CHICAGO -- The way Cubs manager Joe Maddon saw things on Wednesday night, the latest lapse from his team should not fall solely on the shoulders of Yu Darvish.

Following a 5-3 loss to the Braves, Maddon began his postgame commentary with a breakdown of Darvish's day, but it was clear that the surplus of baserunners and the lack of runs is what really perturbed him. Maddon swiftly switched gears and launched into a criticism of his offense -- as far as the deft manager will go in that direction with his remarks -- given that the inability to manufacture runs is a troubling trend.

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"I just can't lay it on him," Maddon said of Darvish. "We need to do better. We're getting guys out there. Like we've been talking about: We've got to score some runs. You've go to win a game 6-5 once in a while, too, and then the onus goes away. So, we've got to get better at that."

This is where it should be noted that Darvish has allowed at least five runs in four of his 17 outings this year and the Cubs have scored at least five in 11 of those games. Against the Braves, four of the runs relinquished by the right-hander in his five innings came courtesy of home runs. Brian McCann belted a solo shot in the second and Nick Markakis drilled a three-run blast in the third.

That put the Cubs in a 5-0 hole, which proved too much against Dallas Keuchel and the Braves’ bullpen.

"It was just all about the homers -- that's it," said Darvish, who saw his streak of 10 consecutive no-decisions come to an end with a loss. "That hurt me a lot and the team. That's what it was all about today."

Should five runs have been too much to overcome in this one? That was what seemed to be on Maddon's mind in the wake of Chicago's 10th loss in 16 games. Remarkably, the Cubs have actually gained ground in the standings during that 16-game stretch, going from a half-game out of first to a full game ahead. That right there is a missed opportunity on a grander scale.

Within many of those defeats this month, diminished production with situational hitting has been an unfortunate theme for the Cubs.

On Wednesday, Chicago finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-12 (with two of those hits erased via double plays) with runners on base. The Cubs' lone runs came via solo home runs from All-Star finalists Willson Contreras and Kris Bryant and a groundout by Jason Heyward. The North Siders had more hits (10 to seven), more walks (four to two) and fewer strikeouts (five to 10) than Atlanta, but could not make the most of it.

"Point at whatever you want to point at," Heyward said. "We're working at it."

From Day 1 of Spring Training, Maddon and his hitting coaches preached an up-the-middle and opposite-field mindset. There were morning drills designed specifically with "opportunity hitting" in mind. Maddon -- adopting a more hands-on approach -- was often the one dropping baseballs into a machine, calling out various situations for his hitters to react to in the moment.

All those hours of work paid off at the start of the season, too. Over the first month, the Cubs posted an .844 OPS and 116 wRC+ with runners in scoring position. Chicago then had a .736 OPS and 82 wRC+ with RISP in May and a .787 OPS and 97 wRC+ with RISP in June, entering Wednesday's game.

The Cubs headed into Wednesday with a 100 wRC+ with RISP, which indicates that the team has been average in that regard. The heavy offensive lifting of the season’s first six weeks, however, is giving that figure a boost. Chicago is in the middle of the pack in most RISP statistics, but ranked 14th in average (.244) and first in walk rate (13.9 percent), entering Wednesday.

One underlying trend has been an increase in ground-ball rate each month (42.9 percent in March/April, 45.9 percent in May and 49.2 percent in June). On Wednesday, the Cubs had three groundouts, including one double play, and two strikeouts with RISP.

"You see where we're getting in trouble is those rollover ground balls in those moments," Maddon said. "Keuchel, that's how he lives. Of course, we're prepared to not do that, but it's easier said than done. I know I sound like a broken record. We need to get better at this -- period."