Stroman can't get in rhythm as Cubs open key stretch

CHICAGO -- After a series win over the Nationals and with Marcus Stroman taking the mound, the Cubs appeared to have a good chance Thursday to keep their momentum rolling as they welcomed the Cardinals to town.

But Stroman, the All-Star right-hander who has been so good for Chicago this season, had a rare off night -- though a few defensive miscues behind him hurt -- and the Cubs were mostly quiet offensively in a 7-2 loss at Wrigley Field.

“We never gave him a real chance to get in a rhythm,” Cubs manager David Ross said.

Each time Stroman has taken the mound this season, you could almost be assured he would throw a quality start. The Cubs’ ace has 15 this season, tied for first in MLB.

On Thursday, he tossed 3 2/3 innings -- his third-shortest outing this season -- while allowing seven hits and five runs (four earned) and issuing four walks. He threw 99 pitches.

“Just one of those games where you feel like kind of everything works against you,” Stroman said. “Didn’t help with the walks. Just felt like I was slightly off mechanically, just missing the zone, getting behind in counts. Didn’t get ahead much, and then they put some good swings on balls.

“Just one of those games I felt like nothing could go my way and I couldn’t get in a rhythm.”

Stroman had some tough luck in the first inning, when the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead. Paul Goldschmidt reached on a one-out infield single, and the inning continued when third baseman Patrick Wisdom booted a two-out grounder by Nolan Arenado. Former Cub Willson Contreras followed with an RBI double.

Wisdom made two errors in the game, and three miscues overall. He made a throwing error in the second, overshooting Christopher Morel at second base, on a potential inning-ending 5-4-3 double play ball, but Stroman got around it unscathed.

In the fourth, Wisdom made a nice sliding stop to his left on a Goldschmidt grounder, then after getting to his feet dropped the ball transferring it from his glove to hand. Instead of the potential second out of the inning, Goldschmidt reached on an infield single.

Nolan Gorman came up next and struck out, but Arenado hit a two-out, two-run double that gave the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. That four-run inning by the Cardinals started with a bloop double by Tyler O’Neil down the right-field line -- one with a 62 mph exit velocity -- and a two-run homer by Jordan Walker.

“There were a lot of pretty standard Major League plays that should have been made behind him,” Ross said of Stroman’s outing. "And then he’s fighting, a lot of pitches. Some of those mistakes we made cost him, shoot, it felt like 30, 40 pitches. That’s hard to overcome, and then you fatigue at the end.

“The O’Neil soft double, that kind of led to that last little bit of runs. You want your starting pitcher to get out there and get in a little rhythm, play good defense behind him. He's getting ground balls all over the place, and unfortunately, we couldn't turn them into outs.”

The walks didn’t help Stroman’s pitch count, though he also credited the Cardinals’ lineup, which fouled off 16 of his pitches.

“They’re a good lineup,” Stroman said. “They do a good job at putting the ball in play. They’re very scrappy. I feel like their swing and miss is not very high, and they have a bunch of guys who put a priority on battling, taking counts deep. Really do a good job at swinging at strikes.”

When team president Jed Hoyer met the media last week, he noted two key objectives for the Cubs coming out of the All-Star break, with the Trade Deadline not too far away: Get back to .500 and make up ground in the NL Central.

Thursday’s loss dropped the Cubs to 8 1/2 games back in the division, tied for their biggest deficit this season (last on Monday). And at 45-51, they’re as far under .500 as they were Friday, when Hoyer spoke.

The Cubs recognize the importance of this stretch on their schedule and feel a sense of urgency. Stroman was asked what the key is to turning the page after the loss.

“It’s just having the same mindset,” Stroman said. “We’re pretty much capable. It’s just things haven’t gone our way. Just pretty much wash it, go into tomorrow and try to get a ‘W.’”