Game Recap: Assad returns, but Cubs' bats go silent in loss to Blue Jays

Nick Truchiaro - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 7 hours ago

TORONTO - As frustrating as it was for the Chicago Cubs (67-51) to come through the trade deadline without a starter, there was some outside hope within the organization as internal help was on the way. That help is in the form of Javier Assad and Jameson Taillon, as both right-handers have been rehabbing from injuries.

Should either one of those guys round back into form, it essentially becomes two deadline additions without having to give up pieces, and that was the hope all along for this organization. The first of those guys to return was Assad, who was reinstated from the 60-day IL on Tuesday to open the Cubs' three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays (70-50) at the Rogers Centre.

Toronto, much like Milwaukee, has been one of the hottest teams in the game, and that alone is a big reason why they have not only been able to take over the AL East lead but have raced out to have the best record in the American League. As good as Assad can be at times, this wasn't a great matchup for him as the Blue Jays entered the game with the best offense in the game recently and are one of those teams that don't strike out much.

Pair that with the Cubs' inability to score runs, and sometimes all it takes is one mistake to determine the outcome of a game, and that was the case here as an Ernie Clement three-run shot would be all the offense the Blue Jays would need as they took down the Cubs 5-1 on Tuesday. Expected to be on a pitch count, Assad reached his pitch count in only four innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out two.

If there were a positive to take away from this game it would be another great outing from Ben Brown who took over for Assad in the fifth and proceeded to throw four great innings, allowing just one run off an eighth inning solo homer as he continues to impress since returning from AAA. Facing off against Assad and the Cubs was Jose Berrios, who has been their stopper at home this season.

Berrios was far from perfect, going six innings and striking out three, but with only two hits allowed and no runs, he did his part on the mound while the offense took care of the rest. Everyone knew the problems this lineup could possess for Assad, and you saw some of those problems right from the jump as the Blue Jays tried to single him to death in the first with Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr picking up a pair of one-out singles to set the offense up.

Following a huge strikeout for the second out of the inning, Alejandro Kirk delivered the third hit of the inning as his single put Toronto on top for good, 1-0. Ty France would lead off the bottom of the second with a double before being thrown out by Ian Happ, trying to score on an Andres Jimenez single, as the Cubs dodged a huge bullet to remain within striking distance, 1-0.

After throwing just 23 pitches in his first two innings, Berrios started to run into some third inning trouble, and that was mainly in the at-bats of Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw, who saw a total of 20 pitches. Swanson wound up picking up an infield hit on his final pitch with Shaw working a walk as the Cubs had two runners on with no outs.

In what was a case of deja vu, the Cubs failed to deliver the big hit, but with Kyle Tucker working a walk to keep things alive, all wasn't lost until Carson Kelly was called out on strike three to strand the bases loaded. It was in that moment when you felt the Cubs were going to lose this game, as this team is having a hard enough time trying to score, that wasting opportunities like that aren't going to help.

Apart from his shaky first inning of work, Assad began to settle in, but you could see him start to hit the wall in the fourth as the Daulton Varsho single to begin the inning was only the start, as Assad would hit France shortly after to put a pair of runners on with no outs. The big blow came shortly after a mound meeting as Assad hung a slider to Clement, who proceeded to deposit it over the left field fence, and just like that, this was a 4-0 Blue Jays lead.

Still trailing by that score in the seventh, it was the Cubs who finally had a chance to make some noise, and it came off a former Cub in Tommy Nance, who took over for Berrios. What started as a leadoff walk from Swanson, turned into a first and third situation as Willi Castro came in to pinch hit for Shaw and delivered a massive single to right. That set things up for the top of the order, and Busch came through as his single brought home the Cubs' first and what would be only run to make this a 4-1 game.

As has been the case for a while now, none of the Cubs' main hitters have been able to do anything with Seiya Suzuki and Tucker going down without a fight to kill the rally, only to have Kelly keep things alive for Pete Crow-Armstrong with a walk. Given his struggles at the plate this month, if anyone needed a bases-loaded hit, PCA is the one, but as has been the case all month, he went down swinging as the Blue Jays escaped another massive jam to remain in front.

That was the final opportunity for the Cubs in this one as Varsho added an eighth-inning solo shot off Brown to cap off the scoring in what was a 5-1 Blue Jays win. At this point in the season, you can waive the White Flag on the Central division as the Cubs are now 7.5 games behind the Brewers and fading fast.

Unless they can figure out a way to turn things around offensively, this team is in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. If that happens, someone needs to lose their job, as the team was held to four hits in another laugher offensively. The Cubs will look to even things up on Wednesday when they send their young stud Cade Horton to the mound against fellow right-hander Kevin Gausman.