Jay Bruce Ends Cubs "Dream Week" in Cincinnati, 7-1

Alright, so I dreamed for a couple of days. I actually thought the Cubs might continue winning under new interim manager Mike Quade after sweeping the Washington Nationals. I was wrong, wrong and wrong again. The first-place Cincinnati Reds brought me down to earth by beating the Cubs 7-1.

Carrie Muskat has posted an article at the Cubs' website titled "Cubs unable to overcome Cincy's homers." The homers of which Muskat speaks were hit in large part by Jay Bruce who hit three of them and also hit a career-high five RBI's.

This loss dropped the Cubs to 3-11 against the Reds. They only have two more games against the team that was so hard on them this year.

I had high hopes going into the game because of the momentum that the Cubs seemed to pick up over the last three games against the Washington Nationals. Since taking over for the retiring Lou Piniella interim manager Mike Quade has been making all of the right moves and has obtained the faith of the Cubs' players.

I was concerned about the pitching matchup. Going for the Reds was Johnny Cueto, (12-4). Pitching for the Cubs was Tom Gorzelanny, (7-8). While their ERA numbers were close to the same Cueto had five more wins and three fewer losses.

Muskat's report includes an interesting piece of information about new interim manager Quade. He didn't want to discuss the possibility of running his winning streak further than it already was for fear of jinxing the team. There obviously was some concern that there was a great deal of difference in playing the Washington Nationals and the Cincinnati Reds.

Actually outside of the homers the Cubs played a pretty decent game. If it were much earlier in the season the game would just be chalked up to one where a batter got hot.

One thing cannot be denied. There was no offense. The Cubs scored one run. This has been haunting them all year. Occasionally a youthful mistake might show up like when Marlon Byrd called off Starlin Castro from a fly ball and Castro lazily moved away from it. That could have caused a collision. However that is just a matter of a lack of experience.

This game shook me back to reality. I think Quade is a good manager and I think the Cubs will improve this year and next, but not that much.

References:

Chicago CubsWebsite; Carrie Muskat; "Cubs unable to overcome Cincy's homers"

Personal Experience and Knowledge