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Cubs set franchise record with 13th straight loss at homeBrian Sandalowon August 22, 2021 at 9:46 pm

The Cubs’ 2021 season will forever be defined by the 11-game losing streak that changed the direction of the franchise. But that skid, even though it was extremely consequential and set the stage for what the roster looks like now, is far from the only dubious run this year.

On Sunday, the Cubs’ losing made more history. By losing 9-1 to the Royals, the Cubs dropped a franchise-record 13th straight game at home, besting a mark set by the 1994 team that ended up 49-64.

That bygone roster with Sammy Sosa, Mark Grace and 57 games of Ryne Sandberg before his first retirement had the good fortune of their season being cut short in the middle of August by the strike. The current group will enjoy no such luck, and will have to finish a lost season while trying to evaluate players during a non-competitive stretch run.

“You’re just looking for good baseball players that can sustain consistency and success,” manager David Ross said. “Then you put the pieces around and you trust that each individual player’s going to be the version of themselves you saw.”

Paying customers at Wrigley Field – at least the ones cheering for the Cubs that are still invested in the final score – haven’t seen much to be happy about recently. Since July 26 when the Cubs picked up their most recent home victory thanks to Javy Baez’s game-winning hit off the Reds’ Amir Garrett, they’ve been outscored 99-33 at Clark and Addison.

In front of a disinterested crowd of 29,640, Sunday was more of the same.

Trying to avoid getting swept by a Royals team that started the day 14 games below .500, Alec Mills and the Cubs bullpen combined to let Kansas City score two runs in four straight innings, a string that was broken by Adrian Sampson’s scoreless seventh. Mills, who was drafted by the Royals in 2012, allowed seven runs (six earned) and 11 hits over four innings.

Kansas City finished with 16 hits.

The Cubs’ lone run came in the fourth when Matt Duffy’s single brought in Ian Happ. But all that did was cut the Royals’ lead to 5-1 as the countdown to the Cubs’ record-breaking defeat was already underway.