CHICAGO -- The sun was out. The temperature hovered in the upper 70s. A light breeze rolled through Wrigley Field on one of Chicago’s most comfortable afternoons of the summer.
Then the game started.
For the Twins, almost nothing about Sunday’s 10-1 loss to the Cubs was nearly as pleasant.
Minnesota fell behind in the first inning, watched the game unravel in the third and spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to get through a result that had been decided long before the final out. A five-series winning streak ended not with a narrow loss or a late twist, but with the Twins being thoroughly outplayed in nearly every phase.
“We didn’t play good today,” manager Derek Shelton said. “They played good today.”
There was no need to complicate it further.
Zebby Matthews struggled to finish hitters. The defense gave away outs. The offense repeatedly had potential openings erased by Chicago’s infield. By the fourth inning, the Cubs had built a double-digit lead, and Minnesota’s primary concern had shifted from mounting a comeback to preserving enough pitching for its upcoming four-game series in Cleveland.
Matthews’ afternoon set the tone.
The right-hander consistently worked himself into favorable counts, but those advantages rarely translated into outs. According to Shelton, Matthews was even or ahead in the count against 21 of the 22 hitters he faced. The Cubs still produced nine hits, drew three walks and scored 10 runs -- eight earned -- in Matthews’ shortest start of the season.
“I worked ahead fine,” Matthews said. “Just the two-strike pitches, I either missed too far or left them over the plate, and they didn’t miss them.”
Chicago’s hitters refused to let Matthews escape quickly. They fouled off pitches, extended at-bats and waited for something they could handle. When Matthews tried to expand the zone, they stayed disciplined. When he came back over the plate, they attacked.
Alex Bregman’s first-inning homer came on a 2-2 slider Matthews left up. It was the beginning of an afternoon in which the Cubs repeatedly turned two-strike counts into damage.
“They make you work, they make you earn it,” Matthews said. “They make you come to the middle and force mistakes, and that’s what they did today.”
The game moved from troublesome to lopsided in the third.
With the bases loaded, Nico Hoerner lined a sinking ball toward Luke Keaschall in center field. Keaschall initially charged, then tried to slow down as the ball died in front of him. He got caught between attempting the catch and keeping the ball in front of him.
He did neither.
The ball skipped past Keaschall and rolled toward the wall as all three runners scored. Hoerner reached third, and the Cubs’ lead grew to 6-0.
“I wanted to catch it,” Keaschall said. “I got a good read on it, but then it started to die a little bit. I tried to let up, got caught in between and just tried to get my body in front of it. It bounced to my left and got by me.”
It was an ugly play, but Shelton did not view it as evidence that Minnesota’s recent defensive movement had become a larger issue. Keaschall is still learning center field, while several Twins have moved around the diamond as the club carries three catchers and tries to maximize its lineup.
“There are going to be some growing pains with Keaschall,” Shelton said. “He’s played well. Today, he misread a ball that was right at him, but other than that, I don’t think it’s affected us very much.”
The Twins’ offense offered little response.
Shota Imanaga worked seven scoreless innings by avoiding the middle of the plate and relying on Chicago’s defense behind him.
“It seemed like every time we had an opportunity, we hit a ball either right at somebody or they made a great play,” Shelton said.
Travis Adams provided the afternoon’s most practical contribution, covering three innings after Matthews departed. His work did not change the game, but it allowed Shelton to avoid using a position player on the mound and protected the rest of the bullpen before Cleveland.
In a loss this decisive, that mattered.
“The fact that he gave us length, I think that saved us,” Shelton said.
Sunday did not erase what preceded it. The Twins are still 9-6 over their past 15 games and had won five consecutive series before this weekend’s finale.
But it offered no hidden positives, either.
It was simply a bad game -- one that became noncompetitive early, remained that way and now must be left behind before four division games.
“This game got out of hand early and stayed out of hand,” Shelton said. “We’ve just got to flush it and move on to the next series.”