Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/5/24): Twins 3, Cubs 0 – Offense Vanishes in Shutout Loss

The Cubs offense returned to the lifeless form it displayed for most of the season when they took on the Twins Monday night. A quality pitching effort from Kyle Hendricks was wasted as Minnesota completed a 3-0 shutout victory.

Chicago had a very difficult time with rookie starter David Festa, who piled up nine strikeouts in just five frames. A walk and a single put runners on the corners with one out for the Twinkies in the top of the 3rd. Third baseman Royce Lewis then hit a sacrifice fly to center that put the road team ahead for good.

Veteran outfielder Manuel Margot doubled Minnesota’s lead when he hit a solo home run to left off of Hendricks in the 5th. The Cubs got a pair of doubles in the later innings but couldn’t do anything with them and the score remained 2-0.

The Twins added a third run in the top of the 9th when a man came home on a Ryan Jeffers double play. The North Siders had a Cody Bellinger single in the bottom of the frame but that was it as Griffin Jax closed out the Minnie whitewash. (Box score)

Key Moment

The Cubs’ two scoring chances late both occurred with two outs and were snuffed out pretty quickly.

Why the Cubs Lost

The hitters did very little in this game, something we’ve seen repeatedly throughout the season. The pitching staff did more than enough keeping a tough Minnesota lineup mostly in check, they just got no support.

Stats That Matter

• Not much to complain about with Hendricks on Monday in a very nice performance: 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 5 K, and 1 BB.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to hit the ball hard with a double and a lineout.

Bottom Line

The Cubs’ wildly inconsistent offense has completely undermined any chance for a sustained winning streak. There are just too many of these games where the hitters completely no-show. I’m not exactly sure how to change that but it’s gonna have to be different next season or this will happen all over again.

On Deck

Chicago looks to even the series Tuesday night at 7:05pm CT. Shōta Imanaga gets the start against Pablo López in a contest airing on Marquee and 670 The Score.