Starting Rotation Struggles Continue For Cubs In Game Two Loss vs Brewers

In the first inning of game two it was clear to see that the Chicago Cubs had come onto the field with a chip on their shoulder. The bats for the Cubs meant business and that started with a Nico Hoerner single which led to a three-run homer by Seiya Suzuki. But the starting rotation is where it was shaky.

Baseball is a long game, yes, but that first inning for the Cubs swung the momentum in the team's favor. Unfortunately, that was immediately stripped from them. Shota Imanaga started off strong with a pair of strikeouts and looked like he might get past his first inning blues, but that was unfortunately not the case.

Imanaga pitched a three-run home run ball to Andrew Vaughn who is proving to be a menace to the Cubs pitching staff. Vaughn went 2-for-3 in the opener and then started game two with that bomb. He wasn't the only hitter for the Brewers who caught fire at the expense of Imanaga, however.

William Contreras hit a 411 foot homer before Craig Counsell said enough is enough and took Imanaga off the mound in the third inning. Unfortunately, the home runs didn't stop when Imanaga came off the mound.

With two outs at the bottom of the fourth, and a pair of runners in scoring position, Jackson Chourio added to the growing gap between the Cubs and Brewers on the scoreboard. The Brewers had now scored seven unanswered runs (all on home runs) and the fourth inning had just ended.

While the Cubs were having pitching woes, the Brewers were not. 23-year-old Jacob Misiorowski was unbelievable to watch, as it seemed nearly every pitch was over 100 MPH and anytime the Cubs could make contact the Brewers would make a miraculous play in the outfield.

The Cubs never caught their breath after the gut punch the Brewers threw in the first inning. The team finally contained the bats of the Brewers (mostly by Colin Rea's efforts), but never found a groove of their own.

Ian Happ, Dansby Swanson, and Carson Kelly each had a pair of strikeouts. Pete Crow-Armstrong had an even worse night with not one, not two, but three strikeouts. The Brewers retired 15 pitchers in a row to take a dominating lead over the Cubs as they head back to Wrigley Field.

To say Cade Horton is deeply missed in the starting rotation right now is the understatement of the year. The Brewers have now put up 16 runs on the Cubs in only two games and if Chicago wants to move onto the NL Championship series they will need to win three-straight.