To fully capitalize on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s scorching run at the plate and keep pace in the National League playoff chase, the Cubs need more from the rest of their roster. On Saturday, their makeshift bullpen let them down in a big way.
Working with a five-run cushion, Cubs relievers surrendered eight runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings of an 8-6 loss to the Blue Jays. Jacob Webb gave up a go-ahead three-run homer to Kazuma Okamoto in the eighth, finishing off a bullpen collapse that started with shaky appearances from Trent Thornton and Caleb Thielbar.
‘‘I didn’t [expletive] execute today, period. Plain and simple,’’ Webb said. ‘‘Coming in to stop the game right there, it’s not anything else other than that, literally.’’
The Cubs seemed headed for their third straight win and fourth in their last five games, and it looked like it should have been routine. A three-run homer from Matt Shaw in the second inning put the Cubs ahead 3-0. Crow-Armstrong added a two-run homer, a single and a walk to push his on-base streak to 23 games. Over that span, he has posted a .468 on-base percentage and has entered the MVP discussion.
Still, it wasn’t enough because of a bullpen that failed to build on starter Colin Rea’s 5⅓ scoreless innings.
Unlike the rest of the roster, which is loaded with big names and big contracts, Cubs president Jed Hoyer hasn’t devoted premium resources to the relievers. That unit has also seen Rea and Ben Brown moved into the rotation…
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