Did Seiya Suzuki's Drop Cost the Chicago Cubs Their Season?
The Chicago Cubs rolled into their series against the Atlanta Braves coming off a sweep of the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
That result put them back into the playoff picture, holding the third Wild Card spot ahead of Tuesday night's matchup with the National League's best team.
With their ace Justin Steele on the mound, they had a chance to make a statement to start this series.
That looked like the case in the eighth inning when reliever Drew Smyly induced a fly ball with two outs to right field where sure-handed Seiya Suzuki waited for the ball.
Then, the unthinkable happened.
Suzuki dropped the ball, allowing two runs to score, costing them the game and potentially costing the Cubs their season.
Chicago was once up 6-0 in the sixth inning.
Steele was delivering a gem before he ran into trouble in the bottom half of the sixth inning that saw him give up two earned runs on a homer, a double and a single.
He finished the game with three earned runs after the runner he was responsible for on second base was batted in after he was pulled from the game.
Still, the Cubs got out of the inning up 6-3 and were looking like they were on their way to a big win.
Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run bomb off rookie Javier Assad the next inning to cut the Chicago lead to one.
Then, the devastating moment happened in the eighth inning.
Running to his right to field the routine fly ball, Suzuki completely whiffed. The Braves scored two runs on the error and took a 7-6 lead.
With Cody Bellinger on base in the top of the ninth inning, the right fielder had an opportunity to make amends at the plate.
He struck out and one batter later, the game was over.
It's an absolutely devasting loss for the Cubs, who are now only a half-game up in the Wild Card standings over the Miami Marlins who play a double-header on Wednesday with a chance to overtake Chicago.
It should be noted that this loss isn't completely on Suzuki.
Up 6-0, there's no reason why the Cubs should have lost this game to begin with, but his costly error may have cost them the season.
Now, once again, it will be up to the Chicago players in that locker room to pick themselves up off the mat and get ready for the five most important games of their season.
Or else they'll be watching the playoffs from home.
