The Friendly Confines have been confining the Cubs lately.
After winning 15 straight at home, the Cubs have now dropped six straight at Wrigley Field.
They entered this six-game homestand with the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros with a 29-18 mark and were ahead of the Brewers by 1 1/2 games for first place in the National League Central.
The Cubs drew a crowd of 232,698 in those six games.
Why bring that up? Well, it’s one of the few positive statistics for the Cubs in those half dozen games.
They dropped an 8-5 decision to Houston on Sunday in front of a Wrigley Field crowd of 40,048 to fall to 29-24. They kept their overall losing skid alive at eight. They fell to third in the division standings behind the Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.
During the homestand, they were outscored 34-12, outhomered 9-3, hit just .174 and were shut out twice.
After their horrid homestand, the Cubs open a seven-game road trip beginning with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday for four games and then three with the Cardinals.
Here are three takeaways from getaway day.
1. The Cubs believe they can turn it around.
The Astros came into the series with a 20-31 record and the last time they swept the Cubs at Wrigley was May 30 to June 1, 2011 — when the Astros were in the National League.
“We’re just not playing good baseball in all phases,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “We need to get better. We’ve been outexecuted eight days in a row and we have to make adjustments.”
To make matters worse, Sunday’s winning pitcher was Peter Lambert. He opened his career with the Colorado Rockies in 2019 with two wins against the Cubs. He’s had nine major-league wins since then, including Sunday’s triumph in which he gave up four walks and hit a batter in five innings.
How will the Cubs get out of this slide?
“There is no secret recipe except to come in each day with the mindset to win,” said Michael Busch, who hit a two-run home run in the seventh on Sunday. “I think we know how good we are. We need to trust our abilities and trust the process.”
2. Shota Imanaga is putting up some career lows.
This was the first time Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga faced the Astros in his career.
After two quick strikeouts and inducing a flyout in an 11-pitch first inning, it looked like the Cubs were going to enjoy a dominant outing from him.
For four innings, he allowed two runs — a home run to Jake Meyers in the second and another to ninth-spot hitter Nick Allen in the third. It was Allen’s first major-league home run since 2024.
Then, with a one-run lead, Imanaga gave up five runs in the fifth, including a three-run home run to Christian Walker, who had three home runs in the last two games against the Cubs.
“That’s a good hitting team, but next time, even if they do put a good swing on it, I have to induce ground balls,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “In the beginning, I felt good but in the later innings, the splitters I tried to throw down and low were left up in the strike zone.”
Thus, his record fell to 4-5 and he lost three in a row for the first time in his major-league career. He also gave up at least seven runs in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
The three home runs in a game? He’s done that before, but not since Sept. 19, 2025, at Cincinnati.
The Cubs hope Imanaga can turn things around as the already banged-up starting rotation suffered another blow. Edward Cabrera, who left his last start with a blister on his middle finger, was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday. Jordan Wicks was called up from Triple-A Iowa and will pitch Tuesday at Pittsburgh.
3. Star power for Pedro Ramírez?
Here is a little bit of good news to come from the homestand.
Hot Cubs prospect Pedro Ramírez made his first career start on Sunday, playing second base and batting ninth. Regular second baseman Nico Hoerner moved to shortstop while Dansby Swanson had a day off.
Ramírez grounded out in one at-bat during his major-league debut on Saturday, but picked up the start on Sunday.
Before the game, he was asked if he thought he could be a star in the majors.
“Every major leaguer wants to be a star,” Ramírez said through an interpreter. “But I just want to do my job and do things right.”
He did some things right on Sunday. The switch-hitter bashed a double with the first pitch he saw to drive in Moisés Ballesteros during a three-run second inning.
He walked in the fourth and grounded out to short in the sixth.
A big moment came in the eighth. With two on and one out, Ramírez represented the potential go-ahead run as the Cubs were down 7-5.
He pounded a ball that headed up the middle, but Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña was able to snag it and turn it into a double play.
“He had some good at-bats,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Ramírez. “He came up in a number of big spots. The double was a big spot to get us on the board.
“Even that at-bat in the eighth, he scorched the ball. He did what he’s supposed to do. He came through in my eyes and had a really nice game.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
