All of this helped add up to a 9-7 Cubs loss to the Padres. After a 10-game winning streak, the Cubs have now dropped three in a row.
Letâs rewind to the beginning of this game, which dragged on for over three hours. (Keep in mind that games that run 3:08 with the pitch timer, as this one did, would likely have been a four-hour game before the clock.)
Matthew Boyd walked the first Padres hitter he faced. Leadoff walks are never, ever good and this one wasnât. By the time Boyd had completed the first inning, he had thrown 29 pitches and the Padres had a 3-0 lead.
Some facts about Ballesterosâ first grand slam from BCBâs JohnW53:
Ballesterosâ grand slam was his first as a big leaguer. He is the 212th Cub to hit one in the regular season since 1876. The Cubs have hit 362, of which 153 have come on the road. The last on the road, and the Cubsâ fourth of five at all sites last season, was by Reese McGuire at Los Angeles vs. the Angels on Aug. 23.
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Ballesteros is just the sixth Cub with a slam at San Diego. The previous five were Ernie Banks, in 1969; Rick Monday, in 1973; Ryne Sandberg, in 1991; Sammy Sosa, in 1998; and Christopher Morel, in 2024.
Going into tonight, the Cubs had hit 228 total homers in 262 games at San Diego.
And as noted on the Marquee broadcast, Ballesteros is the youngest Cub to hit a grand slam in more than 60 years:
In the fifth, Machado led off with his second double of the game. That was it for Boyd, who struggled with command and threw 91 pitches while not finishing five innings. Ben Brown relieved Boyd and retired the first two hitters he faced. A passed ball by Ballesteros put Machado on third. Brown then walked Ty France⊠who then stole second. As I noted above, France had just six stolen base attempts (three successful) in his entire eight-year MLB career up to now.
The next hitter was Nick Castellanos, who was only in this game because Boyd was starting. Castellanos was off to a miserable start, coming into the game batting .154/.200/.212 with 16 strikeouts in 52 at-bats. But the former Cub slapped a single up the middle, scoring two runs and giving the Padres a 6-5 lead. One of the runs was charged to Boyd and the other to Brown, the latter unearned due to Ballesterosâ passed ball.
Phil Maton, just returned from the injured list, started the seventh and wasnât any better than he was before the IL stint. He allowed hits to the first three Padres he faced, two singles and a two-run triple to France, plating two runs and giving San Diego an 8-5 lead. Not sure whatâs up with Maton but⊠that wasnât good. The Padres put one more on the board off Jacob Webb in the eighth to give them a four-run lead. Those two are some of the key relief signings Jed Hoyer made this past offseason and, well, neither of them is working out very well so far.
The Cubs, meanwhile, had only two baserunners from the fourth through the eighth: leadoff walks by Dansby Swanson in the fourth and by Pete Crow-Armstrong in the seventh. PCA stole second and wound up on third when Nico Hoerner struck out and alertly ran to first when the ball ended up near the ground, apparently not caught. The ball was actually caught by Fermin, but he threw to first anyway and PCA took the opportunity to take third. Unfortunately, there he stood when Bregman grounded out to end the inning.
The Padres called on lockdown closer Mason Miller in the ninth even though the game, with a four-run difference, was no longer in a save situation. And give the Cubs credit, they did attempt a comeback. Matt Shaw dribbled a ball down the third-base line that France picked up, apparently foul, but called fair and those arenât reviewable, so Shaw had a single [VIDEO].
Nico took second on the play. Thereâs only one out here, but Michael Busch grounded out with Nico taking third, and so Bregman then came to the plate with two out. He did not have a good at-bat. Bregman took two hittable sliders right in the middle of the zone and then struck out to end the game on a pitch way out of the zone:
The two runs did end Millerâs 34.2 inning scoreless streak, and Cubs did make him throw 21 pitches, the most heâs thrown in any game so far this year. So thereâs that.
Iâm not going to blame Ballesteros for this loss â mainly, it was bad relief pitching by Maton and Webb that put the game out of reach. But Craig Counsell was asked last week if the Cubs are trying to win or trying to develop players and he hinted that the answer is âBoth.â Iâm not sure the Cubs can âdevelopâ Ballesteros into a catcher starting him in games like this, especially when using up the Cubsâ ABS challenges by the third inning meant that several challengeable pitches later on couldnât be challenged. And even if you agree with Counsellâs decision, I think he should have sent Carson Kelly or Miguel Amaya up to bat for Ballesteros in the sixth when the Padres sent left-hander Adrian Morejon into the game in relief. Ballesteros grounded out.
The Cubs will try to break this short losing streak Tuesday evening in San Diego. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Walker Buehler goes for the Padres. Game time is again 8:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
