PITTSBURGH _ The Cubs front office noticed a disturbing trend well before Cole Hamels suffered a left oblique strain Friday and rookie Adbert Alzolay was knocked out in the third inning of Monday night's 18-5 loss to the Pirates.
"We'll look at everything," general manager Jed Hoyer said with the July 31 trade deadline looming. "It's been a frustrating 40 to 50 games. In baseball, you're trying to evaluate what are the random ups and downs of a season versus what is legitimate concern and what needs to be addressed."
After winning two of three games May 17-19 in Washington _ the last time the Cubs won a road series _ they have posted an 18-23 overall record. Their 8-13 mark in their last 21 games has been marked by increasingly sloppy play to go with an offense that has struggled with situational hitting.
Curing the latter deficiency has risen to the same priority level as left-handed relief help. The Cubs were batting .231 entering Monday with runners in scoring position with two out and .238 against left-handed pitchers _ an 18-point dip from their mark against right-handers.
"It's an interesting question because I feel a lot of guys are where they need to be from an individual standpoint," said Hoyer, referring to All-Stars Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Kris Bryant as well as Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward.
"From a team perspective, that's where the frustration lies in a lot of ways. We haven't hit with guys in scoring positon, and we haven't capitalized on a lot of opportunities. It feels like too often the storyline (is) what our numbers are with runners in scoring position.
"There have been a lot of good individual performances on offense. As a group, I feel we're a little less than the sum of the parts because of the situational hitting. The good thing is if we get some of that stuff figured out and we get there, we have the firepower. I don't think there's any question about that. We need to start doing it as a group."
Much of the recent scrutiny has fallen on the leadoff spot, where the Cubs ranked 11th entering Monday with a .305 on-base percentage. Kyle Schwarber has been at the top of the order for 41 games, batting .245 with a .310 on-base percentage, 13 home runs and 29 RBIs.
"I've said it for two years," Hoyer said. "I'd love to have a prototypical leadoff guy who is grinding at-bats, what Dexter (Fowler) did in 2015-16 _ got on base, saw pitches _ and there's nothing like having Rizzo and Baez coming up when a pitcher is at 18 to 19 pitches and starting to get tired. We don't have that.
"Of course we'll look at that, but it's a rare asset in this game to find that kind of guy. We'll improvise a little bit with Schwarbs there, which provides danger in the top of the lineup. That's where the team approach comes in. Grinding these at-bats, getting their pitch counts up and having to make mistakes on a hot day. That makes a big difference, as opposed to a quick-pitch inning where you hit quickly. When we're at our best, we can make a starting pitcher very uncomfortable."
The Pirates used an aggressive approach against Alzolay, who was making his second major-league start and had allowed two hits in his first 8 2/3 innings. The Pirates peppered him for seven runs on 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings. All-Star first baseman Josh Bell hit two home runs and drove in five runs in his first two at-bats.
Alzolay's status is in flux because the Cubs won't decide on a starter for Sunday's first-half finale against the White Sox until they see how Kyle Hendricks fares Tuesday night. Hendricks will make his first start since hurting his right shoulder June 24 against the Dodgers.
After trailing 7-1 after two innings, the Cubs mounted a comeback in the fourth with three runs. But that rally was stunted when center fielder Starling Marte threw out Albert Almora Jr. trying to advance from first to third on a two-run single by Victor Caratini, and Kris Bryant popped to second with the bases loaded.
The Pirates added three runs in the fourth against Brad Brach and three more in the fifth and sixth against Rowan Wick.
Infielder Daniel Descalso pitched the seventh, allowing a two-run homer to Jung Ho Kang, and new closer Craig Kimbrel gave up two home runs and a double off the wall in a three-run eighth.
Bell hit the second homer off Kimbrel, a two-run shot that capped a 4-for-6, three-homer, seven-RBI night.
