CHICAGO -- If there’s one thing Bruce Bochy emphasized during his first Spring Training as Rangers manager, it was that fundamentals can win games.

When the offense is silent, or when pitchers are struggling, being elite at the little things can be the difference in a tick in the win column or loss column. In Saturday’s 10-3 loss to the Cubs, Texas looked like anything but a team that spent an entire spring focused on the fundamentals.

While starter Martín Pérez grinded through five innings and gave up just two earned runs, the defense made two errors during his time on the mound and another three later in the game. The offense also continued its skid as the Cubs kept Wrigley Field alive all afternoon with a 14-hit affair.

“I don't think we helped ourselves out,” Corey Seager said. “We didn't really play great defense. We didn't really help out our guys when we needed to, so it’s just unfortunate. I just think it happens. Errors are gonna happen. You hope it doesn't happen five times in one game, it’s hard to win a game that it does happen in. So it's just one of the things where you move on and look forward to tomorrow.”

What’s worse is that the Rangers nearly logged as many errors (five) as they did hits (seven). A scuffling offense and un-fundamental defense is not the Bochy recipe for success.

“It's just chopping up as, I guess, just one of those days that you may occasionally have in 162 games,” Bochy said. “You just have to stay away from them as much as you can. That's one thing I said that has stayed consistent is our defense, baserunning, all those things, and [we] can’t let it get away from us.”

And there could have been more errors had there been a more harsh official scorer at Wrigley Field. While the “official errors” came on two errant throws from Seager, a bobble from Marcus Semien and an airmailed throw down from Jonah Heim, a number of mental mistakes or lackadaisical efforts are among the reasons for the loss.

In the third inning alone, Robbie Grossman bobbled a line drive from Nick Madrigal that led to a double instead of a single, which then allowed him to score on a looping line-drive single to right field from Dansby Swanson two at-bats later. A ball that fell in between Grossman and Adolis García in the sixth inning could have -- and should have -- likely been caught had either or both communicated better with the other.

“You know, I think it got contagious, didn't it?” Bochy said. “I think when you're not used to playing here, it can be tough. Hopefully, tomorrow we show up. We’re a resilient ballclub and we want to come out and put together a good ball game and find a way to win one.”

That’s not to say the defense is the only reason for the recent early struggles. The Rangers' offense has gone silent since its Opening Weekend boom against the Phillies.

In winning the first two games of the season, the Rangers hit .375 with a 1.080 OPS as a team. In the five games after that -- three against the Orioles and the first against the Cubs -- they hit .183 with a .518 OPS, scoring two or fewer runs in four of the games. On Saturday against the Cubs, Texas hitters went a combined 7-for-34 with six walks. They also went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Outside the loss on Saturday, the Rangers' pitching has mostly done its job when it comes to keeping the team in games. Struggles in all other phases of the game aren’t helping as the early part of the season with a lot of new faces continues on.

But despite the early skid, Bochy is confident that the struggles won’t persist. 

“I don't worry,” he said. “No, no, this is a good group here. They'll bounce back. You can't [give up] on one game. This was a tough day, no getting around it. They had their way over there. What could go wrong, really went wrong today. It's going to happen. Like I said, I don't care who you are or what team you are. But you look at how well we've been playing, I think you're gonna be surprised.”