NEW YORK -- If you want to know why the defending-champion Chicago Cubs are staring up at .500 in mid-June, look no further than the third inning of Monday’s contest against the New York Mets.

Or the fourth inning. Or the fifth inning. Or the sixth inning.

The Cubs hit into a 4-6-3 double play in each of those moments, killing any potential rally against Jacob deGrom and ensuring that Chicago went down quietly in a 6-1 loss that sent them to 31-32 on the season.

Whether it’s hitting into double plays or failing to come through in big spots, the offense that should be powering Chicago to the top of the NL Central is struggling to deliver time and time again, putting it in the middle of the pack in runs scored.

Hitting with runners in scoring position has been the Achilles' heel for the Cubs, who lead the baseball world in taking free passes but can’t get runners home because of an MLB-worst .214 team batting average with runners in scoring position.

It isn't a new storyline for them, but it would be in baseball. No team since at least 1961 has led the majors in walks while finishing last in batting average, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Cubs are doing their best to make history, as they rank first and next to last, respectively, in the two categories.

“You would think that’s incongruent,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said before Monday’s game. “You would think that if you have the eye to accept your walks that you would actually hit for a higher number average-wise. I can’t deny that.

“It also means to me, it heads up. There’s this room ... an aggression to the mean. We’re going to get back to this number that’s more reminiscent of what we’re capable of.”

Team president Theo Epstein said it would be like rolling “snake eyes” to hit so poorly with men on base for an entire season. He would be wise to not go to Las Vegas at this rate, though, as the Cubs’ league-worst batting average with runners in scoring position dropped even lower, thanks to their 0-for-5 night against the Mets.

Maddon and Epstein aren’t the only ones confused by the struggles.

“I would assume that walks generally help the [batting] average,” Ben Zobrist said. “We know there is a lot more in the tank. It’s a matter of executing. We need to execute our at-bats and not allow negative thoughts to prevent us from that execution.”

Zobrist might need to take his own advice after he hit into two of those 4-6-3 double plays Monday, but at least he has an excuse for his .223 overall batting average. His average on balls in play (BABIP) is just .235, well below his career .290 mark.

Not many Cubs can point to that as an excuse -- not when they’re making such light contact. Their team BABIP ranks 29th, but that comes coupled with the 27th-best hard-hit rate in the majors --compared to last season when they finished 13th in BABIP and 18th in hard-hit rate. If you’re not hitting the ball hard, hits are less likely to fall in. The Arizona Diamondbacks, for example, rank first in the NL in hard-hit rate and second in BABIP behind only the Colorado Rockies.

“We’re drawing all these walks, seeing all these pitches, at some point, if you’re good, you’re going to start hitting the ball and missing people,” Maddon said. “Sometimes we’ve hit the ball and haven’t missed people either.”

Some might question if the Cubs are actually “good” at the plate, based on the way things are going now, but there is certainly room for improvement on what they are currently doing.

“We’ve played 60 games [63],” rookie Ian Happ said. “Over the course of the next 100 games, those kinds of things start to even out. Let’s look at it at the end of the year.”

It’s a mature outlook for a first-year player, but that positive thought could turn to frustration, as it’s a constant mental battle when players are not hitting.

“Any time the results aren’t there, there’s going to be a little more frustration, but it really isn’t to the level you would have expected,” pitcher Kyle Hendricks said of the dugout during games. “Guys in the clubhouse really trust in what they do and their process. In the tough times, you have to simplify even more.”

Playing in a weak division has given the Cubs extra time to find themselves, but it soon might be time to take a long look in the mirror, as the St. Louis Cardinals just did with their organization.

“We haven’t done anything offensively at our best level yet, but we’re still in decent shape,” Maddon said. “And a lot of that has to do with geography [the division]. I’ll take it.”

The manager knows that his offense must find itself soon -- against any starting pitcher -- before it is too late.

“We can't keep using that as an excuse: that the other team's pitcher is good," Maddon said of being stymied by deGrom. "We have to start beating some better pitchers -- period.

“We have to figure out how to put some things together to beat those guys. To be able to compile base hits has been very difficult.”