FanPost

Sunday loss was Cubs' second of its kind

Since 1876, the Cubs have lost 10,635 games.

They have lost 3,236 of them, about one third, by 1 run, an average of just under 22 per year.

Sunday's loss at Philadelphia was their 487th by a score of 2-1.

It was the 141st of those in which they allowed a home run.

It was only the 27th in which the home run scored both of the opponents' runs.

And it was just the 2nd in which the 2-run homer was hit by a pinch hitter.

The only such loss before Sunday was on July 16, 1960, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

..........

SORRY SEASON

The Cubs had never been as high as fourth place after their third game of 1960. They had been sixth, at 23-28, on June 17, then had lost 9 in a row to tumble to last.

They ended the tailspin by winning at doubleheader at Pittsburgh on June 26, but since then had not won back-to-back games again while going 5-10.

An 0-6 loss to the Cardinals in the series opener on Friday night had made their record 30-47. They trailed the seventh-place Phillies by 1.5 games, the fourth-place Cardinals (42-39) by 10 and the first-place Pirates (49-32) by 17.

........

PITCHING MATCHUP

A Ladies Day crowd of 21,006 (12,672 paid) turned out for the Saturday afternoon contest.

24-year-old right hander Glen Hobbie was the starting pitcher for the Cubs. Hobbie had finished 10-6 and 16-13 in 1958 and 1959, his first 2 full seasons.

So far in 1960, he was 8-10, but 3 of his losses had come in relief. He had begun the year with a 5-hit, complete-game shutout and had gone the distance in 3 others games while allowing just 1 run, including his most recent start, a 6-hitter against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field 10 days earlier.

Hobbie had not pitched in 7 days, since taking over from Dick Ellsworth in the first inning at San Francisco. He worked 4.1 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, with no walks and a strikeout.

The Cubs won that game, 7-6, in 12 innings, with Don Elston holding the Giants to no runs on 2 hits over the final 6.

...

The Cardinals' starter was 31-year-old lefty Curt Simmons, who had been released on May 17 during his 13th season with the Phillies, during which he had won 115 games.

Simmons had signed with the Cardinals on May 20. He relieved in his first 4 games; in the last, he surrendered 7 runs on 14 hits in 8 innings.

Made a starter on June 19, he yielded 2 runs in 6 innings, then none in 8.2 and 4 in 7.1. In his most recent outing, on July 5, he had limited the Cubs to 2 runs on 4 hits in 6.1 innings at Chicago.

..........

DRAWING BLANKS

Both teams went out in order in the first inning.

With 2 out in the Cubs' second, Ed Bouchee doubled. When second baseman Julian Javier fumbled Ron Santo's grounder, Bouchee tried to score and was called out at home.

Cubs Manager Lou Boudreau was incensed by the call and barked at umpire Augie Donatelli from the dugout. When Boudreau kept it up in the bottom of the inning, Donatelli pointed a finger at Boudreau, who ran out to confront Donatelli, leading to Boudreau's ejection.

Hobbie issued a 1-out walk in the second, then got former Cub Walt "Moose" Moryn to hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

Hobbie singled with 1 out in the third and was erased in a double play.

Curt Flood got the first hit off Hobbie, leading off the third. He reached second on a 2-out grounder before Javier popped up.

Neither team managed to put a runner on base in the fourth.

...

Bouchee made a single with 1 out in the fifth. El Tappe singled with 2 down, but Hobbie struck out.

Hobbie worked a 1-2-3 inning.

Don Zimmer opened the Cubs' sixth with a single. A forceout and a double play followed.

Then Hobbie set down 3 in a row again. Through 6 innings, he had allowed 1 hit and 1 walk while facing 19 batters, 1 over the minimum.

..........

CUBS BREAK THROUGH

Ernie Banks started the seventh by beating out a grounder to short for the Cubs' sixth hit off Simmons.

He remained at first as Dick Gernert flied out and Bouchee lined out.

But when Santo smacked a ball into the left field corner, Banks raced around the bases to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Santo advanced to third on a wild pitch before Tappe grounded out.

..........

CARDS THREATEN

Joe Cunningham led off for the Cardinals and singled.

Bill White grounded to Bouchee at first. He fired to Banks, covering second, for a forceout.

White stole second and went to third on a groundout to the right side.

Hobbie ended the threat by fielding a ball off the bat of Daryl Spencer and throwing to first for the third out.

..........

WASTED OPPORTUNITY

Hobbie and Zimmer flied out in the Cubs' eighth.

George Altman kept the inning alive with a walk and Frank Thomas rapped a single, on which Altman stopped at second.

That marked the end of the day for Simmons. Righty Lindy McDaniel was summoned to face Banks and struck him out, keeping the score at 1-0.

..........

THE BIG BLOW

The first 2 Cardinals reached base, as Moryn singled and Flood walked.

Hal Smith tried to bunt, only to pop the ball up. Hobbie grabbed it and threw to Banks in time to double Moryn off second.

