Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish impressive, but loses to Reds

Chicago Cubs Yu Darvish was lights out–after the first inning. He struck out eight in a row, but the Cubs fell to the Cincinnati Reds.

The Chicago Cubs Yu Darvish settled in a pitched a heck of a game for the Cubs. Unfortunately, Sonny Gray was that much better. Darvish pitched seven innings allowing four runs on six hits, striking out a whopping 13 hitters. But Gray was equally impressive, pitching 6 2/3 innings allowing two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out nine.

The Cubs Kyle Schwarber was all the offense they would have, hitting a double and a triple while knocking in both runs. Other than that? Two singles by Ben Zobrist and Nico Hoerner. They couldn’t be expected to keep up the pace, but when you leave a small margin for error? It isn’t going to happen.

The Reds Joey Votto came up with Josh VanMeter at first base. The ball was lined down the right-field line, scoring VanMeter. Up came Aristedes Aquino, and he blasted a two-run shot to left-center staking the Reds to a 3-0 lead.

After the triple by Schwarber to knock in Nicholas Castellanos, Eugenio Suarez played add-on for the Reds knocking home the pitcher Grey for a 4-2 lead. Raisel Iglesias came in for his 32nd save.

The Cubs bullpen was impressive again, although in shorter stints. Danny Hultzen came on after the seventh and walked a man, but Steve Cishek pitched the rest of the inning and Brad Wieck the ninth.

No matter the outcome, the real disappointment was the other final scores. The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the San Diego Padres, 5-1. And the St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Washington Nationals. While you would think the Cards losing was a good thing, it was a ‘push.’

The Nats topped the Cards, which means their a 1 1/2 up on the Cubs. Add to the fact that the Brewers tied us for the second Wild Card spot? Well, it’s all bad. The Cubs might not be able to win the season series against the Reds, but they’ll be one game behind at 10-9.

The Cubs look to win the series at home by sending Jon Lester (13-10, 4.59) to the mound against the struggling Tyler Mahle (2-11, 5.11.) From June 7 to September 12 he is 0-6 with a 6.05 ERA. But then again, I can’t count on Lester, so it’ll be a bullpen game. Prove me wrong, Big Jon.