Levine: Cubs Look Human In Loss To Rockies

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The truths in life are death, taxes and that errors lead to losses.

On April 18, your taxes are due and your losses can be due to errors. on Friday, the Cubs played their worst game of the season by making four miscues (another could have been charged) and allowing Rockies  baserunners to run at will on the base paths in Colorado's 6-1 win at Wrigley Field.

After a torrid start to the season that included playing near-perfect baseball through the first nine games of the season, a mulligan must be allowed for an awful performance of error by commission and omission.

The infielders had their share of the mistakes, with Kris Bryant making three of the miscues in the field. The pitchers had trouble holding runners on base. Colorado stole three bases and looked like a team on top of the "small ball" way of winning a ball game.

Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks pitched a decent ball game, allowing three runs in six innings to take his first loss of the season.

"It was a weird game all around," Hendricks said. "I even had a few (errors) that made me feel my glove had a hole in it. We are fine. We have Jake (Arrieta) on the mound tomorrow."

The Cubs will take winning eight of 10 games anytime during this championship season. The loss was alien to the great defense and patient offense the team has shown so far in the young season.

"I really believe in the power of 24 hours," manager Joe Maddon said. "It's not always going to be an oil painting."

Maddon was alluding to the long baseball campaign. Even the best club will lose 35 percent of its games. The spring training-like mental mistakes compounded by physical errors is the hardest aspect for a manager's digestive system to endure.

Maddon cited the Cubs' failure to hold runners on base. "You just have to be self-aware in those moments. You need to know what you're not so good at and attempt to make it better."

Maddon wasn't down on his team at all, considering how excellent they have played so far this season.

"We are really good," Maddon said. "You have seen that already. It was a tough day on defense and obviously (Kris Bryant) had a tough time at third base today. Things we did were not what we normally do. We did not play our game today. We pitched really well. We did not hit well, but seriously, sometimes it's about the other team."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.