The Chicago Cubs were dominated by an old friend on Monday

The Chicago Cubs are a bad baseball team and the San Diego Padres are a very good baseball team. Knowing that fact, you can respect the way that the Cubs mostly kept it close against them on Monday night at Wrigley Field. It is just unfortunate when you think about the loss deeply.

First of all, they were lucky to get the game in at all. There were some really bad storms that included tornado warnings and some scary-looking skies that caused about an hour of a rain delay. Luckily, everyone was safe and they got the game played.

There was an old friend on the mound for the Padres as Yu Darvish made a start. He was one of the best pitchers on the Chicago Cubs just a couple of years ago but they traded him away for a salary dump. They decided that pinching pennies was more important than winning.

Now, the Cubs are being forced to rebuild because their team is no good. We will see how they handle it in the offseason as there will be some premier talent available but things are going to be hard for this season.

The Chicago Cubs were completely dominated by an old friend on the mound.

To say Darvish dominated his old team would be an understatement. He showed everyone why he makes all of the money that he does with this performance. Against a very mediocre/bad Cubs lineup, he went 8.0 innings with five hits, one earned run, and seven strikeouts.

The only run yielded by Darvish was a solo shot by Yan Gomes. That actually gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Darvish locked in from there and the Padres tied the game in the top of the third.

The game remained tied until the top of the 8th inning when the Padres scored three runs. That gave Darvish a chance to win the game which he deserved. He pitched a scoreless inning in the bottom of the 8th and then Taylor Rogers got the save for San Diego in the 9th.

This is what the Cubs deserve. They threw their competitive window out the door and trading away Darvish was the first big move that led to it. He came back to Wrigley Field and dominated his way to another win with his new team.

Cubs pitching deserves some props though too. Justin Steele went 7.0 innings of one-run baseball and deserved to win himself. It was Rowan Wick who gave up the three runs to the heart of San Diego’s order and took the loss. Scott Effross and Brandon Hughes followed him and didn’t give up anything.

The Cubs have lost seven in a row and will be looking to snap that ugly streak on Tuesday night against the same Padres team. Kyle Hendricks will be on the mound and face Sean Manaea who is also an outstanding pitcher.

If the Cubs get good Hendricks they will have a chance to compete with Manaea. If he is shaky like he has been for most of the season, they won’t have a good time. Regardless of how it ends, you can expect it to be a very entertaining game.