Win by 20, then lose by 16? Cubs learn it had never been done before

CHICAGO -- File what took place Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field under the unpredictable nature of baseball.

The Cubs have been one of the game’s hottest teams with a lineup that has been churning out runs at a high rate for several weeks. That all went out the window against the rival Cardinals, who dealt the North Siders a lopsided 17-1 loss in the opener of a three-game series.

St. Louis jumped on Cubs lefty David Peterson in his second start with the team, and Chicago’s offense went quiet on the heels of a 23-3 win over the Padres in their last game on Wednesday. This marks the first time in MLB history that a team won a game by 20 or more runs and then lost its next game by at least 10 runs, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

Here were three key elements within Friday’s loss:

1. Tough day for Peterson

The Cubs acquired Peterson from the Mets not only due to the dire need for rotation help, but as a potential bounceback candidate after a rough start to his season. And in his Cubs debut last weekend, the veteran lefty looked the part as he worked into the sixth against the rival Brewers.

In his Wrigley Field debut, Peterson slipped back into some of the issues that led to the end of his tenure with the Mets.

“Obviously, it was a rough day,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “The one thing, we’ve got to get the ball on the ground more. … And that’s something that David kind of excels at, he’s been good at it. Over 50% in his career. That’s a pretty big difference.”

While Peterson was missing bats at a decent clip (nine whiffs in his 3 2/3 innings, per Statcast), St. Louis was making hard contact off the lefty. The Cardinals had seven balls in play with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph off Peterson and another four that clocked in above 95 mph. Peterson also issued three walks beyond surrendering nine hits.

Peterson also struggled to finish off St. Louis with two outs. In the second inning, he allowed three straight hits – capped off by a three-run homer by Nathan Church – after retiring the first two batters. Two of St. Louis’ three runs in the third came with two outs, and Peterson yielded a two-out, two-run single to Alec Burleson after walking the bases full in the fourth.

“I wasn’t really able to get those ground balls today,” Peterson said. “Part of it is there were probably some pitches that I left a little too much up in the zone. They put some good at-bats together and some good swings on some balls.”

2. New month, same PCA

Prior to Friday’s game, Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was unsurprisingly named the National League’s Player of the Month for June. After Crow-Armstrong put up some historic numbers last month, he was honored to earn the recognition.

“I had a good month. It's cool,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But it doesn't really have anything to do with moving forward here and what's to come this year. It's nice to be recognized next to [Rays slugger] Junior [Caminero], because I'm a big fan of his game. There's a lot of good players in this league, and in the National League, specifically.

“I'm proud of a lot of the games and the moments that kind of went down this month. I'm just really proud of the way we've been playing the last couple weeks.”

In Friday’s loss, Crow-Armstrong collected his 14th double of the season and finished 1-for-3. That came after he began his July with a 2-for-4 showing that included a homer in Wednesday’s rout of the Padres.

3. Offense cools off

The Cubs’ lineup had been firing on all cylinders over the past three weeks, posting some – frankly – unsustainable numbers.

Entering Friday’s game, the North Siders had averaged 7.4 runs per game over their last 19 contests, going 15-4 in that span. In that span, the Cubs posted a +65 run differential, which was boosted by Wednesday’s 23-run flurry. During that same time period, Chicago had a .367 on-base percentage to go with a .504 slugging percentage (.871 OPS).

Beyond Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki have been offensive catalysts during these past three weeks. Against Cardinals righty Andre Pallante, Chicago’s lineup cooled off. Most notably, the Cubs went 0-for-8 with runners on base during Pallante’s 5 2/3 innings on the mound.