ATLANTA — It looked as if the Cubs had escaped the eighth inning still clinging to a narrow lead over the Braves. Right fielder Seiya Suzuki was set up under Sean Murphy’s fly ball with two outs, waving off center fielder Cody Bellinger.
Then at the last second, the ball disappeared in the lights, and fell to the grass as Suzuki stabbed after it. The tying and go-ahead runs scored.
“That did contribute to that play happening,” Suzuki said through interpreter Toy Matsushita when asked if he lost the ball in the lights. “But ever since I was playing in Japan, you do have to take that into consideration whenever you go out there and right field. So, if I do say that, then that’s an excuse. So I’m not going to say that.”
The Cubs’ 7-6 loss could be picked apart in plenty of other moments. But that error by Suzuki was the ultimate turning point. With the Cubs’ loss, the Brewers clinched the NL Central, and the Cubs dropped a game behind the Diamondbacks in the battle for the second National League wild-card spot. It cut their lead over the Marlins in the race for the third — and final — spot to a half-game.
“Seiya has been carrying us for over a month and a half offensively,” Ross said. “He’s put us on his back. A lot of guys have been scuffling, and he’s been the guy who’s swinging the bat the best. So we’re not going to highlight one mistake.”
Suzuki has been one of the hottest hitters not just on the team, but in all of baseball for a little over a month. He entered Tuesday with the highest OPS (1.110) in the National League since Aug. 18. And against the Braves, his 2-for-5 night included a two-run triple.
“I’m happy for those comments,” Suzuki said of the support he received from Ross and his teammates. “But obviously these games are really, really important for us. And the fact that we dropped it is obviously not the best result that we want right now at this point in the season.”
In such a tight Wild Card race, on paper, the Cubs have the toughest schedule to end the season. They have two more games against the Braves before finishing in Milwaukee. They likely have to take at least one game in Atlanta to stay competitive. And with Justin Steele, the ace of their pitching staff, on the mound Tuesday, they gave themselves a shot.
Steele kept the Braves’ offense quiet through five innings giving the Cubs hitters time to build a 6-0 lead. He was charged with three runs in 5⅓ innings.
His night included six straight strikeouts before Ross started noticing signs that he was “running out of gas” in the sixth, from mechanics, to the shape of his slider, to deep counts.
Kevin Pillar led off the sixth inning with the Braves’ MLB-leading 300th homer of the season – such a potent offense was bound to homer at least once in the game. Then with one out, Steele gave up a double, issued a walk, and surrendered an RBI single.
“Those situations are always tough because the competitor in me wants to stay out there,” Steele said. “But you also have to put trust in the staff, knowing what situations are coming about, who’s coming up in the order, what we have down in the bullpen, the matchups.”
Side-armer José Cuas gave up an RBI double to Marcell Ozuna right away but got out of the inning with a three-run lead intact.
Right-hander Javier Assad gave up a two-run homer to Ronald Acuña Jr., and the crowd broke into “M-V-P” chants as the Braves pulled to within one run of the Cubs.
Lefty Drew Smyly took over in the eighth and appeared to get out of the inning when Suzuki missed the would-be final out.
“It happens to every single one of us,” Smyly said. “We’ve all made errors. All we can do is turn the page and come back tomorrow.”