The Cubs split the four game series with Philadelphia, a series one would have expected them to sweep or at least win three of the four games. After winning the double-header on Friday, the Cubs lost the next two, thanks largely to bullpen meltdowns. There were also some questionable managerial decisions involved as well. Clayton Richard pitched pretty well for three innings, got in trouble in his fourth inning, eventually throwing a wild pitch to allow the lead run to score. Watching the replay, although the ball was in the dirt, it is a ball that Montero has to block.
A sloppy play by Rizzo opened the door Saturday night as well. Still, Maddon has shown a lot of confidence in Justin Grimm even though lately there seems precious little reason to do so. Grimm has an ERA over 10 in his last seven appearances and his numbers have been going south for the past month.
There is little doubt the bullpen is the team's Achilles heel right now. Although they have a bunch of guys out there, it is pretty clear the only guy who pitches with any confidence is Rondon, and probably the only guys who can be counted on in a pinch more often than not are Rondon and Strop, maybe Wood and Richard and Cahill with the right match-ups.
Anything less than a split in the Pittsburgh series is going to put the team's wild card position in some jeopardy coming into the Cardinals series. They have an off-day to regroup, but that double-header Tuesday could be a big problem. They can pretty well count on getting seven innings from Lester and the same from Arrieta on Wednesday, but Hammel, of course, is pretty iffy.
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