BOSTON — The Cubs haven’t played themselves out of contention in a National League Central Division that doesn’t look particularly strong.
Before their loss to the Red Sox on Friday, general manager Jim Hendry said he was encouraged by two road victories against a strong Marlins team and believes the Cubs can put together a hot streak and climb back over .500.
“I am hopeful that a lot of our failures early (are over),” Hendry said. “When you play well against a good team like the Marlins, and in a place until last year we never had any success … What we have is a lot of really solid guys, team-oriented guys, that are trying so hard to be ‘the guy’ and get something going that maybe they’ve pressed themselves into some failures.
“Hopefully they proved the last couple of days they could relax, play good baseball against a good team, and hopefully we’ll carry that over here and in a big homestand before the end of the month.”
The Cubs’ 19-24 record includes a 10-11 mark in games decided by one or two runs.
“We gave away a few games,” Hendry said. “Everybody has them. The two in Cincinnati were probably as hard to take as any ones all year. … I think they’re going to grind their way through it and play good baseball.
“The last couple of days should show you something because (the losses to the Reds) … were two we really should’ve had. It’s hard to get off the plane the next day on the road, and they really played good baseball for two days.”
On the negative side, the Cubs have the highest ERA of any rotation in baseball and have yet to win three games in a row.
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