No, that wasn't another "YUUU!" chant you heard in the fifth inning at Wrigley Field Wednesday afternoon.
The crowd didn't get behind Yu Darvish the way Joe Maddon wanted them to after the right-hander's last start at Wrigley Friday.
For the fourth time in his six starts in a Cubs uniform, Darvish couldn't make it out of the fifth inning — allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, 3 walks and 3 homers in 4.1 innings.
He did strike out 8 batters on a very windy day, but Mother Nature did nothing to aid the homers that came off the bat at 106.8 mph, 107 mph and 101.5 mph, respectively. Throw in a few other extremely hard-hit knocks (Gerardo Parra's 104 mph and 102.3 mph doubles, Charlie Blackmon's 103.3 mph single) and it was clear Darvish was getting battered around independent of the weather conditions at the corner of Clark and Addison.
"Overall, I think it was a bad rhythm," Darvish said through a translator. "A lot of things didn't go well. ... There are good days and bad days and today turned out to be the latter. Everything in general just went south today."
Darvish's ERA now sits at an even 6.00 on the season and he will fall to 0-3 with a 1.57 WHIP. Those numbers have led to more pronounced panicking among Cubs fans Wednesday — both at the ballpark with the "Boo Birds" and on social media.
His fifth inning issues popped up again Wednesday, allowing solo homers to Trevor Story and Chris Iannetta before being yanked for Brian Duensing.
MLB
Darvish's fifth inning numbers in a Cubs uniform: 14 ER, 16 H, 3 HR, a 31.50 ERA and only 12 outs recorded.
Joe Maddon met with Darvish in Cleveland last week to talk specifically about the pitcher's mental approach when adversity arises. Darvish worked that to perfection in the fifth inning last Friday and the Cubs don't feel it was a mental issue in the fifth frame Wednesday and maintain there's no concern about that particular inning.
"Not really," Maddon said. "Of course, you want him to get deeper. I keep referencing stuff. I see stuff. Execution wasn't as good today. But last time out, he was executing so well and it was a 6-inning outing, 100-something pitches. We just gotta keep working through it and getting everybody on the same page. He's new here.
"But physically, he looks great. He looks great. It's the conclusion or the execution of the pitch that we have to firm up a bit. There's no excuses. I'm just saying he looks good, but the conclusion hasn't been as good, I agree."
He has recorded two quality starts against the Brewers, which serve as the only time he's made it out of the fifth inning.
Take those two starts against Milwaukee out of the equation and Darvish's numbers in 2018 look like this: 9.50 ERA, 2.17 WHIP in 18 IP.
Needless to say, this isn't the start the Cubs or Darvish hoped for when the two sides agreed to a five-year, $126 million deal in February.
"Obviously we just trust that the process as it goes for him will continue to get better," veteran Ben Zobrist said. "One month is one month and everybody can struggle for a month. You just keep making adjustments and he'll get comfortable and find his groove and we won't be talking about it too much more, I think.
"It just takes a little while to get comfortable and get your groove and it's very early still, so let's hope that we get it going a little better in May."