Bullpen implosion leads to another heart-wrenching Cubs loss
This is going to be a tough one for the Cubs – and the fanbase – to digest.
On a night when the Cubs offense awoke late and took full advantage of a Giants defensive blunder, another bullpen implosion led to a brutal 7-6 loss.
The Cubs lineup has been struggling to put together solid offensive outputs lately and Monday felt like a big moment for the group with clutch homers from Michael Busch (a 2-run shot in the 6th inning) and Ian Happ (a 3-run blast in the 7th).
But the team’s top 3 relievers – Hayden Wesneski, Mark Leiter Jr. and Héctor Neris – all gave up home runs late and were unable to protect the lead.
Wesneski served up a solo blast in the 7th, Leiter gave up one in the 8th and then Neris allowed a 3-run shot in the top of the 9th inning as the Cubs were nursing a 2-run lead.
The fans in attendance at Wrigley let Neris and the Cubs know it after the top of the 9th inning as boos rained down.
The inning started with a groundout, then former Cub Jorge Soler reached on catcher’s interference before Neris walked Mike Yastrzemski. The next batter, Thairo Estrada, smacked the first pitch he saw – a 94 mph fastball – into the left-field bleachers. Statcast gave Estrada’s ball an .050 expected batting average but it had no trouble reaching the bleachers on a hot, humid night where the ball traveled well with the wind blowing out.
“We had the catcher’s interference, we had a walk and frankly, it’s a fly ball,” Craig Counsell said after the game. “It’s the wrong night to give up fly balls and that’s 3 runs. So I think if you’re really asking me to evaluate Héctor’s performance, the walk is the only bad at-bat.”

It was Neris’ 4th blown save of the season and he now carries a 4.73 ERA. The Cubs are tied for 2nd in baseball with 16 blown saves on the season.
Counsell said he is not looking to make a switch in the 9th inning despite Neris’ struggles of late – he’s allowed homers in 3 straight outings and also blew a save last week in Tampa Bay.
Part of the issue is there are simply not many options for Counsell to turn to in the bullpen. Wesneski has also been victimized by the home run ball of late and Leiter has also struggled, allowing runs in 3 straight appearances.
“Look, we got a bullpen, we got to find guys to get outs,” Counsell said. “And Héctor has been a guy that’s been reliable for us. So I wouldn’t anticipate [replacing him as the closer]. We’re gonna always examine the best way to get 27 outs every day and we’re gonna need Héctor to be a part of that.”
Walks have been an issue for Neris, as he has allowed 20 free passes in 26.2 innings of work.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was asked about Neris’ walk rate before the game.
“I think he’s battled very well,” Hoyer said. “You put traffic on and that is always a concern. He’s a veteran guy with a really slow heartbeat. I do think there are times he’ll pitch around a guy to get a better matchup.
“But yeah certainly late in games, especially of the 1-run variety, I think that can be really difficult. So the walk rate is something late in games that is a concern.”
The Cubs notched 10 hits and drew 5 walks in the game. They took advantage of a Giants dropped popup in the 7th inning that led to Seiya Suzuki’s RBI double and then Happ’s big homer.
The Cubs are now a season-low 5 games under .500 at 34-39.
Despite the struggles of late, the Cubs have maintained a solid and positive clubhouse.
“It’s been really eye opening in a sense of there’s nobody blaming each other,” Busch said. “There’s nobody pointing the finger. Everybody’s coming in the next day with a clean slate and just attacking the day. Everybody on this team has each other’s backs and it’s pretty cool to watch.”