CHICAGO — The Cubs led 3-1 after two innings Sunday afternoon. Pedro Ramirez had just doubled for the first hit of his major league career. Pete Crow-Armstrong had just driven in a run. Nico Hoerner had just singled home another. Wrigley Field was loud, the offense was finally doing something, and Shota Imanaga was on the mound. Everything was pointing toward the Cubs avoiding the sweep.
Then Jake Meyers homered in the third. Nick Allen homered in the third. And in the fifth, with Houston down 3-2 and Imanaga still on the mound, Jeremy Peña singled to center with the bases loaded to put the Astros ahead. Two batters later, Christian Walker hit a three-run shot 426 feet to left-center and that was the game.
Houston beat Chicago 8-5 on Sunday at Wrigley Field to complete a three-game sweep — the Astros' first at Wrigley since 2011. The Cubs have now lost eight straight, their longest skid since a nine-game slide in 2022. They've lost 12 of their last 14. Six of those losses have come at Wrigley Field, where they had won 15 in a row.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| CHC | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Imanaga Runs Out of Answers
Shota Imanaga entered this start with a 3.38 ERA, one of the best numbers in the National League. He left with a 4.04 and his third consecutive loss.
He gave up three home runs on Sunday — Meyers in the second, Allen in the third, Walker in the fifth — and seven runs in six innings. His game score was 35. Through three innings, the only Astros baserunners against him were from the two he hit and the two who homered. He wasn't getting beat by weak contact. He was giving up mistake pitches and the Astros were punishing them.
The fifth inning is where it unraveled. Dezenzo reached. Smith reached. Peña lined a two-run single to center to put Houston ahead 4-3. Then Walker stepped in. He's been the most dangerous bat in this series and he proved it one more time, sending a pitch 426 feet to left-center for his 14th home run of the season. Seven runs for Imanaga. Four runs against this pitching staff, with this offense, felt like forty.
He's now dropped three starts in a row after not losing consecutive decisions since last June. The rotation behind him is hollowed out — Cade Horton done for the year, Justin Steele still on the extended IL, Matthew Boyd twice to the IL this season, Edward Cabrera dealing with a finger blister. Imanaga has been holding this thing together. He needs others behind him, and right now there aren't any.
The Ramirez Moment
For three innings on Sunday, the Cubs had a reason to feel good about something.
Pedro Ramirez made his first career start at second base — he'd been in the organization for two years and joined the active roster just the day before — and in the second inning, he doubled to right field off Peter Lambert. First career hit. First career RBI. He's 22 years old.
Crow-Armstrong followed with a sacrifice fly. Hoerner added an RBI single. Three runs, a 3-1 lead, and a crowd that was suddenly engaged. It was the first time in this series the Cubs had jumped out front.
Lambert escaped with the bases loaded in the second by striking out Michael Conforto, which held the damage at three. He walked four batters total and hit Bregman with a pitch. He was wildly inefficient and the Cubs couldn't finish him off — and when that happens, you're giving a team like Houston the chance to respond.
Houston answered in the third. They answered harder in the fifth.
Walker Owns This Series
In three games at Wrigley, Christian Walker went 6-for-11 with three home runs and six RBI. He homered twice on Saturday, once on Sunday. He's 35 years old and playing like the most reliable bat in this lineup. Yordan Alvarez didn't play Sunday after leaving Saturday's game in San Francisco with back spasms — manager Joe Espada said there are no lingering effects — and the Astros swept anyway, mostly because Walker didn't need any help.
Michael Busch answered with a two-run homer off AJ Blubaugh in the seventh to make it briefly interesting at 7-5. Nick Allen added a bloop RBI single in the ninth to restore the four-run margin. Nate Pearson handled the ninth for his first save as an Astro and the fourth of his career.
Six Games at Wrigley, Six Losses
"It's only May," Ian Happ said after the game.
"It's May," Craig Counsell confirmed.
The Cubs would like you to believe that framing covers what has happened over the last three weeks. They came into this homestand having already lost series to the White Sox, the Braves, and the Rangers. They went 0-6 against Milwaukee and Houston at Wrigley — two teams currently a combined 53-51 on the season. They scored two runs in the first two games against the Astros and five in the finale, none of it enough.
Eight straight losses. Twelve of fourteen. A team that looked like a division contender for the first month of the season now sitting 2.5 games behind Milwaukee with a rotation that can't stay healthy and an offense that has gone silent at the worst possible time.
It's May. But May is almost over.
Pitching Lines
Pitcher Stats
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambert (W, 3-4) | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Blubaugh | 2.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Abreu (H, 4) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pearson (S, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Imanaga (L, 4-5) | 6.0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Roberts | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Maton | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thielbar | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
What's Next
The Cubs open a seven-game road trip Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh. Ben Brown (1-2, 2.09 ERA) starts for Chicago opposite Carmen Mlodzinski (4-3, 3.96 ERA) for the Pirates. First pitch is 12:35 p.m. CT.