The wind gusts were so strong Sunday night, Anthony Rizzo camped under a first-inning pop-up in foul territory ... and then watched as the ball landed 10 feet from him, an inch inside the baseline. It bounced high enough for Rizzo to snatch it and step on first.
It would go down as Jon Lester's easiest out.
Yes, the flapping flags at fan-free Wrigley Field left no doubt this was a rough night to pitch. So did Paul Goldschmidt's 465-foot bomb onto Waveland Avenue.
But Lester's performance was still concerning in the Chicago Cubs' latest loss, a 7-3 decision against the St. Louis Cardinals that shrinks the Cubs' lead to 1{ games in the NL Central.
Lester gave up five earned runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batter in 3? innings. He is yielding a .367 batting average and has a 9.26 ERA over his last five starts since firing three gems (.117 batting average against, 1.06 ERA) to start the shortened season.
"I think he is just trying to find his rhythm, trying to get some angle to his pitches and get his cutter back," manager David Ross said. "He just doesn't look like himself right now. He is extremely frustrated and expects much better from himself."
With Jose Quintana days away from throwing off a mound after a lat strain and Adbert Alzolay getting another shot despite his wild bout Saturday, the Cubs rotation is sinking after Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks. Hence "Darvish, Kyle and Pray for a While," as coined by NBC Sports Chicago.
And the offense beyond Ian Happ isn't much better. Considering the wind was blowing out at 17 mph, you would have expected more than three runs, coming on blasts by Jason Kipnis and Anthony Rizzo.
Rizzo, who hammered a Dakota Hudson curveball for his first homer in eight games, said before the game that this COVID-19-shortened season requires a team-first emphasis.
"There are 20 games left and you don't see the numbers you're accustomed to," he said. "Your mind could start racing. We're all human and used to certain things being a certain way this time of the year. You can have three or four games and look like the MVP or have three or four bad games and look terrible. We have to remind each other this is all about winning and it doesn't matter how you win. It's not about individual numbers."
One other area of potential concern: Jason Heyward exited in the fifth, with a team spokesman explaining Heyward was "not feeling well."
Cameron Maybin replaced Heyward, the Cubs' second-best hitter (.973 OPS), and went 0-for-1.
"I don't think he's under (COVID-19) protocol," Ross said. "He had a shortness of breath and a little lightheadedness, so we sent him to the hospital to get tests for precautionary reasons. ... I haven't spoken to any of the doctors yet."
The Cubs managed just six hits, two coming from Kris Bryant, who batted second as the designated hitter. (Ross wanted to get David Bote's bat in the lineup.)
Bryant entered the game with an OPS of just .543, but Ross took note of several promising recent swings and said: "You're starting to see the ball fly to the middle of the field, and that's always a positive for him. Those deep flashes remind me of when he first came up."
Bryant got caught looking twice before singling to right-center and lining a double to the wall in left to lead off the seventh against Genesis Cabrera. But Cabrera fanned Rizzo, Javier Baez (on a high-and-away pitch he disputed) and Kyle Schwarber.
The Cubs went down quietly in the ninth against Giovanny Gallegos.
