Frustration is beginning to boil over on the North Side of Chicago, as the Chicago Cubs continue their downward spiral.
Thursday night's 8-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field dropped the Cubs out of the National League Playoffs, as the club is now tied for the third and final NL Wild Card spot with the Miami Marlins, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Chicago.
The Cubs have now lost 10 of their last 13 games, which drops their record to 79-73.
Cubs manager David Ross faced the media Thursday night, following his team's fourth-straight series loss. Ross aired out some of his frustrations, making a comment about his opponent that is causing a stir in the city of Pittsburgh.
“That’s not a good team that just took two out of three from us," Ross said. "Or not our caliber of team I believe. We have to turn it around. It's on me. It's on the guys in the room."
Longtime Pittsburgh sports writer Dejan Kovacevic took exception to Ross' comment, responding on social media.
"The Pirates aren’t good," Kovacevic posted. "He’s right. But neither are the Cubs. And neither is Ross. Unduly cocky as a player when I covered him in Pittsburgh, unbelievably clueless and classless as a manager."
Ross played 40 games for the Pirates back in 2005, before he was traded to the San Diego Padres. Kovacevic covered the Pirates during Ross' short time in Pittsburgh.
"Third-stringer when in Pittsburgh," Kovacevic added. "Acted like he owned the place. Obnoxious."
The Cubs posted a 10-3 record against the Pirates in 2023. Chicago is 69-70 record against the rest of the league this season.
Ross' club will try to right the ship Friday, as the Cubs open a three-game series at Wrigley Field against the Colorado Rockies.
The Rockies (56-96), owners of the worst record in the National League, took two of three from Chicago last week at Coors Field.
Next week, the Cubs will finish the season on the road, traveling to face the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers for a pair of three-game series.
“There’s (expletive) all over the place that we can point to," Ross told reporters Thursday night. "It's time to put up wins. No excuses.”
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