Cubs closer Ryan Pressly reacts to 11th-inning meltdown in loss
CHICAGO — The Cubs found themselves in another late, wild comeback Tuesday night.
After neither team could break the deadlock in the 10th inning, it came down to Ryan Pressly to tee the Cubs up for another walkoff.
Instead, everything went horribly wrong for Pressly.
[Cubs takeaways: What we learned in wild extra-innings loss to Giants]
The Giants pounced on Chicago’s closer, turning every offering Pressly had into damage on the scoreboard. Before Pressly could even record an out, it was already 12-5 in San Francisco’s favor. Caleb Thielbar came in to minimize the damage, but the Giants grabbed two more runs before the end of the inning. Pressly was charged with eight of the nine runs scored as well as the loss.
“I was the only one tonight that didn’t do my job,” Pressly said after the loss. “I thought I executed my pitches really well — I wasn’t leaving anything over the middle part of the plate. I just didn’t get my job done.”
The meltdown became the most runs the Cubs have ever allowed in an extra inning in the modern era. The previous high was seven in the 10th inning in 1921 against the New York Giants.
Pressly was carrying a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings pitched before Tuesday. Now, it stands at 7.62.
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The 36-year-old veteran, who was dealing with a minor knee issue earlier in the season, said his performance Tuesday had nothing to do with his body.
“Everything’s fine. My body felt great,” Pressly said.
“He couldn’t finish hitters, essentially,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell added of Pressly. “It snowballed a little bit. But he’s given up one run in the last 10 outings — it has been pretty good.”
Pressly is eager to put the outing behind him as the Cubs look to win the series over the Giants on Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s tough. It sucks,” Pressly said. “But you’ve got to get ready to go tomorrow.”