Key keywords: Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, 18-3 blowout loss, 2024 MLB Regular Season, Wrigley Field, Cubs preseason cautious optimism, Giants offensive explosion, Justin Steele injury For weeks leading up to the 2024 MLB regular season, Chicago Cubs fans, players, and front office staff clung to a sense of cautious optimism: the team had added key bullpen pieces, strengthened their middle infield, and retained their core of young position players and top-tier starting pitchers, leading most analysts to slot them as a wild card contender, if not a legitimate National League Central title threat. That optimism vanished entirely on a brutal Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, as the Cubs were dismantled 18-3 by the visiting San Francisco Giants in one of the most lopsided home losses in the franchise’s recent history. The game went off the rails for the Cubs almost immediately. Ace starter Justin Steele, who finished top 5 in NL Cy Young voting last season, took the mound to huge fanfare, but gave up 5 earned runs on 4 hits, including a two-run homer to Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, before recording the third out of the first inning. Things only got worse in the third frame, when Steele gave up 7 more runs, highlighted by a grand slam from Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores, before exiting the game with an apparent forearm strain after throwing just 52 pitches. The Cubs bullpen did nothing to stem the tide, combining to give up 6 more earned runs over the next 5 innings, walking 7 batters and surrendering 4 additional home runs. The Giants offense, which had scored just 12 runs total in their first 6 games of the season, exploded for 21 total hits, 7 home runs, and drew 9 walks in the blowout win. San Francisco starter Logan Webb, who had struggled in his first two outings of the year, tossed 6 shutout innings, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 8 Cubs batters to earn his first win of 2024. The Cubs finally got on the board in the seventh inning, with a three-run home run from left fielder Ian Happ, but the run came long after the game was out of reach, with most of the Wrigley Field crowd having headed for the exits by the middle of the sixth inning. After the game, Cubs manager David Ross did not mince words about the performance. “We got completely outplayed in every facet of the game today,” Ross told reporters. “That cautious optimism everyone’s been talking about? It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t show up and execute. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and first on the list is figuring out what’s going on with Justin, because he’s a huge part of our team.” The team announced after the game that Steele would undergo an MRI on Wednesday to determine the severity of his forearm strain, with fears that he could miss up to 6 weeks if the injury is a moderate strain. The Cubs will look to bounce back on Wednesday as they close out their series against the Giants, before heading to St. Louis for a 3-game weekend series against their division rival Cardinals.