The Chicago Cubs lost another starter to injury Friday when left-hander Jordan Wicks left with a right oblique strain in the second inning of a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Manager Craig Counsell said Wicks would have an MRI exam Saturday and was likely to return to the 15-day injured list, with Kyle Hendricks probably returning to the rotation after throwing 4 1/3 shutout innings in relief.
The loss of Wicks was another blow to a 33-37 Cubs team fighting to get back to .500 and stay in the muddled-up National League wild-card race, which looks like their only realistic shot at a postseason berth.
The Cubs lost for the 18th time in 26 games and were shut out for the sixth time, finishing with three hits off Kyle Gibson and three relievers in a yawn-inducing effort before 40,160 at Wrigley Field.
“Look, when you’re losing, it looks like you’re doing nothing right,” Counsell said. “We’re doing more right than you think, and that’s why we continue to stay positive about it.”
A northeast wind blew in to help the Cardinals avoid would-be home runs from Cody Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom, while it couldn’t prevent Pedro Pagés’ eighth-inning solo shot off Hayden Wesneski that landed in the left-field basket to snap a scoreless tie.
The Cardinals added a pair in the ninth off Colten Brewer to ice the first game of the series between the longtime rivals.
Wicks, making his first start since April 28 after returning last week from a stint on the IL with a left forearm strain, had just taken the rotation spot of the injured Ben Brown, who was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his neck. Brown’s injury originally was referred to as a simple neck strain, but now appears to be serious enough for him to miss extended time.
“We’re still trying to figure out exactly how long and what it means and what he can do,” Counsell said. “It’s a unique injury, a little bit of a rare injury for a pitcher, so we’re trying to get more opinions and figure out what’s next for him.”
Wicks faced seven hitters and threw 28 pitches before being removed after a two-out single by Dylan Carlson in the second. Wicks said he felt tightness earlier in the inning, adding he dealt with an oblique on the left side earlier in his career.
Photos: Chicago Cubs lose to St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 at Wrigley Field
“To have something like this happen is definitely frustrating, but there’s not a whole lot we can do about it now,” Wicks said.
Hendricks, the forgotten man of the Cubs bullpen who last pitched June 6 against the Cincinnati Reds, turned in his best performance of the season, allowing two hits and no walks to keep the Cardinals scoreless through the sixth. Counsell said the outing “was proof that that’s (how) Kyle conducts himself and goes about his day, to be ready for the next opportunity no matter what.”
That next opportunity figures to be Wednesday as a starter, at which Hendricks spent his entire career until last month.
“We’re down pitchers right now,” Counsell said, adding Hendricks “looks like” the best option.
Hendricks was unavailable afterward.
The Cubs were held to two harmless singles off Gibson (5-2) over seven scoreless innings. Only Bellinger’s sixth-inning fly that right fielder Alec Burleson caught in the vines made Gibson sweat a drop.
Trailing 1-0 in the eighth, the Cubs had a runner on third with one out, but pinch runner Pete Crow-Armstrong was thrown out at the plate on a weak grounder by Miguel Amaya, and Wisdom’s hard shot down the left-field line on a 3-0 pitch from JoJo Romero was held back by the wind, falling harmlessly into Brendan Donovan’s glove on the warning track.
“Wow,” Wisdom said. “I don’t know what to say. Just wow.”
“Wow” seems applicable to anything involving this mind-numbing stretch of Cubs baseball. The lack of offense has been a recurring theme, particularly over the last month. During their 8-18 stretch since May 16, the Cubs are hitting .210 with 90 runs, falling from 1½ games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers to 8 before Friday night’s game.
During his introduction at the Cubs Convention in mid-January, Counsell received a rousing ovation after declaring his distaste for bunting in response to a question on his offensive philosophy.
“I think we love the word ‘sacrifice,’ ” Counsell explained that day. “However, if the sacrifice isn’t successful, it’s not good for the team.”
Who could have guessed that five months later the Cubs would resort to bunting three times in one inning Thursday in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays? According to ESPN Stats, it was the first time the Cubs had bunted at least three times in an inning since 2001, when Don Baylor was manager.
That’s how desperate the Cubs are to create offense.
They ranked second-to-last in the National League with a .228 average entering Friday and were second-worst with a .215 average with runners in scoring position, only decimal points ahead of the Cardinals.
The Cubs did have a valid excuse this time. They were operating on little sleep after returning home around 2:30 a.m. following a night game in St. Petersburg, Fla. The team is prohibited from scheduling Friday night games because of a city ordinance from 1988 created to pacify the ballpark’s neighbors. But permit parking has made the ordinance superfluous for years, and the Cubs have gotten relief from the city on occasion when asking for special dispensation for night games.
Counsell said he was unaware of the option to ask for a Friday night start.
“I love the Friday day games, but today I hedge a little bit,” he said before the game. “Look, I think we all love the Friday day games … but sometimes the schedule gets you a little bit.”
Lack of offense, lack of sleep and lack of wins. It all adds up.
In the words of Wisdom: Just, wow.
