A routine fly ball become a nightmare for Seiya Suzuki and the Chicago Cubs at Truist Park — and with it a heartbreaking blow to their postseason hopes.
The Cubs had been an out away within the eighth inning from escaping with a one-run lead intact when left-hander Drew Smyly received Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy to hit a ball to proper discipline with runners on second and third base. What ought to have been a straightforward inning-ending fly out to Suzuki turned a catastrophe. Suzuki whiffed on the would-be inning-ending catch, permitting two runs to attain on his error.
The Cubs went down within the ninth to seal a devastating 7-6 loss Tuesday night time in a recreation they led 6-0 coming into the underside of the sixth.
The lights contributed to misplaying the fly ball, Suzuki defined by interpreter Toy Matsushita. He noticed the ball fairly properly till the final second.
“I honestly thought it went into my glove so it was just that split second where it blurred my vision,” Suzuki mentioned of the lights at Truist Park. “… But ever since I was playing in Japan you do have to take that into consideration whenever you go out there in right field so if I do say that (the lights affected the catch) then that’s an excuse so I’m not going to say that.”
The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the division title whereas the Cubs (82-75) attempt to maintain onto the ultimate National League wild-card place. They sit 1/2 recreation forward of the Miami Marlins, who personal the tiebreaker and play a doubleheader Wednesday in opposition to the New York Mets.
The Cubs had alternatives so as to add to their early lead, ending the sport 6-for-16 with runners in scoring place and left 9 on base.
“Seiya has been carrying us for over a month and a half offensively, he’s put us on his back,” supervisor David Ross mentioned after the sport. “A lot of guys have been scuffling and he’s been the guy swinging the bat the best so we’re not going to highlight one mistake. There’s other areas — we could have scored more runs, get guys in from third less than two outs, we could have made some pitches earlier in the game but we didn’t. Got to pick our heads up and go back out tomorrow.”
A beleaguered Cubs bullpen tried to grind out a win. What had been a dominant night time by 5 innings shortly unraveled within the sixth for starter Justin Steele, who entered the inning with a six-run lead. The Atlanta Braves’ relentless offensive firepower is an enormous a part of why they personal one of the best document in baseball, and their deep lineup lastly received to Steele with 4 of their first 5 hitters reaching to start the sixth.
Kevin Pillar’s solo residence run off Steele to open the body marked the Braves’ three hundredth residence run of the season, making them the third group in MLB historical past to hit that milestone, becoming a member of the 2019 Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees. Steele recovered to retire Ronald Acuña Jr., however Ross noticed sufficient from Ozzie Albies (double), Austin Riley (stroll) and Matt Olson (RBI double) to drag his ace. Steele paced across the mound as he watched Ross start the trek from the dugout.
Ross thought Steele ran out of gasoline within the sixth, citing how his slider wasn’t wanting as sharp and the way in which his physique was getting forward of the ball, resulting in misfires up and away.
“Those situations are always tough because the competitor in me wants to stay out there,” Steele mentioned. “But you additionally need to put belief within the workers and know what conditions are coming about, who’s developing within the order, who now we have down within the bullpen, the matchups and stuff. So it’s important to put your belief within the workers to make the suitable selections.
“But me as a competitor, I’m focusing on the task at hand, I’m trying to get outs so the competitor in me wants to stay out there.”
Yan Gomes’ infield hit — his fifteenth of the yr and fifth-most on the group — adopted by Miles Mastrobuoni’s single, as a part of a three-hit recreation, produced back-to-back two-out RBIs put the Cubs forward of the Braves 2-0 within the second. The Cubs added two extra runs off Braves starter Bryce Elder when Suzuki hit a third-inning triple.
Cody Bellinger (RBI single within the fourth) and Ian Happ (RBI single within the sixth) accomplished the Cubs’ scoring.
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