The Chicago Cubs were on national television Sunday night and they did not play like primetime players. They lost the rubber game of their series with the Minnesota Twins 4-0.

It was frustrating to see the Cubs’ best pitcher, and Cy Young candidate offer his worst outing of the season – especially with postseason play nearing quickly. Yu Darvish (7-3), allowed season-highs in runs (four) and hits (nine).

Darvish wasn’t helped by Kyle Schwarber who seemed to fall into a trance when fielding this hit.

Manager David Ross pulled Schwarber after the inning was done and the manager was asked, during the game, if Schwarber was pulled for injury. The response was that he was not.The implication was that Schwarber was benched for his play.

After the game, Ross added that he rather keep things “in house.”

Schwarber knew exactly what was going down and addressed it.

It doesn’t help Schwarber’s cause for getting back on the field (or the Cubs pennant chances) if he also doesn’t start hitting.

It’s good to see Ross take a different approach to the players than former manager Joe Maddon did in previous years. He’s holding players accountable for their actions and hopefully making them playoff tough.

Jon Lester takes the mound for the Cubs Monday night. He has nine strikeouts and three walks in 11 innings in his past two turns (1.64 ERA) and looks to win his third game against two losses.

The Cubs bats might be happy to see JT Brubaker pitching for the Pirates. He has a 5.58 ERA in seven starts since joining the rotation. The Cubs scored only two runs against the Twins and need to get their offense going or the team will go nowhere fast in the postseason.