Cubs' lousy weekend could be one that costs them division

CHICAGO -- Could things have gone any worse for the Chicago Cubs over the holiday weekend?

In the span of about 24 hours, they were shut out twice by the Milwaukee Brewers, scratched their hottest starting pitcher, lost their most popular player to a hand injury, saw their new closer give up a three-run home run to Christian Yelich and lost any ground in the NL Central that they had made up with a four-game win streak that ended Saturday.

If the Cubs lose the division to the St. Louis Cardinals, they might look back at Labor Day weekend as the time when they really fell behind the eight ball. The Cardinals were busy taking it to the Cincinnati Reds, playing back-to-back doubleheaders, while the Cubs failed to score a single run after Friday against a pitching staff that ranks 11th in ERA in the National League since the All-Star break.

"We chased a lot of pitches," shortstop Javier Baez said of Sunday's game.

Baez left midway through the contest after jamming his thumb on a headfirst slide, which didn't help the offense or manager Joe Maddon, who used nearly his entire bloated bench (rosters expanded Sunday) trying to score a run. The Cubs went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position while stranding nine.

Did Maddon push every correct button? It's impossible to know, but perhaps the team's leader in home runs, Kyle Schwarber, should have remained in the game after an early pinch-hitting appearance. Or maybe Jason Heyward should not have bunted against lefty Alex Claudio in the sixth inning, which led to an easy force out at third base.

Then again, Heyward is mired in a slump and is hitting .194 against lefties this season. But there he was, two innings later, facing another lefty, Drew Pomeranz, with the tying run on second while switch-hitter Ben Zobrist sat on the bench in his first game back in nearly four months. Heyward struck out on three pitches. What a moment it could have been for Zobrist to ride to the rescue, but they (Maddon and Zobrist?) determined that he needed to ease his way back into action after a leave of absence for family reasons.

"We thought that was a good matchup, him and Pomeranz," Maddon said of Heyward's at-bat. "Jason hits left-handed velocity."

Perhaps Maddon was doomed no matter what decisions he made over the weekend, as there's only so much a manager can control when a team gets shut out twice. To calm some nerves, the Cubs manager provided his usual message after a turbulent, scoreless weekend.

"I've been here before," he said. "I understand the situation. You're not going to hear me cry about it. We have to take care of our own business. We can win four in a row just as quickly as they can lose four in a row. I've been there, done that. Right now, they're enjoying this moment. We're not. But moments change, and the power of 24 [hours] is incredibly good sometimes."

The series loss felt like death by a thousand paper cuts. After getting shut out on Saturday, the Cubs on Sunday had to scratch righty Yu Darvish in favor of Tyler Chatwood, who didn't make it out of the fourth inning. Darvish had some forearm tightness but shouldn't miss his next start -- unless the ailment persists, of course. Then came all the men left on base and those curious moves by Maddon.

It doesn't help that seemingly every time the Cubs' high-priced closer gets into a non-save situation -- this time a 1-0 deficit -- he gives up runs. The Cubs honored Hall of Fame closer Lee Smith before the game, and he got to watch Craig Kimbrel hang a 3-2 pitch to Yelich, who ripped a three-run home run to seal the deal for the Brewers and raise Kimbrel's ERA to 5.68.

"I don't think you want to forget about it," Kimbrel said of the home run. "You definitely want to learn from it.

"Momentum is big, especially going into the playoffs. Not a better time to do that [gain momentum] than the end of the year."

Riding momentum has been incredibly tough for the Cubs this season, especially of late. While alternating winning and losing three-game sweeps over their past three series before the Brewers came to town, they upended their season-long trend of winning at home and losing on the road. Now they're in the opposite mode, having lost their second consecutive series at Wrigley Field while winning two in a row on the road. Back and forth they go.

"We just came from New York," Baez said of the midweek sweep. "We had a good series. We lost this series at home. We have to compete. Everyone is close to first place."

"Close to first" can be a relative phrase in September. A three- or four-game deficit is manageable, but anything bigger, and the Cubs will have to rely on help from others. Right now, the closing stretch against the Cardinals -- seven of the final 10 games -- still looms large. The Cubs have to keep it that way, or it's back to the wild-card game for the second straight year for the 2016 champions.

"They're playing well," Kimbrel said of St. Louis. "We have a lot of matchups with them. When we get to the Cardinals, that's when we'll worry about the Cardinals."