Chirinos homered to make it 14-5 [VIDEO].

And four Cubs runs scored in the eighth. Frank Schwindel smacked a two-run homer [VIDEO].

Pat Hughes said “long gone!” and it was:

After Chirinos doubled — his fourth hit of the game! — Ian Happ made it 14-9 [VIDEO].

That’s another one that went a long way:

Meanwhile, Codi Heuer (two innings), Adam Morgan (one inning), Rowan Wick (one inning) and Manuel Rodriguez (one inning) were shutting down the Marlins on one hit and three walks, with seven strikeouts, though not before Wick was asked to swap out his glove, apparently because the color (grayish-blue) was too close to the Cubs’ gray road jersey color. Thanks, Joe West!

In the ninth, Schwindel doubled and Rafael Ortega plated the Cubs’ 10th run [VIDEO].

With one out and a runner on and now “only” a four-run deficit, maybe?

Well, no. Patrick Wisdom and Chirinos struck out to end it.

It was the first time the 2021 Cubs had scored in double figures since July 9, when all the traded guys still on the team beat the Cardinals 10-5. The 18 hits, though, were a season high. So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

One last tweet, and though this wasn’t even related to the Cubs, it might as well be:

All you can do is laugh, really. The game was actually somewhat entertaining, and in the end, baseball is entertainment. Cubs management and ownership are going to have to pick up the pieces after this nightmare of a season ends in St. Louis October 3 and decide what direction they want to take this franchise.

In the meantime, baseball games involving players in Chicago Cubs uniforms continue. And Saturday, these two teams will present a Zach vs. Zach matchup: Davies for the Cubs, Thompson (who was originally scheduled for Sunday) for the Marlins. Game time is 5:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.