Watkins (4-3) allowed one earned run on five hits and no walks while striking out two across 5.2 innings to take the loss Thursday against the Cubs.
Watkins pitched to contact and worked efficiently, allowing only a solo home run in his final inning of work to take the tough-luck loss. The strong effort was needed, as entering Thursday's start Watkins had given up 11 earned runs across his last 19.2 innings, covering a span of four outings. Despite posting only a 48:22 K:BB, Watkins has managed to maintain a 4.04 ERA across 78 innings for the campaign.