After the bullpen gave up the lead in the eighth inning, it appeared the Chicago Cubs would mount a rally in the ninth inning of Thursday’s series finale against the Baltimore Orioles. Instead, they got screwed.
Nico Hoerner reached to begin the top of the ninth on a Gunnar Henderson error at shortstop. Down 3-2 with no outs, Hoerner took off for second base and easily beat the throw from Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo. Unfortunately, Hoerner came off the bag. Henderson kept his glove on him, and Hoerner was called out. The Cubs got a video review, but the official in New York confirmed the call on the field.
Hoerner was livid as the normally calm Cubs player screamed at the second-base umpire. It appeared as though Henderson pushed Hoerner off the second-base bag. Take a look for yourself.
There’s no doubt that Hoerner’s momentum led to him eventually coming off the base, but you can see Henderson doing a little more than simply keeping the tag on the runner. As for the potential for obstruction, it was close, but you can see that Henderson wasn’t blocking the bag with his foot until the catcher’s throw led him toward Hoerner’s incoming slide. Still, the push-off was enough for the mild-mannered Hoerner to go off on the ump.
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Ian Happ, who was at the plate when Hoerner was caught stealing second, reached base on an infield single. The Cubs made great contact against right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge; three balls were hit at least 100mph off the bat, so who knows how the rest of the inning would have turned out if Hoerner was ruled safe.
It was a crappy feeling as the Cubs took a 2-1 lead to begin the bottom of the eighth inning, but these losses are going to happen with the relievers currently making up the Cubs bullpen. It’s Jacob Webb and hope for a miracle at this point because no one else can truly be trusted at the moment.
Tyler Ferguson, who had been solid in his first eight innings with the Cubs, retired the first batter he faced in the eighth, but then he lost his control and hit back-to-back batters. Craig Counsell then went to lefty reliever Ryan Rolison to face left-handed hitter Jeremiah Jackson, who hit the go-ahead two-run double for the Orioles.
Rolsion, who had been great for most of his time with the Cubs this year, has struggled as of late, allowing runs in three of his last five games before he was credited with the blown save Thursday.
It sucks, but looking ahead, the Cubs will make trades to help fortify the bullpen. It will look much different by the end of July/early August. Right now, you’re just hoping the All-Star break will give some of these guys time to rest, to hopefully hold up until the front office adds reinforcements by the trade deadline.
