Cubs officially eliminated from playoff contention after Saturday's 5-1 loss
As soon as right fielder Joey Gallo made contact with reliever Keegan Thompson's 89.3 mph cutter up in the zone, the air was sucked out of Wrigley Field.
Gallo mashed a three-run shot that extended the Nationals' lead to five as the Cubs offense disappeared in Saturday's 5-1 loss to the Nationals. The Mets' win against the Phillies officially eliminated the Cubs (79-76) from playoff contention.
"It was a tough year," said starter Kyle Hendricks, who threw 5 1⁄3 innings and allowed four runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. "Just up and down, right about .500 with our record. Just seemed like we'd catch steam and then couldn't maintain it."
On Saturday, the Cubs struggled to muster any hits against starter MacKenzie Gore, who overwhelmed the Cubs with his powerful four-seam fastball and threw 6 1⁄3 no-hit innings before designated hitter Patrick Wisdom hit his eighth home run of the season in the seventh inning.
Frustration festered all afternoon at Wrigley Field. There were short chats with umpires, bats thrown after questionable ball/strike calls and grounders into double plays. The offense, the Achilles' heel for the team all season — mustered one run on one hit, nine strikeouts and three walks.
"[Gore] did a good job with what he's good at, and that's the fastball with some good ride and then the curveball," manager Craig Counsell said. "Those were effective pitches and he controlled counts well."
The lack of pressure the Cubs put on Gore played a role in the left-hander having the longest no-hit bid of his career.
"He was beating us with that heater," Wisdom said. "We got some traffic on the bases and didn't score enough. Causing traffic early on was a good sign. We were taking our walks but just no hits with runners in scoring position."
Gore threw his fastball 66% of the time and generated nine swings-and-misses. Though they didn't get Gore often, the Cubs had an opportunity to put runs on the board in the fifth inning.
After back-to-back walks by Wisdom and first baseman Michael Busch, the Cubs had runners on first and second base with no outs with second baseman Nico Hoerner — who is slashing .353/.380/.412 with a .792 OPS in September — at the plate. Hoerner grounded into a double play and catcher Miguel Amaya struck out to end the inning.
Inconsistency has been the story for the 2024 Cubs. They were never able to sustain strong stretches and stack wins, going a combined 21-34 over May and June. They often cooled their momentum with a lackluster showing from the offense.
Sorting out the offense should be at the top of the priority list for president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. The Cubs aren't the offense that scored the third-fewest runs in the majors from May 1 to July 1 (198 runs). But they also aren't the offense that scored the third-most runs in the majors in August (155). Hoyer has to find a way to balance out the offense to avoid those extreme lulls.
Time is of the essence for the Cubs as another season passes without a playoff appearance. They haven't made the postseason over an entire season since 2018 and haven't won a playoff game since 2017. It's on the entire organization to close the gap between the team and other playoff teams over the offseason.
