After walking the Yankees’ Alex Verdugo, Cubs starter Javier Assad looked to have gotten out of the fifth inning unscathed when center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong caught a fly ball by Gleyber Torres and rifled a throw to first baseman Michael Busch to catch Verdugo straying off the base.
After the call was overturned, however, Assad was left to face superstar Juan Soto with two outs, a precarious proposition in any game, particularly in a low-scoring affair such as the one Saturday. After Soto worked his way to a 3-1 count, Assad battled back to make it 3-2 before getting a swinging strikeout on a 93.3 mph sinker at the top of the zone to end the inning.
By the time he left the game, Assad had yielded two runs (one earned) and three hits, struck out five and walked three in 5⅔ innings in the Cubs’ 2-0 loss to the Yankees.
‘‘We attacked the zone well today; I executed pitches really well,’’ Assad said. ‘‘Felt really good with all my pitches.’’
Assad has allowed three or fewer runs in 10 consecutive starts since July 13 and has a 3.14 ERA for the season.
‘‘He pitched very well,’’ manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘[He] did his job.’’
Scoring woes at home
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton stopped and stared after connecting on a sinker from Assad near the heart of the strike zone.
With an exit velocity of 110.2 mph and a launch angle of 25 degrees, the drive to right field had an expected batting average of .990. But the ball stayed in the park with the wind blowing in.
Scoring generally is suppressed when the wind blows in at Wrigley Field, which has been the case for the majority of this season. The Cubs have scored 359 runs on the road and 282 at home.
‘‘In weather like this, you kind of have to create traffic as many times as you can and then just try to punch through one of them,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘The home run is obviously difficult on days like yesterday and today.’’
The Cubs’ offense was better at home than on the road last season, scoring 432 runs at Wrigley and 387 away. For much of this season, however, scoring at home has been a struggle.
This and that
Right fielder Seiya Suzuki has played 42 games as the Cubs’ designated hitter this season, with Crow-Armstrong taking over in center and Cody Bellinger manning right. Playing DH is tricky because Suzuki doesn’t have defense to occupy his time.
‘‘The unseen thing is just how you manage time between at-bats,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘For guys that DH, it’s kind of not hitting too much, not thinking too much and not overthinking either what has happened or what’s going to happen because you don’t have the defense to take your mind off it.’’
• Left-hander Justin Steele was scheduled to play catch Saturday as he works his way back from tendinitis in his left elbow. He is on the 15-day injured list.
