Chicago Cubs Have a Real Issue on Their Hands After Reliever's Latest Meltdown

After a crazy final series on the road where the Chicago Cubs were fortunate to escape with a split, they were ready to get back to Wrigley Field and play in front of their home fans where they hold a 10-4 record.

Their offense has been much more prolific at home as well, something they desperately needed after scoring only 3.86 runs per game in their seven contests on the road.

Welcoming in their division rival and NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs were hoping the bats would come alive at this important time.

That wasn't the case, however, as they were held to only one run.

Still, it was a winnable game when it was tied 1-1 through the seventh inning.

After getting a great outing from Hayden Wesneski where he only gave up three hits across his 6 1/3 innings of work, Richard Lovelady came in and kept the shutout alive.

But, with Yency Almonte and Hector Neris unavailable, manager Craig Counsell had to give the ball to Adbert Alzolay.

In the eighth inning, he allowed three earned runs on four hits, only getting one out before being pulled from the game.

Chicago went on to lose the opener 3-1.

Alzolay continues to be a major issue for the Cubs coming out of the bullpen as he now sits with an ERA of 5.54 with four credited losses and five blown saves.

Counsell had already moved him out of the closer role and was looking to avoid using him in high-leverage situations while he continues to struggle, but the skipper had little options to turn to on Friday.

"It feels bad for sure and you feel for Adbert for sure. He's struggling right now for sure. But we need Adbert. We need Adbert to be an effective member of the bullpen and we need to keep giving him opportunities to do that," he said after the game according to Tony Andracki of Marquee Sports Network.

That's really the crux of the situation right now.

They want him to work through his current struggles by giving him opportunities against Major League hitters, but he continues to hurt Chicago with his performances.

For Alzolay's part, he's not shying away from this rough patch.

He addressed the media after the game, saying, "This is a results-based game and I'm not getting results. That's the bottom line for me ... Yeah, at some point, it gets to you. But you just gotta keep going out there and hopefully one day it turns around."

With the injuries to the Cubs' pitching staff right now, they have limited options.

All they can hope for is that something clicks for him when he's on the mound and he gets out of this slump soon.