Three takeaways for the Chicago Cubs after a rough weekend series

This weekend represented one of those series the Chicago Cubs were supposed to win. Instead, they dropped two of three to the last-place Cincinnati Reds.

When you welcome the cellar-dwelling club in your own division to your home ballpark, at the very least, you expect to take two of three -or, in the case of a four-game set, split. But that’s not how things went for the Chicago Cubs this weekend, as they dropped two of three to the Cincinnati Reds in a series that saw plenty of the team’s weaknesses take center stage.

On Friday, we saw the bullpen cough up multiple leads. A late rally fell short and the Reds came away with the opener, setting the tone for much of the weekend. A Cincinnati club that made major offseason additions in hopes of being more competitive was just that – a thorn in the Cubs’ side from start-to-finish.

With right-hander Yu Darvish on the mound and the wind howling on Saturday afternoon, Chicago managed to come away with a win to even things out, coming out on top in an 8-6 slugfest at Wrigley Field. Darvish wound up being the story, for better or worse, after he went 7+ innings for the first time in his Cubs career.

Then, on Sunday, Cincinnati flat out-played Chicago, handing Joe Maddon‘s club a 10-2 loss that may have cost them more than a game in the standings. As of Monday morning, we’re still awaiting an update on Kris Bryant‘s status, after he collided with Jason Heyward in right-center field in Sunday’s loss.

So, suffice to say it wasn’t exactly the momentum-boosting weekend we’d hoped for – especially knowing the Cubs head to Houston to take on a surging Astros club this week. But here are some key takeaways that I pulled out of these last three games.