Observations: Alzolay good, Cubs hitting not good enough originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Cubs lost 6-3 to the Brewers on Monday night, dropping to 4-6 on the season.
Here’s 10 observations from the game.
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1. Adbert Alzolay got off to a much better start Monday than he did against Milwaukee last Tuesday. He needed just eight pitches to get through a 1-2-3 first inning, striking out Lorenzo Cain on three pitches.
Last week, the Brewers tagged him for three runs in the first frame, all via a Travis Shaw home run.
2. Alzolay’s slider had Milwaukee off balance for much of the night. The right-hander threw the pitch 32 times, 18 for strikes, according to Statcast. Five of his six strikeouts came with the pitch, and Alzolay induced some wild swings out of the Brewers.
3. As sharp as Alzolay was, facing the minimum through five innings, things quickly unraveled in the sixth. Milwaukee loaded the bases against him on two singles and a walk, and after inducing a bases-loaded fielder’s choice at the plate, his night ended.
4. Andrew Chafin has been one of the Cubs’ top relievers to start the season, but the Brewers jumped on him immediately after he replaced Alzolay.
Milwaukee scored five times through the left-hander’s first five pitches, which were as follows: Luis Urías three-run double, ground out to second base, wild pitch (run), RBI triple
Alzolay was charged with three of those runs. The box score doesn't reflect it, but he was strong for most of his 5 1/3 innings..
5. The Cubs have allowed six or more runs in a single inning twice in their past three games (also on Saturday).
6. As much as the sixth inning was a turning point, the Cubs didn’t do themselves any favors offensively. For the seventh time in 10 games, they tallied five or fewer hits, recording four on the night.
7. Through nine games, the Cubs are striking out more than twice as often as they're getting hits. After Monday, they have 49 hits on the season and 99 strikeouts.
8. Kris Bryant is up to seven extra-base hits this season after tallying 10 all of 2020. His fourth-inning home run opened Monday’s scoring and gives him three long balls on the season. He hit four in 34 games last season.
10. Justin Steele made his MLB debut and threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out two compared to a hit and a walk.
Steele, 25, is one of three relievers added to the active roster Monday after Jason Adam, Dan Winkler and Brandon Workman hit the COVID-19 related injured list.
Bonus: The Cubs are two games under .500 for the first time since April 16, 2019, when they were 7-9.
Next up: The Cubs and Brewers meet again on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT. Aces Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 3.00 ERA) and Brandon Woodruff (0-0, 2.45 ERA) are the probable starters.
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