Smyly's struggles continue vs. Yanks in final first-half start

NEW YORK -- For Cubs left-hander Drew Smyly, the All-Star break couldn’t come soon enough. He struggled in his last start of the first half as the Cubs lost to the Yankees, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Smyly hasn’t given Chicago any length since June 14th, when he went six innings against the Pirates. Since then, he has allowed 14 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings (7.83 ERA) and walked 13 batters. Saturday, Smyly lasted four innings and allowed four runs on six hits.

“I think the All-Star break will be nice, have a little mental reset, get away a little bit,” said Smyly.

In the early going, Smyly had problems with the long ball, allowing a monster shot to Giancarlo Stanton in the first inning and another bomb to Josh Donaldson an inning later to give New York a 2-0 lead.

The Stanton homer hit the facing of the upper deck. Statcast measured the exit velocity on Stanton's solo shot at 118.1 miles per hour, the third-hardest-hit homer in MLB this year, while traveling 447 feet.

“Stanton is a massive human being. You feel like if you throw it in the strike zone, you are putting it on a tee,” Smyly said. “The scouting report said to throw him up and in. The home run he hit was up and in, but it feels like it’s just middle-middle because he is so big. If you throw it above that, he did a good job of taking it and not swinging at it.”

Smyly allowed a two-run double to Harrison Bader in the third and was gone after throwing 85 pitches in four innings.

“First-pitch strikes were not his strength today,” Cubs manager Davd Ross said. “He has been kind of grinding of late, working really hard, trying to find that rhythm he had early on. He hasn’t been there lately, and today was another one like that.”

Smyly reminded reporters that he had his share of success during the early months of the season, going 5-2 with a 3.15 ERA combined during April and May.

“I’ve always been capable of throwing strikes, mixing speeds. I just think it’s a matter of executing and getting myself in better counts,” Smyly said. “Today, I felt like I was 1-0 with a lot of hitters. I need to be better than that. … The last few games, I’ve been walking three or four people like every outing and that’s not me.”

The only positive from Smyly’s start was collecting career strikeout No. 1,000. It came in the second inning when he fanned Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Smyly was proud to have the milestone ball in his locker.

“I’m very proud of it. It’s something that took a long time,” said Smyly who has been in the big leagues since 2012, starting with the Tigers. “This is my 12th year in the league. It shows perseverance, hard work. I am definitely proud of that stat.”

Smyly’s counterpart was right-hander Gerrit Cole, who pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. Cole was breezing through the game until the eighth inning. After Miles Mastrobuoni singled to right with one out, Mike Tauchman followed with a homer to make it a three-run game.

“Cole looked pretty good from the side,” Ross said. “He is a really good pitcher. We fought pretty hard. We clipped him in the end. … When you have an ace on the mound like that, you have to match him for zeroes and hope you can do something a little bit later.”