The Chicago Cubs couldn’t take advantage of securing the series opener against the San Francisco Giants, dropping the next two games to lose the series.
The Cubs get Thursday’s off day to regroup before taking on the New York Mets for three games at Citi Field.
A quirky part of the schedule continues for the White Sox. They wrap up the series against the Royals on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., then are home for three over the weekend against the Miami Marlins before going back on the road to face the Cincinnati Reds beginning Tuesday.
Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.
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Cubs right-hander Ben Brown finds good moments in latest start
Things could have gotten away from right-hander Ben Brown on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.
Brown walked the first batter of the game, Mike Yastrzemski, who came around to score for an early Giants lead. Both of Brown’s two walks in the Cubs’ 3-1 loss scored, a reminder of how free passes can hurt.
“I just lost a little bit of aggressiveness,” Brown said. “I had a really good bullpen leading up into the game, walking the first guy out of the game is a mistake and then kind of get back on track.”
However, Brown pulled it together in the fifth inning and finished with nine strikeouts while throwing a career-high 103 pitches.
“I think there were some bright spots, the strikeouts certainly were bright spots,” manager Craig Counsell said.
Brown isn’t satisfied with his performance, but was encouraged by the outing.
“I saw a lot of fastballs taken in the zone, curveballs that were effective really weren’t being swung at,” Brown said. “That led me to kind of step off the gas a little bit on the curve. Ultimately, I really liked where I was at in the fifth inning after the double. It’s like, why did it take 100 pitches for me to get to where I wanted to be? But it’s all part of growing, and definitely some good moments and definitely some learning moments.”
The Cubs will need more from Brown in the coming weeks following the loss of left-hander Shota Imanaga to a left hamstring strain. As of postgame Wednesday, it still wasn’t clear who would take his starting turn Saturday against the Mets. Counsell didn’t rule out right-hander Chris Flexen getting the ball despite pitching the ninth inning in the last two games against the Giants.
“I just feel like there’s another level that I can unlock a little bit earlier in the game,” Brown said. “We can see where I’m at after 100 pitches, I felt way better after 100 than I felt after zero. So just staying on that constant attack and kind of what I did in Milwaukee and just trying to replicate that.
“But overall today, I’d want this to be the outing that I had to grind through, and I’m going to have the grind outings, and I’m going to have the really good ones, and I’m happy to be able to grind through it.”
Miguel Vargas is riding a 14-game on-base streak
Miguel Vargas singled sharply to left field in the eighth inning Monday against the Royals. The hit extended an on-base streak to a career-best 12 games.
“(I’m) trying to help the team put some guys on base and score some runs,” the third baseman said afterward.
Vargas walked in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game as the streak reached 13 games. A sixth-inning double in Wednesday’s game made it 14. He is slashing .348/.444/.500 during the period, which has come with adjustments at the plate, including starting his hands in a higher position.
Hitting coach Marcus Thames said the work began a while ago.
“It started even in spring training, even last year, at the end of the season,” Thames said Sunday. “We sent him home with a lot of different drills and stuff just to see what he liked. Didn’t have success right away, but we just kept pounding, we didn’t stop working and just kept giving him different things. And kudos to him, he put in the work. I always give all of the players all the credit because they have to want it and they have to work.”
Thames said Vargas has “really put in the work.”
“And it’s good to see him have some confidence after last year, getting beat up a little bit, and coming over in a big trade (from the Los Angeles Dodgers) and wanting to do well,” Thames said. “He’s a good kid and he cares and kudos to him for coming out and working hard and starting to see some really good results.
“And starting to see that smile that he’s always had even when he was in the Dodgers organization. So it’s good for him to be going in the right direction.”
Number of the week: 2-13
After Tuesday’s crushing 4-3 loss to the Royals, in which defensive miscues paved the way to a walk-off defeat, and Wednesday’s 2-1 loss, the Sox fell to 2-13 in night games. They are 8-14 in day games.
