It has been a brutal stretch for the Chicago Cubs, one that has everyone nervous about their chances to make the playoffs after entering the year with that being their goal.
Hiring Craig Counsell, re-signing Cody Bellinger, landing Japanese star Shota Imanaga, and trading for star prospect Michael Busch certainly boosted the profile of this team on paper.
However, with tons of injuries to many of their expected contributors, it's been an uphill battle for the Cubs all season.
That didn't hinder them early, but now they have fallen off a cliff.
Chicago entered Sunday with a 6-15 record since May 16, pushing them to below .500 and tied for last in the NL Central division. After holding onto a Wild Card spot for the majority of the season, they are now on the outside looking in.
In order to get back on track, they need to start stringing together wins.
There was nobody on the mound the Cubs would rather have for that than their star rookie Imanaga who has taken Major League Baseball by storm since making his debut.
Chicago was able to do just that, winning 4-2 on Sunday to leave town on a high note before another road matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays starting Tuesday.
Imanaga was sensational again, giving up only two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work while striking out seven batters.
He also earned the win, something that isn't normally something of note, but in this scenario it was.
That is completely ridiculous to think about.
This is a combination of multiple things with starters not going deep into games to be eligible for a win, giving up runs early and getting handed losses, relievers coming in and blowing leads, and the offense not being able to score enough to help out their starters.
It's a solid example of why the Cubs have struggled to win during this time period.
Hopefully that changes as they head down to Florida and face a Rays team who have lost three in a row and are 5-5 over their last 10 games.
