It was three months ago that veteran left-hander Drew Smyly took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a game against the vaunted Dodgers. But a 7.08 ERA in his last 10 outings has made it feel even longer ago than that.
Manager David Ross and the Cubs tried to stem the tide Saturday by using reliever Michael Fulmer as an opener, providing some lefty-on-lefty matchups for Smyly upon his entry, but it was to little avail. Smyly allowed five runs (one unearned because of his own fielding error) and fell an out shy of completing four innings.
