Cubs look to get off canvas after three tough hits in Cleveland set

CLEVELAND -- During his usual pregame session with the media on Tuesday afternoon, Cubs manager Craig Counsell wanted to steer away from a big-picture conversation about his team’s season. Counsell pointed out that there were still six weeks left on the schedule for Chicago to make a push -- no matter how improbable -- back into the playoff picture.

“The roller coaster has still got a lot of up and down to go for the season,” Counsell said. “That’s what’s got to happen still. There’s ups and downs still to happen. Whether it be on a nightly basis, a series basis, that’s how baseball seasons work.”

At the time of those comments, there were still two games to play in Cleveland, where the Guardians dealt the Cubs a 6-1 loss on Wednesday night to seal a sweep of the three-game set at Progressive Field. It was the worst-case scenario for a series that gave the North Siders a chance to test their mettle against an October-caliber ballclub.

The Cubs arrived in Cleveland with a 20-12 record dating back to the Fourth of July, marking the second-most wins in the National League in that span. The offense was rolling again. The pitching was stellar. The defense was pristine. And Chicago was sparking some belief that maybe -- just maybe -- a late-season run was possible.

The Guardians issued a reality check.

After the Cubs fought back from an 8-3 deficit on Monday night, Cleveland hung on for a 9-8 victory. On Tuesday, the teams engaged in a tightly-contested game that ended with Chicago on the wrong side of a 2-1 loss. In the finale, the Cubs’ lineup went quiet, making the line of starter Jameson Taillon (four runs in six innings) more glaring.

“It’s disappointing,” Counsell said after Wednesday’s defeat. “I thought we played two pretty good games the first two days. Today was, I think offensively, we didn't do a good job. We didn't do enough today, and that's disappointing.

“That is a good baseball team, for sure. They've got as good a record as anybody in baseball right now. But, getting swept is no good.”

The Cubs’ 30-game stretch leading up to the series in Cleveland ticked the team’s playoff odds up to 9.4% from 4.9% on July 3, per Fangraphs. At that point on the calendar, they were a season-high nine games under .500 (39-48). Chicago also trimmed its deficit in the NL Wild Card standings to just three games before facing the Guardians.

The three-game brooming at the hands of Cleveland knocked the Cubs down to six games back of the third NL Wild Card spot. At the time of their third loss to the Guardians, Fangraphs had sliced the Cubs’ playoff odds to just 3.8%.

“All that matters is where you're at in the standings and who’s in front of you,” Taillon said. “We were definitely, at one point, pretty far under [.500], and we’re clawing back. And I feel like that’s a sign that we’ve been playing a lot better baseball.

“But, we lost three. Now, we have to punch back. It feels like that’s kind of been the story of the season. So, hopefully we can punch back and not turn these three into something bigger.”

When Counsell issues a reminder that “40 games is a lot of results” remaining, the manager is speaking from personal experience, too.

In 2019, the Brewers team managed by Counsell was in third place and 7 1/2 games back in the division race on Sept. 5. Milwaukee then rattled off 18 wins in the next 20 games and wound up clinching a Wild Card berth. In ‘18, Milwaukee, under Counsell, went 22-7 down the stretch to force a Game 163 against the Cubs, ending with the Brewers capturing the division crown.

“You don’t get to pick how it goes,” Counsell said. “And you have to be ready for kind of everything. And you can’t get thrown off your game, because you get knocked down. You see it as, you just keep showing up for 162. There’s chances.

“And yeah, when you feel like you let a chance slip away, you don’t feel good. Sure. But it doesn’t knock you down. You’re ready to go the next day.”

Taillon echoed that sentiment.

“We caught a team that’s trending up and playing really good baseball,” said the pitcher. “Now, we get to go home and, hopefully, make some noise at home.”