The Chicago Cubs had an incredible 9th inning comeback to force extra innings against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
After star reliever Porter Hodge was able to earn a scoreless top of the tenth, the Cubs had a chance to go win the game in the bottom half, though they were unable to get a runner across the plate and things headed to an 11th inning.
That final frame proved to be deadly for Chicago as newly acquired closer this offseason in a trade with the Houston Astros -- veteran right-hander Ryan Pressly -- experienced a complete and utter meltdown.
Cubs Meltdown in Unfortunate Finish Against Giants
Pressly found a way to allow seven runs before even recording an out, finishing the game with eight earned runs during an inning for the Giants in which they scored nine runs to win 14-5.
The 11th inning teeing off of Pressly was the largest run total in an extra inning across baseball since 2009.
Perhaps even more impressively, it was the highest scoring extra inning in Wrigley Field history, a record which has stood since the New York Giants scored seven in a 10th inning all the way back on June 18, 1921, according to a story from ESPN.
The defeat was also the largest extra inning loss in franchise history, a record which will likely stand for a very long time.
According to OptaSTATS, Pressly becomes the first reliever in MLB history since earned runs became a stat in 1913 to allow 8 or more earned runs in a game, not record an out, and take the loss.
Pressly, who has battled through a knee issue earlier this year in which he had to have fluid drained and missed a couple of games, has had a rough go of it this year.
He had not pitched prior to Tuesday in five days and just twice in the last two weeks, however since the start of the season it has seemed Pressly has been lacking the gear that made him so dominant in Houston.
The meltdown on Tuesday raises his ERA on the season to 7.62 alongside a 1.923 WHIP, though concerning numbers existed even before the big stats were impacted drastically.
Prior to this performance, Pressly had a strong looking ERA of 2.08, however his walk rate was way up along with a strikeout rate that was plummeting.
Almost every season of his career, the 36-year-old has averaged double digit strikeouts per nine, and even during a down 2024 season, he still had 58 K's in 56.2 innings.
Pressly's five total strikeouts in 13 innings this year represent an incredibly disturbing trend which could indicate he is in some real trouble.
Chicago can move on from the defeat and focus on the next one, however the trends with their veteran closer this season are extremely concerning moving forward.
If Pressly does not turn things around and turn them around quickly, his job as the Cubs closer -- and frankly his career -- could be in some serious jeopardy.
