Logan Schafer races around the bases as Cubs defense falls apart

What does it take to turn a harmless ground ball to shortstop into a free run for the opponents?

Never fear, baseball fans, the Chicago Cubs have the answer.

During Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, shortstop Starlin Castro, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and third baseman Kris Bryant teamed up for one of the most mind-boggling defensive sequences you'll ever see. The result of which saw Logan Schafer circle the bases without his batted ball actually leaving the infield.

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It happened in the ninth inning with the game already well in hand for Milwaukee. Schafter hit a chopper to short, that should have been an easy second out. Only it wasn't, because Castro short-armed the throw and skipped it past Rizzo, who's usually pretty adept at covering for those mistakes.

In this case, he could not, and it was hardly his fault. However, what was his fault was the lackadaisical manner in which he retrieved the baseball. It almost appeared as if he thought the ball was dead for some reason. Either that, or he didn't expect Schafer to keep running.

Whichever is true, it was a bad assumption on his part, because the play was still live and Schafer was still running, all the way to third base. At that point, Rizzo attempted a desperation heave across the diamond, only nobody was there to take it. Apparently, Kris Bryant was going to back up a throw to second, which left third vacant.

As the ball sailed over everybody's head, Schafter collided with the umpire and his third base coach, but still managed to trot home with a most unusual and embarrassing Little League home run.

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It was one of those plays that draws a special reaction from managers like Joe Maddon.

Looking at things on a grander scale, Saturday was not a particularly good day for the Cubs in any phase.

Not only did they look sloppy on defense — Rizzo and Addison Russell also collided chasing a pop up earlier — in losing to the five-win Milwaukee Brewers, they did so while striking out a season-high 18 times against Mike Fiers and Milwaukee's bullpen.

Twelve different players took that stroll, including Kris Bryant four times.

Really not a good day at all, but the good news is it's only one day and one loss.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813