And with that, we are well into the grind of the 2026 season. To this point, the Cubs hadn’t yet lost three straight. But the combo of a battered pitching staff, their 11th game in 11 days, and their fourth straight game against elite opposition turned out to be just too much for the Cubs. As it turns out, two weeks ago, the Cubs hadn’t won three straight either. As it is, right now, the second longest winning streak of the year for the Cubs is two. And the third longest is one. So it’s been a weird distribution of wins and losses through the first 29 games of the season. Weird distribution or no, the team is 17-12. As we sit here today, 17-12 feels a little unsatisfying. This is true largely because the team had won 10 straight before this three-game losing streak.
To be fair, this game was quite a bit different than the two losses in Los Angeles. In those two games, the Dodgers offense pummeled them in one and the Dodgers pitching shut them out in the other. Those were lopsided losses. But this one was largely competitive throughout. The Cubs were down three early and four late. But, they scored seven runs between the second and ninth innings. So at minimum, it felt like they at least had a puncher’s chance.
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Ironically, this one started to feel hopeless as the bullpen withered yet again. It felt hopeless because Mason Miller had only pitched once over the last three days and was almost certainly available to throw. He hadn’t allowed a run since last August and had recently set a record for most consecutive scoreless innings as a Padre. A hit tip to Mason, reliever or no, that’s an impressive accomplishment. I also hate to see a streak like that stopped in part by what looked like a wildly blown call on a ball down the line. The Cubs managed to go on and score two runs, ending Miller’s streak and made the game go down to the last batter.
You’ll pardon me if I don’t lose sleep over the blown call in the ninth. In the fifth inning, Ben Brown pretty clearly appeared to have thrown strike three at a time when it would have ended the inning while the Cubs were still leading. They went on to allow two runs in the inning. More importantly, it had a ripple effect on how the Cub bullpen was utilized. Ben Brown had to face two extra hitters and then only threw two innings. He’d thrown more than two innings about 40 percent of the time previously. Had he been more efficient, maybe he goes back out for one more inning.
Lost in all of this was the first start of the season at catcher for young star Moisés Ballesteros. I won’t pretend to speak for him, but I’d bet that in a heartbeat he would trade his third inning grand slam for catching a shutout. To my eye, his catching was uneven. He had a passed ball and allowed two steals. I also thought that a couple of times his mechanics were “busy” and it looked like a couple of potential balls were called strikes based off of his receiving of the pitch and lack of framing. I’m reminded of Kyle Schwarber. An offense-first catcher who moved quickly through the system because of his elite bat. It can be tricky to get enough time to nurture the catching side. I suspect the same will happen here.
But that bat plays. He could be a great one.
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Three Positives:
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Ballesteros. Grand slam. He also scorched one off of a lefty reliever that unfortunately was stopped by the Padre shortstop.
Game 29, April 27: Padres 9, Cubs 7 (17-12)
THREE HEROES:
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Superhero: Moisés Ballesteros (.295). 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
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Sidekick: Seiya Suzuki (.090). 2-4, 2B, HR
THREE GOATS:
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Billy Goat: Matthew Boyd (-.266). 4 IP, 22 BF, 8 H, 2 BB, 5 ER, 4 K
WPA Play of the Game: Moisés Ballesteros hit a two-out grand slam in the third to give the Cubs a two-run lead. (.389)
*Padres Play of the Game: Nick Castellanos batted with runners on second and third with two outs, the Padres down one. He singled, driving in two. (.283)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 28 Winner: Michael Busch received 81 of 107 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
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Carson Kelly/Moisés Ballesteros +6
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Matt Shaw/Seiya Suzuki -7
Current Win Pace: 95
Up Next: At 8:40 p.m. CT, the Cubs battle the Padres again in San Diego. Edward Cabrera (2-0, 2.73, 29.2 IP) makes his sixth Cub start. Last time out, he allowed three earned runs over seven. 31-year-old righty Walker Buehler (1-2, 5.75, 20.1 IP) will make his sixth start as a Padre. Last time out he lost, allowing four runs in just 2.2 IP in Colorado.
Win a game. Go Cubs.
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