Things to Do in Denver When Your Playoffs Hopes Are Dying

The four-game Colorado series did not end well.

The Cubs finished off the set by following up an 11-5 loss with a second consecutive 11-5 loss.  The games were similar for more than just their scores.  Both began with starters getting rocked; both featured plenty of squandered Cubs scoring chances; and both caused the Cubs to fall another game behind the Cardinals.

It’s always frustrating to have your starter give up 6 earned in 1 1/3 innings, and have to leave the game with injury (Tom Gorzelanny, we hardly knew ye).  But it’s even more frustrating to load the bases each of the first two innings – giving you a chance to match the 6 runs scored by the opposition – only to strand all the runners.

The Cubs’ hitting with runners on base has been unacceptably bad all year, and in Colorado it was truly abysmal.  A pair of 6-run blow-outs could have easily been highly competitive, vastly exciting slugfests – if only the Cubs had held up their end.

If only they had a guy like Troy Tulowitzki, who went 5-5 Monday night and oh by the way hit for the cycle.  And the performance might have been even more amazing had Tulowitzki not had a grand slam reversed by a replay (he ended up settling for a relatively pedestrian 2-run single).

These last two games have exposed every weakness of this Cubs team:  lack of clutch hitting, lack of health and lack of focus.  Colorado looked like the team tuning up for a big post-season run.  The Cubs?  They looked like battered, bewildered also-rans.