Why Quade's not panicking
As far as making statements goes, the Cubs spoke too softly and didn't carry a big enough stick on their just-concluded homestand.
And they've got even bigger problems now with pitchers Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells going on the disabled list.
When you looked at the schedule coming into the season, you figured the Cubs had to open at least 4-2 if not 5-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks.
After Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cubs stand at a lackluster 3-3 heading into three-city road trip.
They blew leads in both of their losses against the Pirates. With a chance to sweep the Diamondbacks and maybe ease the pain of losing two pitchers to injury, the Cubs laid an early Easter egg.
And they did it with the ace of the starting staff having his second subpar start in 2 outings. Ryan Dempster fell to 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA.
Still manager Mike Quade was looking at a bigger number.
“I probably tend to evaluate things in blocks of 15, in two-week stretches,” Quade said. “So you come out of this thing 3-3. We would have like to have been 6-0. They keep playing. We didn't play well at times. But we gave ourselves a chance to win the game in the eighth inning.
“There's so much good to take out of some of the stuff even though you got beat. You hope to build on that during the season. It's not good if you don't win ballgames, but at least it's things that you think will help you win games over the course of a long season.”
That seemed to be the spin inside the clubhouse, too.
“We played well,” said center fielder Marlon Byrd. “There are no negatives at all. It's early in the season. We want to play well. Now, it's time to go on the road and see what we're made of.”
Offense and defense have been two of the bigger concerns with this team. The Cubs were outhit 12-6 by the D'Backs and were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Aramis Ramirez hit his first homer of the season, a 2-run drive in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.
Alfonso Soriano homered leading off the seventh, but he struck out with runners on second and third to end the eighth.
On defense, the Cubs committed 3 errors, giving them 5 for the season.
“You work hard to fix the things you need to fix,” Quade said. “But you keep building on the things, whether it's battling back, whether it's creating opportunities. We only had 6 hits, but boy, it seemed like we still had chances right up until the end. I just have to believe that's going to pay off down the road.”
Dempster gave up a pair of runs in the third and 3 in the fifth. In 7 innings, he allowed 10 hits. He, too, was trying to see something positive despite breaking even at home against teams like the Pirates and D'Backs.
“You want a better homestand,” he said. “We had a real good chance to be 4-2. It's early in the season. We played some good games. We always have room to improve. It was, for the most part, a good homestand. We just didn't come away with as many wins as we would have liked.”