WALK- OFF WOES
DOWN TURN PERSISTS AS WARREN SERVES UP HR IN NINTH
ST. LOUIS — Is it time to worry yet?
‘‘‘ Worry,’ I think, is a strong word,’’ right- hander John Lackey said after the Cubs lost again Monday, this time 4- 3 to the Cardinals on Randal Grichuk’swalk-off home run with two outs in the ninth inning.
How about ‘‘ concern,’’ ‘‘ consternation,’’ ‘‘ unease’’ or ‘‘ frustration’’?
‘‘ Yeah, it is frustrating a little bit,’’ second baseman Ben Zobrist said after the Cubs’ third consecutive loss and sixth in eight games.
It was the Cubs’ eighth loss in 12 games after they had built an 8 ½ - game lead in the National League Central barely a month into the season.
‘‘ It’s still so early,’’ said Zobrist, whose three hits included a leadoff single in the fourth that led to the Cubs’ first run. ‘‘ We weren’t thinking too high of ourselves. We know it’s a long season. We just haven’t had the results the last week and a half, two weeks.’’
Whatever the mood on social media, the frustration in the clubhouse is limited to a struggling lineup that has produced only 16 runs in the eight losses in the last two weeks, including two 1- 0 defeats.
The Cubs’ starting rotation still leads the majors in ERA, and Lackey was on his way to his most dominant start of the season until pinch hitter Matt Adams hit a two- run homer with two outs in the seventh to tie the score 3- 3.
‘‘ It looked pretty good, didn’t it, for a while?’’ Lackey said.
And then the Cardinals did what they did to the Cubs for much of the first half of last season.
It’s not as though the Cardinals were going to fade away just because the Cubs beat them in a series last month or because the Pirates have handled them early, Lackey said.
‘‘ It’s a long season, man,’’ he said. ‘‘ They’re a good team; they’ll be fine. We’ve got to worry about ourselves, man. If we play our game, we’ll be OK. But we need to play better, 100 percent.’’
After dropping series to the Brewers and Giants, the Cubs are in danger of losing three consecutive series for the first time in more than a year ( May 1- 10, 2015).
‘‘ We’ve just been scuffling offensively, and there’s nothing you can do besides just work your way out of it and keep swinging,’’ said Zobrist, whose 41- for- 106 spree (. 387) in his last 30 games defies the fact he will turn 35 on Thursday.
‘‘ It’s probably the best [ stretch] I’ve ever had,’’ he said.
But it hasn’t been enough for a struggling lineup that only saw the road get tougher with outfielder Jason Heyward ( bruised torso) out of the No. 2 spot for the last three games.
‘‘ He’s a big part of our lineup, so obviously we’d like to have him in there,’’ Zobrist said. ‘‘ But we want him to be healthy, too. Hopefully he can get in there soon and be back to our old selves.’’
Meanwhile, manager Joe Maddon doesn’t seem concerned.
‘‘ Right now, we’re playing a good game of baseball in all areas,” Maddon said. ‘‘ We’re just not getting the hit when we need it, which I know we will.
‘‘ There’s a lot to be encouraged by. I’m not discouraged by anything because we’re still playing good baseball.’’