Week ahead: Cubs
- Thursday: Cubs off
- Friday: at Mets, 6:10 p.m., Marquee
- Saturday: at Mets, 6:15 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: at Mets, 11:05 a.m., Roku
- Monday: vs. Marlins, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: vs. Marlins, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: vs. Marlins, 6:40 p.m., Marquee
As the Cubs’ offense continues to hit among the best of any in the majors, the depth of the lineup deservedly gets a lot of attention.
But it starts at the top with Ian Happ in the leadoff spot, where he helps set the tone.
“Ian’s just a tough at-bat always,” manager Craig Counsell said. “The pitcher knows he has to be competitive with pitches. There’s going to be walks in there, there’s power — I always love damage from the leadoff spot. I think the pitcher knowing that there’s a home run in there is important, and Ian’s executed really, really well this year.”
Among the 28 big-league hitters with at least 60 plate appearances in the leadoff spot this year, Happ’s 123 wRC+, .347 wOBA, and .370 on-base percentage all are 11th-best in their respective statistical categories, while his .287 average and 12.1% walk rate rank ninth. His 29 runs scored only trail Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (37).
The depth of the Cubs’ lineup compared to last year helps lessen some of the focus centered on hitters like Happ and shortstop Dansby Swanson.
“We’ve talked about that a little bit, it’s just a little less pressure, frankly, of ‘I’ve got to be the guy,’ and it’s kind of covering for each other and picking each other up, however you want to say it,” Counsell said. “But it’s nice when it feels like one through nine can do something on that day to maybe carry the load.”
Week ahead: White Sox
- Thursday: at Royals, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
- Friday: vs. Marlins, 6:40 p.m., CHSN
- Saturday: vs. Marlins, 6:10 p.m., CHSN
- Sunday: vs. Marlins, 1:10 p.m., CHSN
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: at Reds, 5:40 p.m., CHSN
- Wednesday: at Reds, 6:14 p.m., CHSN
The Sox led by one run in the seventh inning Sunday against the Houston Astros at Rate Field.
Reliever Mike Vasil had to battle the rainy conditions and the Astros lineup. With a runner on first and one out, Vasil got Victor Caratini to hit a grounder to first.
Miguel Vargas scooped it up, fired to second and then scrambled to first to receive the throw from shortstop Chase Meidroth for an inning-ending double play.
Vasil pitched the 2 1/3 scoreless innings and earned the first win of his major-league career as the Sox rallied for a rain-shortened 5-4 victory.
Vasil has a 0.92 ERA in 10 relief outings. The Sox claimed the right-hander, a Rule 5 draft pick, off waivers just before the start of the regular season.
“For me, it’s awesome,” Vasil said Sunday of his Sox experience. “But I think more importantly, I’m learning a lot as I go. There’s great guys out there in the bullpen. There’s great guys on the staff to help with that, including the coaching staff and everything.
“Any situation they put me in, I view it as an opportunity to get better. But also, they have trusted me to get the job done, whatever it is. It’s been pretty special so far.”
What we’re reading
- Mallory Swanson, who hasn’t played for Chicago Stars all year, is expecting 1st child with Cubs’ Dansby Swanson
- Caleb Freeman, a 15th-round draft pick in 2019, makes his big-league debut with Chicago White Sox
- Chicago Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga is ‘thinking positively’ after left hamstring strain diagnosis
- Nancy Faust on her Chicago White Sox return after a 15-year absence: ‘I never expected a resurgence like this’
- Column: The emergence of Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong is drawing attention all around the game
- Chicago White Sox minor-league report: Tim Elko hitting home runs in bunches for Triple-A Charlotte
Quotable
“It gets you out of your natural rhythm, and that’s where mistakes happen, and that’s the benefit of speed, and that’s what it does. That’s the impact. In our measure everything game, it’s a difficult thing to measure — not measurable, but it has impact on the game. We’ve seen it multiple times this year.” — Cubs manager Craig Counsell on how speed, like Pete Crow-Armstrong’s, can cause opposing teams to commit errors
