Reds 8, Cubs 4: The same sad old song

Before I get to the gist of recapping the Cubs’ 8-4 loss to the Reds Thursday in Cincinnati, I want to highlight one specific event.

The Cubs are trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh. There are two out and one Reds runner on first base. Tyler Stephenson is batting.

Here’s what happened:

I’m sorry, plate umpire Adrian Johnson, pitch 4 is not a ball. That’s strike three! It’s not even a close call, that ball is well within the zone. The inning should have been over.

Instead, Porter Hodge lost it, walked Stephenson, then issued two more walks to force in a run. Kyle Hendricks relieved Hodge and served up a two-run single and that, as they say, was that.

Now, do the Cubs come back from that 5-4 deficit to win? Maybe not, but it would have been an easier task to mount a comeback down one run than down four.

This sort of thing would be so easy to fix with the ball-and-strike challenge system currently being used in Triple-A. There is NO reason it couldn’t be brought to MLB right now. Or at the least, at the beginning of the 2025 season.

All right, now let’s go back to the beginning of this game, in which the Cubs blew two leads.

The Cubs had a chance to score some runs in the first inning. Seiya Suzuki doubled with one out and one out later Christopher Morel walked.

Ian Happ, who loves to hit at GABP, then ripped this line drive [VIDEO].

Credit to Spencer Steer for a fine catch there — that could have scored two runs.

The Cubs did score two in the third. Miguel Amaya singled and one out later, Suzuki launched one into the second deck at GABP [VIDEO].

The 2-0 lead did not last long. In the bottom of the third, Will Benson singled and TJ Friedl walked.

Elly De La Cruz then smashed a three-run homer, and look at the pitch he hit:

Look at the location of that pitch, low in the zone and in. That’s a great pitcher’s pitch! It’s almost impossible to hit a pitch like that, but not only did De La Cruz hit it, he hit it 114.7 miles per hour! Tip o’ the cap there, Javier Assad made his pitch and it got smashed anyway.

The Cubs took the lead back in the top of the sixth. Cody Bellinger led off with a double and Morel smacked his 12th homer of the season [VIDEO].

That lead did not last long. The Reds tied the game on an RBI single by Jonathan India off Assad in the bottom of the sixth and then Craig Counsell called on Luke Little, who gave up an RBI double to Friedl that gave the Reds the lead.

Then came the disastrous seventh inning noted above, with all the walks and the horrific call by Adrian Johnson, leading to three Cincinnati runs.

At 8-4 the game was basically over, the Cubs went down quietly in the eighth and ninth, the only baserunner a leadoff walk by Nico Hoerner in the ninth.

This was, of course, disappointing, especially since it was affected by the ump show. I’ll just repeat again: Bring the ball-and-strike challenge system to MLB, Rob Manfred. Now. The Stephenson at-bat in the seventh is a perfect example of where it could have been used.

I’ve been joking around about this much of this year but at this point I think the Cubs should just retire the blue jerseys for the rest of 2024:

Blue alternate: 1-10
Road gray: 12-9

Seriously, I know the jersey doesn’t affect performance but just for superstition’s sake maybe the Cubs should probably stop wearing them for road games.

The four-game set in Cincinnati continues Friday evening. Justin Steele will start for the Cubs and Nick Lodolo gets the call for the Reds. Game time is 6:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.