Frustrations boil over in Cubs' series finale loss to Tigers

DETROIT -- Nico Hoerner watched a two-strike fastball from Tigers righty Jack Flaherty zip low and inside, and the Cubs second baseman was caught by surprise when the pitch was called for an ill-timed strikeout. Hoerner turned to home-plate umpire Derek Thomas and offered some parting words as he began to exit the batter’s box.

Hoerner was promptly ejected, serving as a snapshot of the overall frustration felt by the Cubs in a 4-0 loss to Detroit on Sunday afternoon that wrapped up a tense series at Comerica Park between October hopefuls. At his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse following the defeat, Hoerner wanted to give his side of a moment that also led to the ejection of manager Craig Counsell.

“I don’t think it’s really that often you can verbatim say to the press afterwards what got you thrown out,” Hoerner said. “I said, ‘You’re having a really bad day.’”

Counsell hustled onto the field to defend Hoerner for actions that were “not ejectable,” as he phrased things. After expressing his own objection to Hoerner’s quick hook, Counsell joined Hoerner in the clubhouse for the remainder of a game that was dominated by Flaherty and Detroit’s bullpen.

In the finale of a series that featured a total paid attendance of 121,509 between two of baseball’s top teams, the Cubs finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and had their one real shot at scoring quashed by Detroit’s defense. Rookie Cade Horton also saw the Tigers’ lineup deliver on the few mistakes he made in his five innings.

“Playoff atmosphere,” catcher Carson Kelly said of the environment in Detroit this weekend. “You see how taking advantage of those mistakes on the other side, it’s really magnified. They took advantage of those mistakes this series. Hopefully, we’ll get to face them again at some point.”

Kelly offered the slightest smile while delivering that last line, knowing that the only way the teams would lock horns again in 2025 would be in the World Series.

“It was a blessing to play in front of so many people and play against that team,” Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter said. “It was really fun to compete against them, match up and see how we do. We gave them our best.”

Over the course of Flaherty’s career, only Yadier Molina logged more innings behind the plate for him than Kelly. That familiarity between former batterymates made it easy for Kelly to recognize that this was going to be one of those days when it’s tough to get much going against the starter.

“You could just tell,” Kelly said. “The flow of the game, the way he was handling himself, he was executing and locating. And when he’s doing that, he’s a very tough at-bat.”

That only added fuel to the Cubs’ mounting frustration.

Chicago’s potent lineup was set down in order over the first three innings before Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker drew consecutive walks against Flaherty to begin the fourth. Later in the frame, Pete Crow-Armstrong singled to right. Happ did what he could to score from second, but Carpenter made a strong throw to the plate, and catcher Dillon Dingler applied the tag just in time.

“We created that one scoring opportunity -- they made a nice defensive play again, frankly,” Counsell said. “That was really our opportunity. [Flaherty] was on. After that inning, he kind of got back locked in.”

Shortstop Dansby Swanson connected with one of Flaherty’s curveballs to begin the fifth inning, sending it into the left-field corner for a double. With Chicago facing a two-run deficit, it was a chance for Hoerner to -- at a minimum -- advance the runner and move the line closer to the top of the order.

But that potential momentum was halted with his called strikeout and ejection. Flaherty set down the next two batters, and the Cubs’ lineup remained quiet for the rest of the contest.

“The ejection of Nico was completely unwarranted,” Counsell said. “There’s nothing that was said that warrants an ejection. You can’t eject players and affect outcomes of games for no offense.”

Hoerner said Thomas simply told him what he said was “unacceptable.”

“Not a situation I want to get ejected in, obviously,” Hoerner said. “It’s a close game. It’s 2-0 at that point -- big moment in that game. That’s partially why it got a reaction out of me. Obviously, I don’t want to miss the rest of that game. I had no intention of that.”