Arismendy Alcantara first home run, but Cubs lose 10-7

Chicago Cubs starter Travis Wood didn’t fare any better than Edwin Jackson did against the Atlanta Braves (52-43), but he had to stay out a little longer and take it like a man in the 10-7 loss.

Wood (7-8, 4.96) allowed seven runs on seven hits in six innings pitched. After a short-outing by Jackson yesterday, manager Rick Renteria decided to leave Wood in to eat up innings with the bullpen a little lighter than it has been heading into the All-Star break.

The Cubs (40-54) once again found themselves in a hole early. After a three-run second, the Braves started adding on in the third inning. The dreaded lead-off walk to Andrelton Simmons started the inning. Wood then got Freddie Freeman. But back-to-back singles by Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, the latter driving in a run, and the Cubs were down 4-0. Chris Johnson then took Wood deep to center field for a three-run shot, and the apparent rout was on.

Braves starter Julio Teheran (9-6, 2.71) was rolling along till the sixth, when the red-hot Arismendy Alcantara hit his first career big league home run, a two-run shot to put the Cubs on the board.

Chris Coghlan continued his hot streak with a two-run homer of his own in the seventh, cutting the lead to 10-4.

In the eighth, the Cubs looked poised to threaten with the bases loaded and nobody out. Mike Olt struck out, but Ryan Sweeney followed with a walk to force in Anthony Rizzo.

Starlin Castro the tried to score on a pitch that got away from Gerald Laird, but was thrown out for the second out. It turned out to be costly as John Baker followed with a double, scoring two more to make it 10-7. Junior Lake then flied out to end the inning.

The Cubs now head into the All-Star break, with the Midsummer Classic taking place at Target Field in Minnesota on July 15th at 8:00 pm ET.