Cubs Stat of the Day: August 2021

September 4th, 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Cubs this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

Aug. 31: Cubs 3, Twins 1 -- Rodríguez racks up outs in bunches
With a scoreless two-inning outing that included inducing two double plays, Manuel Rodríguez became the first Cubs reliever since Kyle Ryan on Sept. 12, 2019, to induce two double plays in the same relief appearance.

Aug. 29: White Sox 13, Cubs 1 -- Hendricks' rough go
Kyle Hendricks headed into his start against the White Sox with an MLB-leading 14 wins. In his previous 19 turns, the Cubs righty had gone 12-1 with a 3.46 ERA, even as the losses have piled up for the North Siders. Hendricks then allowed eight runs. It marked the fourth time this year Hendricks has given up at least seven runs, which is tied with his teammate, Zach Davies, for the most such starts in MLB this season. The single-season Cubs record is five such starts, which has been done four times (not since Jon Lieber in 2000).

Aug. 28: Cubs 7, White Sox 0 -- Wisdom sets Cubs rookie record
With consecutive multihomer performances, Patrick Wisdom became the first rookie in Cubs history to have two or more homers in back-to-back games, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The last Cubs hitter with two straight multihomer games was Javier Báez, who did so on April 10-11, 2018. Wisdom is the ninth player (13th time overall) to have back-to-back games with two or more homers.

Aug. 27: White Sox 17, Cubs 13 -- Wisdom's birthday blasts
Patrick Wisdom celebrated his 30th birthday with two homers against the White Sox. In the first inning against lefty Dallas Keuchel, Wisdom hit a towering three-run shot. Then in the ninth off former Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel, Wisdom smacked a solo shot for his 23rd homer of the year. Wisdom is the first Cubs player to homer on his birthday since Aramis Ramirez achieved the feat on June 25, 2011. At 114.2 mph, Wisdom's first-inning shot was also the hardest-hit homer in a Crosstown Cup game in the Statcast Era (since 2015), soaring a projected 448 feet.

Aug. 25: Cubs 5, Rockies 2 F/7 (G1); Rockies 11, Cubs 9 F/10 (G2) -- Happ's hot streak
Ian Happ had two hits, including a home run, in Game 2 of the doubleheader with the Rockies. Including a pinch-hit appearance in Game 1, the Cubs outfielder has slashed .357/.423/.738 with four homers, four doubles and 10 RBIs in his last 13 games.

Aug. 23: Cubs 6, Rockies 4 -- Snapping skid with flair
When Rafael Ortega delivered his game-winning homer, the Cubs outfielder snapped his team's franchise-record home losing streak at 13 games. Per STATS, it marked the first home losing streak of at least 13 games in MLB history to end via a walk-off home run. The previous long home losing skid to end with a walk-off blast came on May 10, 1949, when Jerry Priddy helped the St. Louis Browns snap their 12-game drought at home.

Aug. 22: Royals 9, Cubs 1 -- Mills loses consistency
Alec Mills couldn't get payback against the team that drafted him and later designated him for assignment, giving up seven runs (six earned) and taking the loss against the Royals. His outing snapped his 12-start streak of allowing three or fewer earned runs and two or fewer walks, which was the longest stretch of its kind by a Cubs pitcher since Hippo Vaughn (13 games from May 3-June 22, 1919).

Aug. 21: Royals 4, Cubs 2 -- Unfriendly Confines
The loss to the Royals continued the Cubs' home woes over the last month. It marked Chicago's 12th consecutive loss at Wrigley Field dating back to a defeat to the Reds on July 27, tying the franchise record. Per Cubs historian Ed Hartig, it is also the first time the Cubs have also gone 26 consecutive days without recording a home win since their longest home losing stretch, 29 days from May 30-June 28, 2006.

Aug. 20: Royals 6, Cubs 2 -- Schwindel's XBH hit streak ends
Frank Schwindel went 0-for-4, bringing an end to one of the longest extra-base hit streaks in Cubs history. The first baseman had recorded at least one extra-base hit in seven straight games, making him the first righty batter to do so for the Cubs since Aramis Ramirez from July 22-29, 2009. Only four Cubs hitters have had longer streaks (since 1901): Augie Galan (eight in 1935), Chuck Klein (eight in 1935), Derrek Lee (nine in 2007) and Mark DeRosa (eight in 2008).

Aug. 18: Cubs 7, Reds 1 -- Happ right at home at GABP
Ian Happ's solo homer in the first inning was not only his second shot in as many days, but his 13th career home run at Great American Ball Park. Happ, who attended the University of Cincinnati, has more homers at the Reds' ballpark than any other road venue. Next on his career chart is St. Louis, where Happ has six blasts. In 34 career games at GABP, Happ has hit .342/.447/.784 with 22 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs.

Aug. 17: Cubs 2, Reds 1 -- Schwindel's extra-base hit streak
First baseman Frank Schwindel finished 2-for-4, raising his average to .382 through 16 games for the Cubs. His RBI double in the second inning made Schwindel the first righty Cubs hitter to record at least one extra-base hit in six consecutive games since Aramis Ramirez did so from July 16-22, 2011.

Aug. 16: Reds 14, Cubs 5 -- Losing streak hits a dozen
With their loss in the series opener, the Cubs have dropped 12 games in a row for the first time since May 15-27, 2012. Chicago has four longer losing skids in franchise history, having dropped 14 once (1997) and 13 in three seasons ('85, '82 and '44). This is the first time in franchise history that the North Siders have a pair of losing streaks consisting of at least 11 games in the same season.

