In the just-completed homestand, the Chicago Cubs had three wins, three losses and three injuries to key players.
Reliever Daniel Palencia gave up five ninth-inning runs without retiring a batter in Sunday’s 6-3 collapse to the Washington Nationals in front of a Wrigley Field crowd of 33,343. Fans were going wild after the Cubs scored what looked like an insurance run in the eighth inning as Carson Kelly hit his second home run of the day.
But the 3-1 lead evaporated quickly and Palencia left the game with a posterior right shoulder injury.
The Cubs already lost right fielder Kyle Tucker to a left calf injury on Tuesday and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who fouled a ball off his right knee on Saturday. Neither has been placed on the injured list, but they are taking time off.
Add Palencia (1-6, 22 saves) to that list.
“Danny felt some tightness in his posterior right shoulder,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s all we have right now. It’s probably better to let it calm down a little bit and see how we are in a day or so.”
Counsell said there was a “very small incident” with the closer’s shoulder a few months ago, but it lasted just a day and had been good since.
The Cubs (81-62) had momentum going into the ninth. But Robert Hassell III hit his third home run of the season and pinch hitter Josh Bell belted a three-run shot to turn the game upside down for the Cubs and help improve the Nationals’ record to 58-84.
Here are three takeaways from the homestand, which included the induction of Sammy Sosa and Derrek Lee into the Cubs Hall of Fame.
1. Outfielders are still mending
Tucker and Crow-Armstrong did not play Sunday and their availability this week in Atlanta is touch-and-go.
“There is nothing new on Kyle,” Counsell said. “I don’t think he will start in the lineup (Monday) but he might be available.”
Crow-Armstrong might be a different story if he progresses as well as he did on Sunday.
“PCA came in feeling good and that’s a good sign,” Counsell said. “Getting him moving around today is a good sign. It’s not just an off day. We will see how we feels and make a lineup decision.”
2. Don’t slight the old guys
To critics, veterans Justin Turner, 40, and Carlos Santana, 39, are wasting roster spots and do not add value to the team.
Their production isn’t much to brag about. Turner is hitting .209 through 73 games with three home runs and 15 RBIs. Since the Cubs signed Santana on Aug. 31, he is 0 for 10.
But don’t tell 23-year-old Crow-Armstrong these two don’t have value. He swears by some of the wisdom and advice these two have provided, even though Santana hasn’t been with the team that long.
“I would be foolish not to listen to his life and career experiences,” he said of Turner. “He’s been very generous with all that. He presented that from the first day that we were teammates. JT has just given himself to this team in a way that you can’t put a price on.
“JT has done a whole lot of good for this team.”
Santana is also someone to listen to.
“While JT is not the toughest guy but he is honest and blunt,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Carlos is a little more direct in the point he is trying to make. That’s the beauty of it. You have JT, who is laid back, and you can just tell speaking to Carlos that he is intense and just loves this game.”
Crow-Armstrong said that if either of the veterans decides to use some tough love, he would be OK with it.
“I really respond to that kick in the (rear),” he said.
Counsell said that having a veteran presence in the clubhouse helps a team.
“Players like Carlos and Justin have experienced so much,” Counsell said. “I think you are at a stage in your career where you want to impart that knowledge to younger players. You enjoy doing it.”
3. Don’t slight the wild card
The Cubs’ cave-in against the Nationals on Sunday and the Milwaukee Brewers’ 10-2 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Pirates give the Brewers a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League Central with 19 games left for the Cubs.
Photos: Chicago Cubs drop a game at Wrigley Field on team’s Hall of Fame induction day
Math is not on Chicago’s side.
However, the Cubs do hold a 3 1/2-game lead in the National League wild-card standings.
That may not be the worst thing in the brief history of the latest playoff format.
Since 2022, the teams with the best two records in the National League have received byes and just one of them has won their first postseason series — the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.
So, the odds indicate that a spot in the wild-card series might not be a bad thing.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
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