Cubs’ losing streak stumbles step closer to history originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Cubs’ losing streak has reached a point where fans and media members are debating which loss has been the worst.
Whether it was Tuesday’s rout, Monday’s rout or that ugly one last week in Milwaukee, the skid reached 11 games Tuesday with a 15-10 loss to the Phillies.
“The stretch we’ve been on has been really tough, but we will get out of it,” said Tuesday’s starter Jake Arrieta — who has been as big a cause of the Cubs’ two-week plunge as anyone.
It doesn’t get any easier against the Phillies’ best starter, Zach Wheeler, on Wednesday. And if they don’t end it there, they’ll fast approach a rare place in Cubs history — for all the wrong reasons.
That’s saying something for a franchise famous for losing. Only seven Cubs teams since 1900 have had longer losing streaks than the current one. Only the 2012 Cubs, among those seven, lost 100 games.
And with a loss on Wednesday, the Cubs will match that 2012 team for the franchise’s longest losing streak this century.
The franchise record of 14, set in 1997, isn’t that far away, either.
After Monday’s loss, Javy Báez pointed out how the Cubs have been out of sync during the skid. On days they pitch well, they don’t hit. On days they hit, they don’t pitch well.
The offense scored 10 times Tuesday, their most runs since May 29, and the Cubs still lost by five.
“I’ve talked about how the focus and the effort has been there and I still continue to believe that was the case tonight,” manager David Ross said after Tuesday’s loss.
“We didn’t get our best pitching performance tonight, but nobody gave away at-bats.”
The Phillies scored seven times off Arrieta, ending his outing after 1 2/3 innings.
He also pitched 1 2/3 innings in his last start against the Brewers, when Milwaukee all but erased the 7-0 lead the Cubs handed him in the first inning.
“I contributed to the continued stretch that we’re on,” Arrieta said. “That doesn’t sit well with me at all, especially when everybody’s going up with the intention of winning the ballgame.”
“We still have [76] games to play,” Arrieta added. “It’s on us to find a way out.”
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