Cubs eliminated from playoff contention with loss to Nationals

As soon as right fielder Joey Gallo made contact with reliever Keegan Thompson’s 89.3 mph cutter up in the zone, the air was sucked out of Wrigley Field.

Gallo mashed a three-run shot that extended the Nationals’ lead to five as the Cubs’ offense disappeared in a 5-1 loss Saturday. The Mets’ victory against the Phillies eliminated the Cubs (79-76) from playoff contention.

“It was a tough year,” said starter Kyle Hendricks, who went 5⅓ innings and allowed four runs and nine hits with two strikeouts. “Just up and down, right about .500 with our record. Just seemed like we’d catch steam and then couldn’t maintain it.”

On Saturday, the Cubs struggled to muster anything against starter MacKenzie Gore, who overwhelmed them with his powerful four-seam fastball. He threw 6⅓ no-hit innings before designated hitter Patrick Wisdom hit his eighth home run of the season.

Frustration festered all afternoon. There were short chats with umpires and bats thrown after questionable ball/strike calls and grounders that led to double plays. The offense, the Achilles’ heel for the Cubs all season, mustered one run, two hits and three walks and struck out nine times.

“[Gore] did a good job with what he’s good at, and that’s the fastball with some good ride and then the curveball,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Those were effective pitches, and he controlled counts well.”

The lack of pressure the Cubs put on Gore played a role in the left-hander having the longest no-hit bid of his career.

“He was beating us with that heater,” Wisdom said. “We got some traffic on the bases and didn’t score enough. Causing traffic early on was a good sign. We took our walks but just no hits with runners in scoring position.”

Gore threw his fastball 66% of the time and generated nine swings-and-misses. Though they didn’t get Gore often, the Cubs had an opportunity to put runs on the board in the fifth inning.

After back-to-back walks by Wisdom and first baseman Michael Busch with no outs, second baseman Nico Hoerner — who is slashing .353/.380/.412 with a .792 OPS in September — grounded into a double play, and catcher Miguel Amaya struck out to end the inning.

Inconsistency has been the story of the 2024 Cubs. They were never able to sustain strong stretches and stack wins, going a combined 21-34 over May and June. They often cooled their momentum with a lackluster showing from the offense.

Sorting out the hitting should be at the top of president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s priority list. The Cubs aren’t the offense that scored the third-fewest runs in the majors from May 1 to July 1 (198). But they also aren’t the offense that scored the third-most runs in the majors in August (155). Hoyer must find a way to balance out the hitting to avoid those extremes.

The Cubs haven’t made the postseason in a full season since 2018 and haven’t won a playoff game since 2017.

“When we played our good baseball, played fundamental, we could beat anybody,” Hendricks said. “But we just couldn’t put it together for the whole year this year.”