Chicago Cubs News: Rondon blows another save in 4-3 loss

After dropping their previous series to the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs welcomed in Jason Heyward‘s former team. Atlanta jumped to an early 2-0 lead but the North Siders put together a late rally.

Their lead, however, would not last long. The Cubs are now 19 games above .500 and sit with a 52-33 record after dropping their third game in a row. This club has struggled in games that have been decided by one run in 2016 but things looked promising late.

Rookie catcher Willson Contreras put his club in the lead with his first big league RBI triple in the eighth inning shortly after Ben Zobrist plated Kris Bryant on his 17th double of the season.

Before both the Cubs and Braves took the field, all seven men who will report to San Diego for the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star game took a group photo with their National League jersey’s that they will wear next Tuesday.

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Only two out of the four starters managed to record a hit in a game that Chicago could have easily won had they capitalized with runners in scoring position. Both Zobrist and Anthony Rizzo combined 2-for-9 at the dish while Bryant and Russell went 0-for-5.

Bryant was hit twice by Atlanta’s starter, Lucas Harrell, who chewed through this lineup in the first four innings of the ballgame. Chicago had trouble figuring him out early but as mentioned before, failed to slap him with a few earned runs before he exited the game in the eighth.

And then you have Nick Markakis. Markakis jumped all over Jason Hammel in the first inning of the game by launching a two-run homer out to right field and tagged Hector Rondon in the ninth to tie things up at three apiece.

Rondon has blown multiple save opportunities this year, in fact, it just so happens to be his fourth which isn’t all that bad. Last night’s loss definitely hurts but they will need to rebound and finish the first half strong while in Pittsburgh.

Tonight, Jake Arrieta will square off against Francisco Liriano to open up the series while Jon Lester takes on rookie right-hander Chad Kuhl on Saturday. Two hard-throwing veterans in John Lackey and Jon Niese will round out the first half for both teams on Sunday afternoon.

Hopefully, the Cubbies can extend their lead in the division before taking a break and returning to Wrigley Field next Friday.