Cubs' rotation issues continue to bubble as losing streak stretches to 8

CHICAGO -- When the Cubs enjoyed a long string of wins that piled up in late April and continued into early May, consistent performance and length from the rotation was a key to the ballclub’s formula. The lineup’s recent lull has garnered the most attention, but the starting staff has also slipped.

It happened again on Sunday, when Shota Imanaga struggled for the second straight outing en route to an 8-5 loss to the Astros at Wrigley Field. The lefty surrendered seven runs, helping Houston pull off a three-game sweep and handing the struggling North Siders an eighth consecutive defeat.

“My teammates made really nice plays,” Imanaga said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. “However, I wasn’t able to help win the game. Next time, my teammates are going to continue making fantastic plays and I hope that I can help the team win.”

A frustrating component to this latest loss for the Cubs was that the lineup finally showed some sparks of life after scoring seven runs total in the previous five games.

In the lineup for the first time as a Major Leaguer, rookie Pedro Ramírez helped ignite a three-run second with an RBI double that marked his first hit. Michael Busch later launched a two-run homer in the seventh. It was the type of day the lineup had been searching for this entire homestand.

The Cubs are now 2-12 over their past 14 games and have dropped eight games in a row for the first time since a nine-game skid from July 7-16, 2022, when the team was in the midst of a two-year rebuild. Chicago just went 0-6 at home this week against the Brewers and Astros, representing the first winless homestand of at least six games since Sept. 21-26, 2021.

And that comes right after the Cubs had a 15-game winning streak at home -- the second-longest run in the history of Wrigley Field.

“We’re just not playing good baseball,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “The last seven or eight games -- I don’t know how long it’s been -- but we’re not playing good baseball in all phases. We need to get better and we need to prepare and execute better.”

When the Cubs took a 3-1 lead in the second inning, it marked the first lead the ballclub held during the entire six-game homestand. Imanaga could not capitalize.

After holding a 2.32 ERA after his outing on May 13, Imanaga has seen that number climb to 4.04 in a matter of two starts. He gave up eight runs last time out against the rival Brewers and then seven in Sunday’s six-inning effort against the Astros. Jake Meyers (solo shot in the second), Nick Allen (solo shot in the third) and Christian Walker (three-run homer in the fifth) did the bulk of the damage.

“Right now,” Imanaga said, “they’re getting into hitter’s counts and they’re putting good swings on locations that they can hit the ball well. I need to improve upon that. Next outing, even if they do put a good swing on it, try to induce ground balls.”

In the 14 games since the Cubs had the second of two 10-game winning streaks, the rotation has turned in a bloated 6.94 ERA with an 0-11 ledger. The 19 home runs given up by Chicago’s starters in that span are the most in the Majors. That is a drastic downturn from the previous 25 games, in which the starters went 11-3 with a 4.24 ERA to help the Cubs to a 21-4 run.

“Look, on the pitching side, we’ve got to prevent homers better,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “If you give up the number of homers we’re giving up, that’s a problem. … It’s tough to win games when we’re giving up the number of homers we’re giving up.”

Some of the rotation issues are circumstantial.

Lefty Matthew Boyd landed on the injured list earlier this month due to a left knee injury, which required surgery on May 7. Righty Edward Cabrera was trying to pitch through a blister on his right middle finger -- ultimately landing him on the IL on Sunday. Those setbacks coincided with some inconsistent results from Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea and Imanaga.

“Look, the injuries to the pitching side, it’s going to be part of the season,” Counsell said. “We’ve got to withstand that. We have withstood some other stretches, but we’re certainly in a stretch now that we’ve got to withstand. We’ve got two guys coming back in probably two-ish weeks, three-ish weeks.

“And certainly some guys are going to have opportunities in the meantime. We’re going to have to do a good job in those opportunities.”