Cease, Jimenez add to Cubs’ woes in 13-1 loss to White Sox

Kyle Hendricks wipes his face as he walks to the dugout after being pulled by manager David Ross during the fifth inning of Sunday’s 13-1 Cubs loss to the White Sox. | AP Photos

Kyle Hendricks allowed three more home runs, and the Cubs were stung by two players they traded to the South Side in 2017.

Sunday was just another rough day in a long line of them for the Cubs.

Seeing Dylan Cease and Eloy Jimenez do what they did in the White Sox’ 13-1 win certainly didn’t make the Cubs feel any better.

Cease struck out 11 over six innings for his second double-digit strikeout game of the year against the Cubs. Jimenez only had one hit but it was a three-run homer off Kyle Hendricks that made it 8-1, and came in the middle of a seven-run Sox fifth inning when the Cubs right-hander lost command.

“In the fifth there I just kind of got out of rhythm and just made a lot of bad pitches,” Hendricks said.

Cubs manager David Ross echoed that.

“Usually, with him, when you have the stuff he has, the command’s got to be really good,” Ross said. “If I had to guess, going back and looking at it, just command issues.”

Hendricks aside, those performances from Cease and Jimenez will only add more salt to the wounds of Cubs fans, who saw the Big 3 of Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo dealt away last month as part of a franchise-altering purge that’s led to loss after loss. Back when the Cubs were contending in 2017, they sent Cease and Jimenez to the Sox for Jose Quintana in a transaction meant to bolster their hopes at a second World Series title that never came.

Quintana never quite pitched like the Cubs wanted, while Cease and Jimenez are now key parts of a Sox team that is staring at a wide-open championship window. The Cubs’ chances for a title are now a thing of the past as they hope some of the players they acquired this summer blossom enough to help their next contender.

On Sunday, the current Cubs didn’t put up much resistance and lost for the fifth time in six games to the Sox this year, getting outscored 30-21 over the weekend.

Hendricks allowed homers to Luis Robert, Brian Goodwin and then Jimenez to run his career-high total to 28. The 4 2/3-inning, eight-run performance ended a month of August where Hendricks compiled a 1-2 record with a 7.81 ERA.

That followed a strong May, June and July when Hendricks had a 2.89 ERA and went 12-1.

“Just getting hurt on bad pitches, just not executing as well as I’d like to,” Hendricks said. “I went through a good stretch where I was executing a lot of pitches one after another, changing speeds well and then just had a few starts this month where [I] just made way too many bad pitches.

“Focus on getting back to execution in my work and try and translate that to the game.”

The pitch to Goodwin wasn’t bad, but the lefty took advantage of a lively Guaranteed Rate Field and deposited an 88 mph four-seam fastball just off the outside corner into the Sox bullpen in left to give them a 3-0 second-inning lead. The deliveries to Robert and Jimenez, however, were not of the same caliber and Hendricks was punished.

Hendricks said he let a fastball get away from him arm side on the Robert homer, while he pulled a fastball to Jimenez that he was trying to go inside with but missed badly.

“You just can’t do that to hitters like that,” Hendricks said. “Just got to get back to executing.”

One of those hitters - and the starting pitcher he supported Sunday - were once on a path to Wrigley Field. And the Cubs could use them now.

from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/2UVuCJs