You certainly can’t blame Cubs pitching for the 2-0 loss to the Nationals Wednesday in Washington.
Matthew Boyd was stellar, retiring the first 16 Nats he faced and allowing just two runs. Fun fact: Before this game, the Cubs were 20-0 this year when allowing two or fewer runs.
Welp, That one’s 20-1 now, and the issue here was loading the bases with nobody out in the first inning off MacKenzie Gore on singles by Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly and not scoring at all.
Fangraphs’ run expectancy matrix says that on average, a team will score about two runs in that situation.