The only thing Cubs fans had to cheer for Friday afternoon was celebrating the former Cubs first baseman.
If you are one who enjoys no-hitters, well, you nearly got to see another one at Wrigley Field Friday afternoon after Wednesday’s gem by Cubs pitchers.
Cody Bellinger’s one-out double in the fourth was the Cubs’ only hit off Luis Gil and three Yankees relievers. Jordan Wicks and three Cubs relievers threw well enough, allowing just three runs, but — no offense means no win, and the Cubs dropped the series opener to the Yankees 3-0.
For context: That’s the 14th time the Cubs have been shut out this year. The awful White Sox, who might set a Modern Era MLB record for losses, have been shut out 16 times. There are simply times this Cubs offense just vanishes.
More on shutouts from BCB’s JohnW53:
This was the 600th game since 1901 in which the Cubs were shut out at home. It was the 526th at Wrigley Field.
They have played exactly 9,700 games at home (not counting one as the home team at Tokyo), including 8,547 at Wrigley.
This was their first shutout at home by the Yankees. The Pirates have shut out the Cubs at home 89 times; the Cardinals, 74; and the Dodgers, 72.
Wednesday’s no-hitter was the 750th shutout pitched by the Cubs at home since 1901 and the 600th at Wrigley.
Oh, and about that no-hitter thing, from BCB’s JohnW53:
As you might have guessed, the one hit by the Cubs was the fewest they have made in a game following any of their no-hitters since 1901.
Their previous low was five, twice: in an 8-0 win at home over the Giants in 1955 and in a 6-2 loss at Los Angeles to the Dodgers in 2021.
Wicks had a rough first inning in which he allowed a hit and two walks that loaded the bases. The Cubs got out of that inning scoreless, but Wicks had thrown 30 pitches, which you knew already was going to shorten his outing.
In the third, Wicks issued another walk, to Gleyber Torres and then Juan Soto singled. Aaron Judge drove in Torres with a double, leaving runners on second and third. Yankees catcher Austin Wells singled in both runners.
And that, basically, was that.
Here’s the only Cubs hit, Bellinger’s double [VIDEO].
Give credit to Keegan Thompson, Shawn Armstrong and newcomer Trey Wingenter for at least keeping the game close. They combined for four shutout innings, allowing one hit and three walks. But... gotta score to win.
Oh, you want to know about Anthony Rizzo’s return to Wrigley Field for the first time since he was traded to the Yankees in July 2021. Here’s the tribute video shown on the Wrigley video boards pre-game [VIDEO].
Much credit to the folks who put that together, a first-rate job celebrating everything Rizzo did for and meant to the Chicago Cubs and Cubs fans.
Then there was Rizzo’s first at-bat at Wrigley as a Yankee [VIDEO].
A nice gesture, too, to play one of Rizzo’s familiar walkup songs (“Intoxicated” by Martin Solveig, if you don’t recall.) Rizzo grounded to short in that plate appearance. He also singled and walked, then later grounded to short again.
Rizzo also made this very familiar defensive play in the sixth [VIDEO].
You surely remember him making that play many times in blue pinstripes at Wrigley.
From the Cubs standpoint defensively, Pete Crow-Armstrong made this nice sliding catch to end the sixth (including some Statcast numbers) [VIDEO].
That’s all I’ve got here. The Cubs’ playoff hopes have not ended, not yet, but... losing this game did not help matters any. It’s feast or famine with this offense, 12 runs one day, no runs and just one hit the next. Cubs hitters struck out 13 times in this one — that is not a recipe for success.
All they can do is go out there Saturday and try to even up the series. Javier Assad will start for the Cubs and Clarke Schmidt gets the call for the Yankees. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Yankees market territories).
