Chicago Cubs Bullpen Might Have Caught a Huge Break

Christian Yelich drilled a 102mph line drive off Webb's right forearm in the ninth inning, and Webb immediately left the field with the trainer. Fortunately, X-rays came back negative on his forearm, so the Cubs appear to have dodged a bullet.

Since August 1, the Cubs have lost seven games in which they led by at least two runs at some point, and the team has posted a 5.03 ERA ranking 25th in MLB since early August. The bullpen has been a major reason the Cubs have gone just 7-12 after cutting the division deficit to three games.

The Cubs are completely out of the division race, trailing the Brewers by nine games. In the Wild Card, they hold the No. 2 spot with a 4.5-game edge over Arizona and are one game back of the Phillies, though Chicago does hold the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, Arizona, and San Diego.

Starter David Peterson couldn't get through the fourth inning after blowing a 5-3 lead, even though the Cubs offense had gotten to Brewers ace and Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski. The bullpen then surrendered three more runs, including two in the ninth charged to Webb after his early exit, resulting in a 9-5 loss.

The Cubs have 22 games remaining in the regular season as of the time this article was written.