After a win in the first game of the series on Tuesday and a poor loss on Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs needed a win on Thursday in order to secure their first series win since Mother’s Day weekend. With Ben Brown on the bump, the Cubs were in need of a great performance.

Tale of the Tape

With the two starters being named late on Wednesday night, both were strong for their respective clubs. Ben Brown was sensational, cruising through 4.0 innings. Brown allowed one hit and two walks while fanning six. As for AJ Smith-Shawver and the Braves, the righty went 4.1 innings while allowing just three hits and two walks. Smith-Shawver racked up four strikeouts of his own.

6 punch outs for Ben Brown in 4 innings! pic.twitter.com/uTYcNrGI9P

— Cubs On Tap (@CubbiesOnTap) May 23, 2024

The first scoring play came in the fifth inning. With Hayden Wesneski relieving Brown, Jarred Kelenic connected on a ball to right field that gave the Braves the lead on the solo home run. That was the lone mistake made by Wesneski in his 1.2 innings of work on Thursday.

The Cubs kept the Braves off the board while hanging around, but the bats were putrid. The Cubs had four total hits and seven total baserunners on the afternoon, failing to convert on a handful of chances. After strong relief appearances from Wesneski and Luke Little, the Braves added on once Kyle Hendricks checked into the game in the eighth inning.

The veteran righty allowed two runs in his 2.0 innings of work. In addition, Hendricks alone allowed four hits and a walk, more hits than the first three pitchers for the Cubs combined. With how cold the bats have been, a 3-0 lead for Atlanta felt like a 6-0 lead late.

Ultimately, the Cubs went down quietly and lost 3-0 to the Braves. The loss cemented the second series win for Atlanta over the Cubs, and third consecutive series loss for Chicago.

Where’s the Offense?

The bats have been horrendous in the series, and really over the last 10+ games. Following their four runs on Tuesday, the Cubs posted two runs and seven hits over the final two games of this series. Even if Tuesday was included in the summary, the Cubs still only managed 14 hits and six runs in three games.

At the end of the day, the Cubs aren’t getting it done. Every single hitter has gone cold, and as mentioned on the Marquee Sports Network broadcast on Thursday, only Mike Tauchman and Cody Bellinger are batting over .200 in this recent team-wide cold stretch.

When will the offense turn it around? Who knows. However, with 10 straight games against the division over the next 10 days (seven of which are on the road), now is the time for the Cubs to dig deep and put together some reasonable offensive performances to support their strong pitching.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Cubs venture to St. Louis for three games with the rival St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CDT and will feature LHP Shota Imanaga for the visitors and RHP Miles Mikolas for the Red Birds.