Cubs takeaways: What we learned as Andrew Abbott, Reds win series opener
CHICAGO — The Cubs entered Friday with the opportunity to win their 10th consecutive series opener at Wrigley Field.
The Cincinnati Reds raced out to an early lead, though, kept tacking on runs and stymied a late rally to eliminate any hopes of that streak continuing, as they beat the Cubs 6-2 in the series opener at The Friendly Confines.
Here are three takeaways from Friday’s game as the Cubs (35-22) fell to the Reds (29-29):
Quick start
The Reds own baseball’s best first-inning offense. Colin Rea and the Cubs saw that firsthand.
Cincinnati entered with a league-best 46 runs in the game’s opening frame, and TJ Friedl needed just three pitches Friday to deposit a solo home run for a 1-0 Reds lead.
Three batters later, the Reds had doubled that advantage. That usually isn’t a daunting deficit for the Cubs’ blazing offense, but against Reds left hander Andrew Abbott (more on him in a bit), it proved to be a substantial hole.
Cincinnati made sure to widen the gap, too. Tyler Stephenson and Jake Fraley each added two-run homers in the fourth and sixth, respectively.
The Reds feasted on Rea for the second consecutive outing, as their lineup hit 11 balls in play at 94.8 mph or harder, per Statcast — 95 mph is considered hard-hit. Rea has allowed 12 earned runs on 17 hits in his last two starts, both against the Reds.
The 34-year-old Cubs right-hander opened the season with a 0.96 ERA in his first six games (18.2 innings), but he hit some struggles in May, posting a 5.61 ERA this month.
Abbott Elementary
It’s hard to keep down the Cubs’ offense. But Andrew Abbott has been one of the NL’s better starters this season — and he was at his best Friday.
The left-hander one-hit the Cubs over seven shutout innings, striking out eight and walking one in his fifth win of the season. The Cubs had just three hard-hit balls off Abbott — two flyouts from Nico Hoerner and Kyle Tucker, and Justin Turner’s third-inning single.
The 25-year-old lowered his ERA to 1.51, which would rank third in baseball if he qualified. He opened the season on the 15-day IL with a left rotator cuff strain, but he has been lights out for the Reds since he made his season debut on April 12. Abbott has allowed more than one earned run in only one start, when he gave up four in four innings at hitter-friendly Colorado.
Abbott stymied the Cubs for the second time in a row. Just last week in Cincinnati, he allowed only one run on six hits in a 6-4 Reds win against Rea.
Late rally falls short
The Cubs’ offense has been so good lately that — despite Abbott’s dominance — there was a non-zero chance they could mount a late comeback at Wrigley. The crowd of 36,019 felt that in the eighth inning after Abbott was pulled.
The bottom of the Cubs’ order rattled off three consecutive one-out hits, with pinch-hitter Michael Busch’s RBI triple and Matt Shaw’s RBI single opening their scoring.
Leadoff hitter Ian Happ then walked to put the potential tying run on deck with Kyle Tucker due up. But Tucker hit into a 3-6-3 double play to kill the rally.
The next inning, the Cubs again gave the Wrigley faithful more optimism. Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong had doubles to again put the potential tying run on deck, but the Cubs failed to score.
This offense has proven time and again that they’re never truly out of a game — even when the opposing starter is dealing. The Cubs, though, will have a hard time turning over a six-run deficit with just six outs left.
