Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (5/24/26): Astros 8, Cubs 5 – Collapse Continues as Losing Streak Reaches 8
The Cubs continued crashing down to earth on Sunday afternoon against the Astros. They squandered an early lead and never recovered, suffering an eighth consecutive loss and completing a winless homestand.
Houston went in front on a solo home run by Jake Meyers in the top of the 2nd inning, and it would not be the last dinger allowed by starter Shōta Imanaga. Chicago responded with three runs off Peter Lambert in the bottom of the frame, beginning with an RBI double by Pedro Ramírez for his first MLB hit. Pete Crow-Armstrong added a sacrifice fly and Nico Hoerner singled to give the home side a 3-1 advantage.
Light-hitting infielder Nick Allen cut the deficit down to 3-2 with a solo shot in the 3rd inning, but the real damage was done in the top of the 5th. Shortstop Jeremy Pena had an RBI single that brought home a pair and gave the ‘Stros a 4-3 edge. Christian Walker then pounded a three-run homer to make it a 7-3 advantage.
The North Siders got closer when Michael Busch whacked a two-run homer off of AJ Blubaugh in the bottom of the 7th to make it 7-5. That would be it, however, as Houston added one more in the top of the 9th. (Box score)
Key Moment
The Cubs had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 2nd with a chance to break the game wide open. Michael Conforto struck out to strand the runners and keep the score 3-1.
Why the Cubs Lost
It was another bad starting pitching effort with way too many home runs, which has been the norm the past two weeks.
Stats That Matter
- This is a bad time for Imanaga to go into a slump: 6 IP, 7 R, 7 H, 6 K, and 1 BB.
- PCA got on base three times via the walk.
- Busch made hard contact all day.
Bottom Line
Tremendous stress from the plague of injuries to the pitching rotation has finally overwhelmed the Cubs. Their starting pitchers have an ERA greater than 6.00 over the last two weeks and the rest of the team is collapsing with them. There is no solution on the current roster to address this problem, so the only answer is that everyone has to start playing better. The next month is going to be a real grind, and I’m not sure they can survive it.
On Deck
The Cubs begin a four-game series in Pittsburgh with a Memorial Day matinee at PNC Park on Monday at 12:35pm CT. Ben Brown takes the hill against Carmen Mlodzinski in a matchup airing on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.
