Cubs nine-game – Michael Busch’s solo homer wasn’t enough as the Cubs dropped a 2-1 decision to the Pirates Monday at PNC Park, marking their ninth consecutive loss and extending a season that has already featured major momentum swings.
PITTSBURGH — After the final out, a uniformed Pittsburgh police officer stepped out of the visitors’ clubhouse on routine business. The timing alone felt like a punchline to a night the Cubs couldn’t afford to repeat: 22. 174 fans at PNC Park watched the visiting team slide into its ninth straight loss.
They fell 2-1 to the Pirates on Monday afternoon. The Cubs’ lone run came in the fifth when Michael Busch hit a solo home run. Otherwise, they scattered just five other hits, all singles, and could do little once runners got on.
In the early innings, the story was missed chances. In the second. Dansby Swanson chased a Carmen Mlodzinski sweeper that was well off the plate with the bases loaded to end the inning. In the third, Michael Conforto flied to left with two on to end the threat. Those were the Cubs’ only two at-bats with runners in scoring position. From there, the Pirates tightened the game.
Brandon Lowe doubled in a run off Cubs starter Ben Brown in the third, and in the seventh, Henry Davis—hitting .139 entering the day—added a tie-breaking home run off Trenton Thornton. When the dust settled, the last 10 Cubs went down in order.
“We’ve got to play better. we’ve got to pitch better. we need more guys contributing to good stuff. and as a coaching staff. we’ve got to figure out a way to get the players there. ” Counsell said. “Offensively. we are equipped to be way more consistent than this and way better than this. and we need to show it.”.
The slump has already pushed manager Craig Counsell into reshuffling. Pete Crow-Armstrong was placed in the leadoff spot. and Counsell benched regulars as part of a “mental reset.” Monday also brought changes at the plate: Nico Hoerner and Seiya Suzuki were both in the lineup. though they both pinch hit late. The Cubs also played two recent callups from the minors—Kevin Alcantara and Pedro Ramirez.
The problem, as the season has seemed to keep proving, is that the adjustments haven’t taken. Except for five runs crossing the plate in Sunday’s loss to Houston, nothing has stuck.
Crow-Armstrong, who went hitless while taking his share of hard contact—three balls over 100 mph—suggested the bigger issue might be less about one swing and more about how the team has been feeling as a whole.
“I mean. it’s kind of felt like that all year. even with the 10-game winning streaks. like no one’s been hot at the same time. you know?. Like, we’ve relied on Nico for a good bit here. We relied on Ian (Happ) earlier in the year. Buschy has been the one who is kind of solo driving the bus. he changed today’s game with one swing. ” Crow-Armstrong said. “We got a lot of guys that are capable of doing that. but it’s kind of felt like that all year. Once every guy in this lineup is feeling like themselves, yeah, it’s a dangerous team.”.
He pointed to what everyone else in the clubhouse has felt, too: the rarity of consistent output. “We’re not used to putting up zero to five runs every game. We expect to have that game where we put up at least 10 once a week. We’re always on the verge of clicking at any moment,” he said.
The truth in his words is hard to miss. Hoerner and Ian Happ were hot early, while PCA, Busch, and Alex Bregman have struggled. Bregman. the text of the season’s own frustration. was “just now swinging his way out of a slump.” Moises Ballesteros had a productive few weeks. then vanished. his great start swallowed by a horrific 3 for 51 (.059) slump. Suzuki was hurt early and has been up and down since. Happ will take his strikeouts, but he’s currently on a 200-plus K rate.
In the middle of all that, players keep circling back to the same hard-to-measure explanation: the mental part of the game.
“It’s all mental,” PCA said. “It’s always starting upstairs. A lot of the time it doesn’t have to do with the game itself. as you saw [last week] with me. and I think that’s an example of all of the outside factors that can affect somebody in the box that are just really naturally hard to battle with when you’re trying to hit 95 every at-bat.”.
PCA said the group believes it’s not far from getting back to itself. “But everybody in this clubhouse has a real strong mentality, and that’s just another reason we’re not ever far off from just being our true identity, at its whole, at its best, at its fullest form.”
On Monday. though. the Cubs couldn’t find enough consistent at-bats with runners in scoring position. and they couldn’t string together offense against the Pirates. With the Pirates pulling ahead late and the Cubs going quietly at the end. this one didn’t just end—it kept the skid going. and left the clubhouse with another question hanging over the next day: how long can the team keep searching for the swing that finally flips the feeling back?.
Cubs Pirates Pittsburgh PNC Park Michael Busch Ben Brown Trenton Thornton Henry Davis nine-game skid Craig Counsell