Aug. 15: Marlins 4, Cubs 1 -- Cubs match dreaded streak
With Sunday's loss, the current losing streak is now at 11 games. It matches the Cubs' longest losing streak of the season, as they dropped 11 straight from June 25-July 6 to the Dodgers, Brewers, Reds and Phillies.

Aug. 14: Marlins 5, Cubs 4 -- Ortega on a roll
With a ground-rule double in the fourth inning, Rafael Ortega has now reached base safely in a career-high 18 straight games dating back to July 27. The last Cub with a longer on-base streak was Anthony Rizzo, who reached in 23 straight games from June 26-July 24, 2019.

Aug. 13: Marlins 14, Cubs 10 -- Double-digit damage
The Cubs gave up 11 runs to the Marlins in the second inning. They also yielded double-digit runs (10) in the eighth inning to the Brewers on June 28. The last time the club recorded two innings surrendering double-digit runs in the same season was in 1975. That year, they allowed 10 runs against the Expos on June 25 in the seventh inning and 10 runs to the Phillies on Aug. 5 in the first.

Aug. 12: Brewers 17, Cubs 4 -- Hendricks' unbeaten streak snapped
The loss to the Brewers snapped Kyle Hendricks' career-best 16-start unbeaten streak, during which the righty went 11-0 with a 2.79 ERA and 71 strikeouts against 19 walks in 100 innings. His most recent loss was on May 9, giving Hendricks the longest unbeaten run for the Cubs since Jake Arrieta's club-record 24-start winning streak (July 30, 2015-May 31, 2016). During the loss, Hendricks allowed a grand slam to Manny Piña, the first slam he has allowed since 2017.

Aug. 11: Brewers 10, Cubs 0 -- Arrieta has no early answer
Cubs veteran Jake Arrieta surrendered seven runs on eight hits in the first inning. That tied his most runs allowed in any inning in an outing over the course of his career. The righty also gave up seven runs in the second inning of a start on Aug. 30, 2020.

Aug. 10: Brewers 4, Cubs 2 (G1); Brewers 6, Cubs 3 (G2) -- Cubs' homegrown arms
The Cubs are holding out hope that arms like Adbert Alzolay and Justin Steele can help shake the team's recent reputation for not developing homegrown starting pitchers. Steele (fifth round in 2014 MLB Draft) made his MLB starting debut against the Brewers, and Marquee Sports Network noted that Chicago has had an MLB-low eight starts since 2015 by players by their team. The Red Sox (108) were next on the list, followed by the Yankees (109), A's (122) and D-backs (152).

Aug. 8: White Sox 9, Cubs 3 -- Schwindel in a pinch
A rough start by Zach Davies opened the door for an early pinch-hit chance for Frank Schwindel in the second inning. The journeyman had been 0-for-7 in his MLB career as a pinch-hitter, but came through with a two-run single off Dylan Cease for his first career pinch-hit and RBI.

Aug. 7: White Sox 4, Cubs 0 -- Alzolay trending up
Adbert Alzolay was hung with a hard-luck loss against the White Sox, but the Cubs' starter nonetheless turned in a solid start. In his 6 2/3 innings, the righty struck out seven and allowed two runs. He also finished with no home runs allowed or walks issued. It marked the first time in Alzolay's MLB career that he did not have any walks or homers yielded in an outing.

Aug. 6: White Sox 8, Cubs 6 (10 innings) -- Hit streak at 8 games
If it feels as though Rafael Ortega is hitting everything he sees, it's because he basically is. With a double in the bottom of the third off Lance Lynn, Ortega extended his hitting streak to eight games. That ties his career high, which he set from Aug. 14-23, 2018, with the Marlins. During this stretch, Ortega is hitting 14-for-31 (.452).

Aug. 5: Rockies 6, Cubs 5 -- Ortega's second-half surge
Heading into the All-Star break, outfielder Rafael Ortega was batting .234 with a .649 OPS through 33 games for the Cubs this season. In 20 games since the season's intermission, Ortega has turned in a .403/.448/.694 slash line with four homers and 11 RBIs. His two-hit game in the series finale at Coors Field gave the center fielder a seven-game hitting streak.

Aug. 4: Cubs 3, Rockies 2 -- Rare no-homer win at Coors
The Cubs entered this one with a 1-19 record at Coors Field when they don't homer. With Patrick Wisdom's three-run double providing the only runs for the North Siders, it marked the first win by the Cubs at the ballpark without a homer since April 26, 2001.

Aug. 3: Rockies 13, Cubs 6 -- Bote's homecoming
A native of Colorado, Bote has played well in his career in Denver. The Cubs infielder connected for an RBI double in his latest homecoming, giving him a .333/.368/.667 slash line in 19 plate appearances across six career games at Coors Field.

Aug. 1: Nationals 6, Cubs 5 -- Ortega's homer-happy day
For the first time since Rick Monday did it on May 16, 1972, a left-handed hitter smacked three home runs on the road for the Cubs. Rafael Ortega, who has been hot since the All-Star break, tied a franchise record when he hit three long balls in Sunday's series finale at Nationals Park, which was also his first career multihomer game. Over the three-game series in Washington, he launched four homers, bringing his season total to six.