NEW YORK – Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” blared over the Yankee Stadium loudspeakers as Cubs reliever Daniel Norris walked off the field and Alec Mills jogged in from the bullpen.
Another one, indeed. Mills was the Cubs’ third pitcher in as many innings.
The Cubs’ 18-4 loss on Sunday was the Cubs’ second blowout defeat at the hands of the Yankees in a row.
“When you play one of the best teams in baseball, you realize we’ve got some areas we need to improve,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “Can’t get behind the eight ball that much early on.”
How much does a June loss to the team with the best record (44-16) in MLB mean? Plenty if it taxes the bullpen during a stretch of 17 games without an off day.
On Sunday, Cubs relievers combined to throw 7 1/3 innings. It was the second time this series that they were responsible for more than seven frames in a game.
The silver lining for the Cubs bullpen: Because of the lopsided scores the past couple days, the Cubs’ high-leverage relievers will be fresh for this coming home stand.
On the flip side, the Cubs have leaned on their multi-inning relievers, which compounds their rotation issues.
The rotation is severely short-handed, with right-hander Marcus Stroman (shoulder inflammation) and lefties Wade Miley (shoulder strain) and Drew Smyly (right oblique strain) all on the 15-day IL. It’s unclear who will serve as the Cubs’ fifth starter this week, even with rookie Matt Swarmer and right-hander Keegan Thompson filling a couple holes.
In recent weeks, the Cubs moved Thompson out of a swingman role by necessity. On Sunday, he didn’t make it out of the first inning, walking three batters and giving up a pair of two-run doubles before lefty Daniel Norris came in to face the top of the order with two outs.
Thompson was charged with three earned runs. Two unearned runs scored after third baseman Patrick Wisdom’s error on a popup.
“I think mechanically we’re not there again,” Thompson said. “And so, just going back to work again in the bullpen in between outings and making sure we get things corrected.”
Thompson had been dominant to start the season, posting a 1.58 ERA in his first eight relief appearances and three starts. In his last three starts, Thompson has allowed 13 earned runs in nine innings, each start shorter than the last.
He said he wasn’t sure if his mechanical issues this time were the same as his three-inning start at Baltimore last week.
“We’ll have to look at video and see,” Thompson added. “ And just flush this outing and work on the next one.”
Just two days prior to Thompson’s short start Sunday, the Cubs bullpen did the heavy lifting in a 13-inning loss. Miley came off the 15-day IL to start, but three innings in, his shoulder started bothering him again. That left over nine innings for the bullpen to fill, and the Cubs placed Miley back on the IL the next day.
Norris threw an inning in that game, and on Sunday the Cubs called on him to throw two more. He walked three batters and gave up two homers in two innings.
Cubs right-hander Alec Mills’ 3 ⅓ innings of two-run ball saved the Cubs from reaching deeper into the bullpen. But the outing brought Mills’ innings total for the series up to four innings. If he had been an option to start Wednesday, when the Cubs have an opening in the rotation, he likely isn’t after that weekend workload.
Cubs reliever Sean Newcomb (five runs in one inning) and first baseman Frank Schwindel (one run in one inning) took the mound for the Cubs’ last two defensive frames.
