Chicago Cubs bullpen blows late 5-run lead in 8-6 loss to Toronto Blue Jays: ‘We just didn’t get it done’

The Chicago Cubs found out Saturday morning that their closer, Daniel Palencia, has a mild flexor strain in his right arm and won’t throw for more than a week. “We’re looking at through the road trip, and then we’ll start ramping it up a little bit,” manager Craig Counsell said before the Cubs played the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday at Wrigley Field. A few hours later, they felt firsthand just how much they missed that lockdown option late in games. The Cubs bullpen blew a five-run lead, surrendering eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings in an 8-6 loss to the Blue Jays. Three pitchers — Trent Thornton, Caleb Thielbar and Jacob Webb — combined to allow the eight runs in 1 2/3 innings of work. “We didn’t have a good day in the bullpen,” Counsell said. “(Starter) Colin (Rea) pitched great, definitely put us in a position to win. When you have three guys kind of have bad days, then we gave up a lot of runs because of it. We just didn’t get it done in the bullpen today.” Palencia, who was placed on the IL on Tuesday with right elbow inflammation, is the latest in a string of injuries that have decimated not just the bullpen but caused a ripple effect on the entire Cubs pitching staff. Half of the opening-day bullpen is no longer in the reliever mix in late June. Rea and Ben Brown are in the rotation, and Hunter Harvey (right triceps inflammation) and Palencia are on the injured list. Phil Maton, who was signed to a two-year deal in the offseason, has a 5.92 ERA, didn’t pitch in Saturday’s loss and hasn’t been used by Counsell as a leverage option lately as he works through his struggles. Names such as Thornton, Ryan Rolison and Webb had stepped up earlier in the year. That made Counsell feel comfortable turning it over to the bullpen with a three-run lead and 11 outs to cover. Rea had retired the first 12 hitters he faced, but with a pair of runners on and one out in the sixth inning, the Cubs manager brought in the left-hander Rolison to face left-handed hitter Nathan Lukes. Rolison needed just one pitch to induce an inning-ending double play. For Counsell, the game was scripted for Thornton, Thielbar and Webb to pick up the final nine outs. “We’re going to try to get in that same spot tomorrow,” Counsell said. “Whether it’s a 5-0 lead in the sixth or a 5-3 lead in the eighth, every time you got to try to get to that spot again. Just didn’t get it done today.” It highlighted the struggles the Cubs relief corps has had this month. The bullpen carries a 4.94 ERA in June, has blown the second-most saves (five) and has pitched the sixth-most innings (71). The league has adjusted to some of these names that had success earlier in the season, and Webb might be a prime example. The right-hander had a 0.64 ERA in 12 games (14 innings) with 19 strikeouts to three walks in May. Webb has an 8.22 ERA in 7 2/3 innings across eight games in June and has allowed an earned run in three straight outings. Saturday, he allowed three earned runs, plus two inherited runners from Caleb Thielbar in the five-run eighth inning. The knockout punch was a three-run home run from Kazuma Okamoto that turned a tie game into an 8-5 deficit. “I didn’t (expletive) execute today, period. Plain and simple,” Webb said. “Coming into stop the game right there. It’s not anything else other than that, literally. I mean, the last few outings I’ve just made mistake after mistake, truly, and it’s pretty (expletive) frustrating, I’m not going to lie. “So, back to the drawing board, figure some stuff out.” The Palencia news was encouraging when considering the MRI didn’t reveal a major elbow injury, and left-hander Matthew Boyd was scheduled to throw a rehab outing with High A South Bend on Saturday. There’s still plenty of urgency for the Cubs to figure out their pitching woes, especially with the offense finding some of its groove. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his 16th home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field in the sixth inning, and extended his on-base streak to 23 games. Matt Shaw hit a three-run home run in the second and is hitting .292 with a .954 OPS since coming off the injured list. All of that was for naught after the bullpen woes. “I mean, every outing I have, I’m trying to go out there and do my best,” Webb said. “Not always does it work that way. But I think we’d like Danny back as soon as possible, but for right now, we have to play without him until we can get him back.” Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.