One day after having their 10-game winning streak snapped, the Chicago Cubs will look to begin a new streak when they face the Texas Rangers in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
Chicago went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners in a 6-0 loss on Saturday. The Cubs had won 20 of their past 23 games before being shut out for the fourth time this season.
The lone bright spot for Chicago was left fielder Ian Happ, who extended his on-base streak to a career-high 30 games with a first-inning walk.
“Didn’t play well enough today and left a lot of guys on base,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “But felt like we’re in a good spot, playing good baseball. Guys are preparing and executing the game plan.”
Josh Jung and Justin Foscue each hit solo homers for Texas, which snapped a two-game losing skid by outhitting the Cubs 9-4. Foscue’s blast was his first career homer in his 23rd major league game spread over three seasons.
“It was the best feeling in the world,” Foscue said. “There’s no other way to put it. I don’t think I felt my legs running around the bases. Pretty special moment. That was the best ball I’ve hit in the big leagues yet.”
Foscue started at first base in place of slumping Jake Burger, who was given a rest day by manager Skip Schumaker. Burger is hitting .130 over his last 18 games.
“I do think he’s getting closer,” Schumaker said. “He’s a hit or two away from getting extremely hot and carrying a team. Getting him going is going to be a big part of, you know, us getting back on track.”
Sunday’s pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers as Chicago’s Jameson Taillon (2-1, 4.24 ERA) faces the Rangers’ Jacob deGrom (2-2, 3.11).
Taillon, 34, allowed two runs on a pair of solo homers over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Cincinnati Reds last Tuesday.
Taillon has given up nine home runs over his last six starts covering 35 2/3 innings.
Corey Seager is 4-for-14 (.286) against Taillon, who is 1-1 with a 5.86 ERA in five career starts versus Texas.
The Rangers will counter with deGrom, who yielded a season-high six runs over 6 1/3 innings in a 7-4 road loss to the New York Yankees last Tuesday.
Dansby Swanson is 7-for-34 (.206) with two homers against the 37-year-old deGrom, who is 2-4 with a 3.26 ERA in 11 career starts against Chicago.
The Cubs’ offense has been red-hot this month despite receiving minimal production from Bregman, who is batting .233 with three homers and 13 RBIs. Chicago manager Craig Counsell said it’s only a matter of time before Bregman returns to form.
“In a lot of ways, with what we’ve done so far this season and Alex is probably off to a little bit of a slower start by his standards, it makes me happy in a weird way that we’ve got some good Alex Bregman coming here,” Counsell said.
-Field Level Media
