Cubs Put on Another Awful Showing in 3-0 Loss to Cardinals

The Chicago Cubs have been successful in one aspect this season. They seem to have a knack for finding ways to lose in miserable fashion almost every day. Friday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals was a shining example.

The game's first run didn't cross home until the visitors broke through in the eighth inning. Surprisingly, Kyle Hendricks had a good performance in relief.

How could the Cubs find a way to squander something that's become as rare as Halley's Comet? Let's dive in.

Tale of the Tape

It seemed the Cubs would get a boost with Jordan Wicks returning to the mound. With Ben Brown now on the injured list, Wicks taking his rotation spot was a natural progression. But this season's recurring theme played out as the Cubs were bit by the injury bug — again. After tossing 1.2 innings, Wicks was removed from the game due to an oblique injury.

Craig Counsell had to dig deep into his bullpen much earlier than anticipated. With Kyle Hendricks taking over, it was shaping up to be a long day at the Friendly Confines.

But to much surprise, Hendricks actually had a good day on the mound. Working through 4.1 innings, the veteran limited the Cardinals' bats to two hits.

The Cubs couldn't afford to waste such a performance, but that's exactly what they did. Patrick Wisdom came painfully close to putting a run on the board in the bottom of the eighth, but his hard-hit fly ball was caught on the warning track.

As catcher Pedro Pages got the Cardinals going with a home run, the Cubs faced an uphill battle trying to win the game.

Heading into the ninth inning, the Cubs were only down 1-0. But it was Colton Brewer's turn to unravel on the mound as he let Ivan Herrera and Dylan Carlson drive in two more runs.

With two quick outs, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley gave up a walk before striking out Nico Hoerner to finally end an ugly day at the ballpark.

Takeaways

This season has been a disaster for the Cubs. From constant injuries to an overall bad roster, there hasn't been much to get excited about. So many games have fallen by the wayside due to little or no offensive production.

With Jordan Wicks potentially set to miss more time, the solution to fill his spot in the rotation appears to be Kyle Hendricks. The team's depth is so bad that Craig Counsell must turn to a pitcher with an 8.20 ERA to start games.

It's absolutely embarrassing for the Cubs to subject the fans and Hendricks to this. The team continues to hold out hope for a pitcher who clearly can't sustain quality production anymore.

There needs to be accountability for such poor roster construction.

What's On Tap Next?

The Cubs will be back at it again on Saturday with Shota Imanaga taking the mound against Cardinals' righty Andre Pallante. First pitch is at 1:20 PM CT and the game will air on Marquee Sports Network.

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