Maddie Lee
Staff Reporter, Cubs
Notes: Mark Leiter Jr. nears a return, and Pete Crow-Armstrong gets stitches in his thumb.
Notes: Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong hopes a gash on his left thumb won’t keep him out. He got stepped on after stealing third base.
The Cubs fell to six games back of the final NL wild-card spot after their 5-3 loss to the Phillies on Wednesday night.
The Phillies beat the Cubs 6-4 in the series opener Tuesday despite Seiya Suzuki’s three-run home run in the ninth inning.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell gave injury updates on pitchers Julian Merryweather, Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and Mark Leiter Jr.
But the win did nothing to change the fact that the night before, they’d stumbled to the halfway point of the season with a 4-3 loss that pushed their low-water mark to 37-44, seven games below .500.
Assad has been dealing with a strained right forearm extensor, the team revealed.
The Cubs fell to the Giants 4-3 on Wednesday.
Notes: Kyle Hendricks reached 10 years of service time on Wednesday.