Chicago Cubs: Looking for some measure of consistency

As the San Francisco Giants come into Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs hope to find some level of success when it comes to consistency.

When you’re the Chicago Cubs, it’s hard to find some level of success when it comes to how you’re playing. Five up, five down. You score a bunch of runs; then you get nearly no-hit by a guy making his second start in the majors. Which is about what the Cubs should have expected. But it doesn’t make it right. The Cubs need to find their way to a more successful way to play the game–at least as far as the fans go. But as the level of consistency has failed to find it’s way in? It gets people talking.

One of the biggest frustrations for the Cubs has been the inability to hit in close games. The Cubs have come up short on more than one occasion, and it’s starting to creep up in the back of their minds. Just one hit could do the job, but they find themselves without it. And that’s frustrating, to say the least.

What gives?

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The Cubs have been 13-10 at home, while they are 12-11 on the road. In one-run games? They are 5-8. But if they go extra innings, they are 1-4. For the most part, they are just an adequate team that feels they are close to being what they want to be. But they aren’t there just yet.

“Of course, it’s frustrating,” Joe Maddon told reporters Wednesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’ve lost that (close) game several times this season — really close, low-scoring, unable to get the big hit when we need it.”

The Cubs will be looking for some semblance of offense as they start a three-game series with the Giants. For the Cubs, Kyle Hendricks will go in the first game for the Cubs.

Derek Holland will go for the Giants. He comes off a rough game against the Rockies but is 1-0 with a 1.38 in two starts against the Cubs.

Next: Cubs can't succumb to burnout

The Cubs hope to find some success against the Giants, and then to carry that success on. But it’s baseball, and nobody knows what you will find behind each door.