With 2 out and a runner on first, George Crowe pinch hit for McDaniel.

....

Crowe, a lefthanded batter, was known as "Big George." He had played in the Negro Leagues and was 31 when he signed with the Braves in 1952. He was traded to the Reds after 1955, and in 1957 he hit 31 home runs in 133 games.

The next year, had been named to the All-Star team, but finished with just 7 homers in 111 games. During the off season, he was sent to the Cardinals in a 5-player deal.

He had hit 8 homers in 109 plate appearances in 1959. So far in 1960, at age 39, Crowe had homered once in 47 PA.

...

Against Hobbie, Crowe worked the count to 3-1, then slammed the next pitch onto the roof of the right field pavilion, just 322 feet from home.

It was Crowe's 12th career homer as a pinch hitter, breaking a tie with Smoky Burgess for the Major League record.

Matt Stairs holds the record now, with 23, for 12 different teams. None were among his 17 homers in his 1 season as a Cub, 2001.

..........

REST OF GAME

After Crowe put the Cardinals ahead, 2-1, Javier was safe on a throwing error by Banks. He stole second, then Hobbie got Cunningham to ground out.

Bob Will, who had entered the game in right field in the eighth, led off the Cubs' ninth with a single off new reliever Ron Kline.

That brought up Bouchee, who had made 2 of the Cubs' 8 hits off Simmons. This time, he struck out.

Kline then coaxed Santo to pop up and Richie Ashburn, batting for Hobbie, to do the same.

From start to finish, the game had taken just 1 hour, 59 minutes.

The Cubs played 9,929 games before Sunday, when they lost again, 1-2, on a 2-run homer by a pinch hitter.

..........

OTHER 1-2 LOSSES ON 1 HOMER

The Cubs' first 1-2 loss on a 2-run homer was on Sept. 27, 1927, at home against the Pirates. George Grantham, a former Cub, homered in the fifth inning to wipe out a 1-0 Cubs lead.

The Cubs also led in the most recent such loss before Sunday, at home against the Brewers on April 11, 2012. George Kottaras hit the homer.

Bryson Scott's seventh-inning pinch homer on Sunday was the 11th of the 26 decisive 2-run homers that broke a scoreless tie.

It was the latest in a game of those 11. Tim Wallach of the Dodgers, in 1994, and Steve Finley of the Padres, in 1996, had homered in the top of the sixth.

...

There have been 5 later homers that came with the Cubs ahead, 1-0.

Crowe's homer in the eighth at St. Louis in 1960 is the only 1 of the 5 that came on the road.

Ethan Allen of the Phillies, in 1934, and Moises Alou of the Expos, in 1996, homered in the eighth at Wrigley Field. A pair of Dodgers did it in the ninth: Tommy Davis, in 1961, and Joe Ferguson, in 1973.

Davis's came off none other than Hobbie, with nobody out. Ferguson's 2-out blast denied Rick Reuschel a 3-hit shutout.

...

Some other players of note who hit 2-run homers that beat the Cubs, 2-1: Johnny Bench, Barry Bonds, Lou Brock, Roy Campanella, Orlando Cepeda, Ron Cey, Andres Galarraga and Mike Piazza.

The unlikeliest of the 26 players who hit such homers was Giants pitcher Rich Gale.

On June 5, 1982, he gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the first, then homered off Doug Bird in the top of the second with 2 out and a runner on second.

..........

WHEN CUBS HOMERED, TOO

The Cubs' only run Sunday at Philadelphia came on a 2-out homer in the ninth by Christopher Morel.

That made it just the Cubs' 8th loss by 1-2 in which the opposing team hit a 2-run homer and the Cubs hit a solo shot.

The previous 7:

Sept. 11, 1930, at Brooklyn: Dodgers homered in 1st, then Hack Wilson in 7th

April 20, 1952, at home: Cardinals homered in top of 5th, then Randy Jackson in bottom

June 2, 1967, at St. Louis: Cardinals homered in 5th, then Ted Savage in 8th

Aug. 19, 1973, at home: Ron Santo homered in 5th, then Dodgers homered in 9th, as described above

Sept. 11, 1996, at home: Doug Glanville homered in 6th, then Expos homered in 8th

April 15, 1998, at New York: Mets homered in 1st, then Sammy Sosa in 8th

Sept. 18, 2002: at New York: Mets homered in 1st, then Todd Hundley in 2nd

...

The Cubs have hit a homer for their lone run in 105 of their 1-2 losses.

Sunday was their second of this season. The first was on April 15, at Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

They have hit a homer for their only run in 506 games. Their record in those games: 56-447-3.

Sunday was their fourth of this season. They had 14 in 2018, 13 in 2002, 10 in 1971 and at least 5 in 45 other seasons.

FanPosts are written by readers of Bleed Cubbie Blue, and as such do not reflect the views of SB Nation or Vox Media, nor is the content endorsed by SB Nation, Vox Media or Al Yellon, managing editor of Bleed Cubbie Blue or reviewed prior to posting.