Two 10-Game Win Streaks and a Nine-Game Skid: The Cubs Are Setting Records No Team Wants.

Holy smokes, Mariners fans, you will NOT believe what's happening over in the National League Central! We're talking about a team that looked like world-beaters just a few weeks ago, threatening to run away with their division, and now? They're sharing a dubious record with the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers for something absolutely wild. The Chicago Cubs just dropped their ninth straight game, a brutal 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, and suddenly all that early-season hype has evaporated faster than rain on a hot T-Mobile Park summer day. This is the kind of stuff that makes you just shake your head, man.

The Collapse No One Saw Coming (Even If They Did)

Think about it: the Cubs kicked off this season with *two* ten-game winning streaks. That's right, two! They were on fire, dominating, looking unstoppable. But what the Elias Sports Bureau just dropped on us is insane: they're now the only team in the expansion era to have multiple 10-game winning streaks and a nine-game losing streak in the *same season*. That’s a stat that screams "what is even happening?!" They've lost 13 of their last 15 games. Their manager, Craig Counsell, isn't sugar-coating it, either. He said, "We got to play better. We've got to swing the bats better. We've got to pitch better. We need more guys contributing to good stuff, and as a coaching staff we've got to figure out a way to get the players there." You can feel the frustration, right?

Nine Times Two (Runs) Isn't Enough

It's been a rough stretch all around. This nine-game slide is the franchise's longest since 2022, but back then, they were rebuilding. Expectations are way higher now! They started this skid getting swept by the Brewers and losing to the Astros, and it just kept rolling against the improved Pirates. Michael Busch managed a solo homer in the fifth, but that was pretty much it. Five other hits all game, 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position, seven guys left on base. Ugh. Counsell hit it right on the head: "Offensively, we are equipped to be way more consistent than this and way better than this, and we need to show it." This loss marked the ninth time in 15 games they've scored two runs or fewer. And when Pirates relievers Wilber Dotel and Gregory Soto retired the last 10 Cubs hitters in order, you knew it was over. Counsell even tried some pinch-hitting magic in the ninth with Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, and Carson Kelly against the lefty Soto, and it blew up. Suzuki struck out looking on a 3-2 slider, appealing the call, but hey, the replay showed it scraped the bottom. That's just how May's been going for them.

What's Next for the Cubs? Anything But This, Hopefully.

Even with Ben Brown dealing, giving up just one run and four hits over six innings with seven strikeouts, it wasn't enough. His ERA is a sparkling 2.01, but a 427-foot bomb by Henry Davis off Trent Thornton in the seventh sealed their fate. As Busch put it, "It's pretty challenging. It's hard to see the bright spots in it. Just trying to do anything we can to scrape across a W." They're still somehow 29-25, good for third in a division where all five teams were above .500 on Memorial Day. But that record feels incredibly fragile right now. For us here in the Emerald City, watching this kind of volatility in another team's season just reminds you how wild this game can be. And speaking of our boys, the Mariners just dropped a tough one to the Royals, 8-6. We know that sting all too well, right? Let's hope the M's can turn it around and avoid any "dubious marks" of their own!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.