Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar has key error, but why was Matt Shaw playing first base?

There can be no disputing that a throwing error by Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar in the 11th inning allowed the deciding run to score in the Pirates’ 4-3 win over the Cubs, especially after the Cubs failed to capitalize on a similar wild throw by Pirates reliever Yohan Ramirez in the bottom of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.

But dig deeper, and you discover a connection between the error and an 0 for 30 slump by Cubs first baseman Michael Busch, which is twice as long as any o-fer he has ever had in the big leagues. Take away Busch’s slump, and maybe the only defense between Thielbar’s throw and right field isn’t a guy, Matt Shaw, wearing a first baseman’s mitt for the first time in his professional career.

“Yeah, I mean Michael’s struggling,’’ manager Craig Counsell said of Busch, who hasn’t hit safely since his seventh-inning single against the Angels here on April 1, eight games ago. “I mean, he’s struggling, and you know, he’s struggling.’’

Sometimes, no other word suffices.

“We’re working on it,’’ Counsell said. “We’re trying to figure it out. He’s trying to figure it out. But you know, we got to take a look at, maybe a harder look, at what’s going on.’’

With the Cubs desperate to string together rallies to overcome the 3-0 lead starting pitcher Edward Cabrera spotted the Pirates through three innings, Counsell lifted Busch, who was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a groundout, for pinch hitter Carson Kelly with a runner on third , one run in, and the Cubs down, 3-2. Kelly popped out on the first pitch.

In the bottom of the ninth, after Dansby Swanson walked and took second on a passed ball, Kelly also walked. Counsell lifted him for a pinch-runner, Shaw, hoping the Cubs could end matters there. Alex Bregman flared a game-tying single, but Shaw was stranded on third when Ian Happ lined out.

That means Shaw went into the game at first base in the 10th. The Pirates, who left 13 men on base. left two on in the top of the inning. The Cubs, who left 16 on base—10 in the last four innings—left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning.

Thielbar, who had given up a two-run homer to Bryan Reynolds for the only runs in the Pirates’ 2-0 win Friday (“They just beat me”), appeared on cruise control in the 11th, striking out the first two batters he faced. Then, after an intentional walk to O’Neil Cruz, who had hit safely in his first four trips to the plate, Thielbar fielded Brandon Lowe’s tapper in front of the plate—and threw it wide of the bag, allowing ghost runner Alex Gonzales to score the go-ahead run.

“I work on that play every single day…I fielded it nice, came out of the glove nice…I mean, it makes me sick.’’

Shaw had little chance of making the play. “I thought afterward that maybe I should have come off the bag,’’ he said, but the run would have scored anyway.

Could Busch with his longer reach and right-handed glove been able to make the play? We’ll never know.

For now, the Cubs remain in search of their first come-from-behind victory in 2026.

“We just gotta execute,’’ said Bregman, looking for his first big moment as a Cub and thought he might have had it with his game-tying hit. “We’ll do it better. We’ll do it better.’’

Notes

Seiya Suzuki was not in Saturday’s starting lineup, but pinch hit for Moises Ballesteros in the sixth, singled and remained in the game for three more at-bats. He popped out in foul territory with the bases loaded to end the game.

• The Cubs have not announced their rotation for the Phillies series, but it would appear likely that Javier Assad, Colin Rea and Shota Imanaga will pitch in that order.