The Chicago Cubs were able to overcome another dismal performance by alleged closer Hector Neris for a 6-5 win over the Blue Jays. The Cubs had carried a 5-2 lead into the ninth before Neris did his thing. Neris gave up three runs on four hits.
He also managed to commit a balk during the farce. Neris’ fifth blown save prevented Kyle Hendricks from picking up the win. Hendricks gave a strong performance, going five innings while giving up two runs, one earned.
In addition, he struck out two while walking none. The trio of Drew Smyly , Jorge Lopez and Porter Hodges combined for three scoreless innings of relief while striking out seven. The Neris undid their work.
The Cubs’ offense was spearheaded by homers from Ian Happ , Cody Bellinger and back-to-back jaks by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya . Seiya Suzuki had the game winning RBI with Tyson Miller picking up the win Despite the win, the game highlighted two of the biggest disappointments of the Cubs season: Craig Counsell and Hector Neris. Both are on this list of the ten Cubs’ biggest disappointments of 2024.
Here’s that list: 1: Craig Counsell: Craig Counsell has been the biggest disappointment of this Cubs’ season. His intransigence in some areas is amazing. Neris has been terrible in the role of closer.
Though he’s only blown five saves, it seems like so many more. After a terrible start to the season, the Cubs have pieced together a really good bullpen. Why Counsell hamstrings it by using Neris as the c.