Cubs eight-game – The Cubs’ momentum for a franchise milestone flipped again on Sunday, when an 8-5 loss to the Astros pushed the team into an eight-game losing streak and away from a rare record of winning and losing 10 straight in the same season.
The Cubs were close to turning this season into a page from the record books. Instead, after Sunday’s 8-5 loss to the Astros, they’re watching that dream slip while something else takes shape: the kind of streak that makes you wonder how quickly a season can sour.
It’s not just any skid. With the defeat, the Cubs dropped eight in a row, falling from a season-high 15 games over .500 on May 8 to five games. The skid is their longest since a nine-game streak in July 2022, when they also lost 10 straight in June.
And the downside has a statistical edge to it. With two more losses, the Cubs would become the 25th team to experience double-digit winning and losing streaks in the same season. The Guardians did it last season—winning 10 straight and losing 10 straight.
For a day, the Astros were supposed to be a tonic. Their pitching staff has the worst ERA in the majors at 5.17. and yet the Cubs managed only seven runs across the series. Starter Peter Lambert—who rehabbed his career in Japan last season after failing with the Rockies—was only one inning away from looking like a breakthrough. before he had one bad inning Sunday.
Manager Craig Counsell tried to spark things with another new look to the lineup. Shortstop Dansby Swanson was added to the bench along with left fielder Ian Happ, who also sat out Saturday. Swanson’s absence meant Pedro Ramirez, called up Friday, made his major-league debut. Ramirez started at second base, with Nico Hoerner moving to short.
The bright moment came from the most inexperienced bat in the lineup. It was Ramirez, the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect. who gave the offense life with his first big-league hit—a first-pitch double in the second inning that drove in the Cubs’ first run. Ramirez had debuted Saturday as a pinch hitter. and he admitted he was nervous playing in front of such a large crowd. On Sunday, he got past it.
“Good at-bats. That’s the big thing,” Counsell said of Ramirez, who worked a walk in his next plate appearance. “He came up in a number of big spots. The double was a big spot to get us on the board. Even the at-bat in the eighth [when he hit into a double play], he scorched the ball. Proud of Pedro; had a really nice game.”.
But the Cubs’ slump has a weight to it. and it showed when the responsibility for a clutch swing landed on a rookie. Hoerner went 1-for-5 and watched his batting average drop from a season-high .342 to .255. Alex Bregman went 1-for-4 and is hitting .250—numbers that have not matched the expectations tied to their nine-figure contracts.
Sunday also carried the kind of baseball frustration that doesn’t show up in box scores right away. The Cubs hit some balls hard and still got caught in outs. Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña made several fine plays. According to Baseball Savant, the Cubs’ expected batting average for the game was .289 compared to the Astros’ .199.
Michael Bush, batting .230, added a jolt with a two-run homer. So yes, there were signs the offense might be turning a corner—yet it’s hard to ignore the results piling up.
“Obviously, [we’re] just not playing good baseball in all phases,” Bregman said. “It comes down to execution, and we’ve been outexecuted the last eight days in a row. We’ve got to make an adjustment. It starts with me. Too many empty plate appearances. Got to be better.”
Happ urged a longer view, even as the calendar turned.
“You’ve gotta keep the faith,” Happ told the Sun-Times. “At some point, this will look like a blip. We’re going to win a lot of baseball games this year. We’re still five games above .500. It’s been quite a roller coaster to get to that. When you rattle off two 10-game win streaks, that’s part of it. There’s gonna be some tough moments.”.
The Cubs are still chasing history this season—just not the version they were hoping for. After winning 10 games in a row twice in a season for the first time in franchise history since 1935. the team now finds itself stuck in the opposite rhythm. The question isn’t whether baseball can flip again; it’s how quickly this one can before another record-worthy slide becomes a permanent stain.
Chicago Cubs Astros Craig Counsell Pedro Ramirez Dansby Swanson Ian Happ Nico Hoerner Alex Bregman Jeremy Pena MLB news