Game Recap: Cassie debuts, but Cubs drop close one to Blue Jays

John Sokolowski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 3 hours ago

TORONTO - Good pitching will always beat good hitting, and the Chicago Cubs (68-52) got great pitching against the Toronto Blue Jays (71-51). Unfortunately for them, it doesn't matter how good their pitching is right now, as the Cubs' offense continues to struggle, wasting countless opportunities to drive home runs and leaving potential wins on the board.

Today was another prime example of that as Matthew Boyd gave the Cubs seven impressive innings against one of the game's best offenses as he went toe to toe with Max Scherzer. This game ultimately came down to one pitch as Boyd made one mistake against Vladimir Guerrero Jr, and he made the left-hander pay for it as his two-run shot was the difference in the Blue Jays' 2-1 win in front of another packed Rogers Center crowd.

Boyd has now dropped three of his last four starts, although the past two starts haven't been his fault, as the Cubs scored a grand total of one run in those games. Boyd walked one and struck out five through seven innings, allowing just one hit, as his ERA is now sitting at 2.46 for the season.

When it comes to Scherzer, the 41-year-old right-hander is without question a future Hall of Famer and, despite his injuries earlier in the season, is starting to round back into form. Even with an ERA above 3.8, Scherzer has been pitching much better as of late, and with seven innings of one-run, five-hit ball, his success against the Cubs continued, as this is one team against which he has had a ton of success.

Neither team was able to put a runner on base in the first two innings. However, Owen Caissie did come close to picking up his first MLB hit in the second inning, only to have Davis Schneider come away with an incredible catch. It took three innings for either team to get a baserunner on, as the Dansby Swanson double was the first hit of the game for either team and set the Cubs offense up.

As has been the case for a while now, the Cubs failed to drive Swanson home as Matt Shaw and Michael Busch struck out on consecutive at-bats, leaving things tied 0-0. Like the Cubs in their half of the third, it was the Blue Jays picking up their first of two hits off Boyd in the bottom of the inning as the one-out Tyler Heineman single put a runner on base, only to have a double play ball end the threat.

Had it not been for a fourth inning Carson Kelly walk, that Heineman single would've been the final base runner until the sixth when the Cubs offense finally broke through against Scherzer. Once again, it was Busch coming through in a big spot as the left-hander connected for his second homer in as many games to make this a 1-0 game. Busch was the offense for the Cubs in this one, as he combined for four of the team's six RBIs in this series, as the Cubs' offensive woes continue.

His homer was followed by an Ian Happ double, but lo and behold, it was the Cubs wasting an opportunity to add on as Scherzer retired the next two hitters to escape further damage. It was in this moment that you had to wonder if that wasted scoring chance was going to come back to haunt the Cubs, but holding their 1-0 lead into the seventh, Chicago continued to dodge a bullet.

That was until a leadoff walk to Schneider to begin the seventh had the Blue Jays threatening as he would advance to second on a sacrifice bunt to become the Blue Jays' first runner in scoring position in the game. Not only that, but he was the only runner that would reach scoring position, and it didn't matter with Guerrero answering that bunt with a two-run blast to center, and suddenly it was the Blue Jays in front 2-1, and the bullpen set to enter the game.

Talk about a complete gut punch to a pitcher that dominated the Blue Jays' lineup all game long, but this has been the story of the second half for the Cubs. With the lead for the first time and Scherzer now out of the game, for the Cubs to battle back and win this game, they were going to have to do so against the back of the Blue Jays pen, starting with Brendon Little, who replaced Scherzer after allowing a leadoff double to Shaw to begin the eighth.

Little proceeded to walk Seiya Suzuki to put two runners on, only to have a wild pitch move both runners up as the Cubs had a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs and the heart of their order coming up. Had this been the situation early in the season, you could almost guarantee the Cubs would come through, but those days are long as Little and Seranthony Dominguez battled back to strike out the next three hitters to keep the Blue Jays on top 2-1.

It's those types of missed opportunities that are killing this team right now, as the Cubs managed to get one more base runner the rest of the way before dropping another series 2-1. With the loss, Chicago is not only a season-high eight games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, but they are in danger of moving into a tie for the top Wild Card spot, although they do have the tie-breaker over both the Dodgers and Padres.

Time is running out for this team to turn it on and things are starting to leak bleak as this offense is nowhere to be found. Leading the way for the Cubs was Nico Hoerner, who picked up two of the team's six hits. Busch, Swanson, Willi Castro, and Shaw had the rest of the hits in what was another ugly game.