Bullpen falters as Chicago Cubs fall short of a sweep

ST. LOUIS - If there is any nagging cause for concern with the Cubs as they push toward the playoffs, it's with the bullpen.

There has been some fraying at the edges with the relievers lately, and things unraveled in an ugly way Wednesday in a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

The Cubs were five outs away from a statement-making, three-game sweep of their Gateway Arch rivals, and lefty Jon Lester had just tossed 7 innings of superlative ball, leaving with a 3-1 lead.

But in the eighth, Pedro Strop, Clayton Richard and Fernando Rodney combined to allow 3 runs, giving the Cardinals some life as they try to maintain their grip on first place in the National League Central.

Strop retired the first batter of the inning but allowed a walk and a hit. Richard, who has supplanted Travis Wood as the main lefty in the pen, gave up a single to Matt Carpenter. And the recently acquired Rodney allowed a game-breaking, 2-run double to Stephen Piscotty.

"That's what happened earlier in the season," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, with perhaps just the slightest bite to his voice. "We can't permit that to happen. We played a great game again. We had the right guys in their part of the batting order.

"It didn't play out. We have to finish that game off. That's what I've been talking about. Early in the season, we lost a couple like that. We were behind, like, one inning the whole series. And that's all that mattered.

"Yeah, it's a great series regardless, winning two out of three. I thought Jonny (Lester) was fabulous. Jonny was really good today."

Lester gave up only 2 hits in his 7 innings, throwing 105 pitches. His record held at 9-10 but his ERA fell from 3.59 to 3.50. Far be it from Lester to nag on the bullpen.

"They have a hard job," he said. "They're called upon every single day. They don't know when they're pitching. They're always in high-leverage situations. When they don't succeed in those high-leverage situations, it's really easy to stand back and point fingers at those guys.

"Those guys have done it all year for us. These guys are fine. These guys will be fine. That's just a tough one today.

"We've got to take the positives from this three-game series. We came in here and made a little bit of a statement. It would have been nice to really make a statement and pull that one out today, but it is what it is and we'll go get them tomorrow."

For the third time in this series, the Cubs scored in each of the first two innings. Anthony Rizzo and Tommy La Stella hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the first inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals scored a run off Lester on the only 2 hits he gave up in the bottom of the first. The Cubs made it 3-1 in the second on an RBI single by Dexter Fowler.

In the first two innings of the games at Busch Stadium, the Cubs scored a total of 12 runs. Their record fell to 80-58, dropping them to 7½ games behind the Cardinals, whom they're trying to catch and win the division.

Maddon turned optimistic later in his media session.

"I'm happy we're disappointed," he said. "That's pretty cool."

With the Cubs headed to Philadelphia, Maddon then turned on the music in his office. Coming out of his sound system was "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John. In May, Maddon played polka music at the end of a series at Busch in preparation for a trip to Milwaukee. In June, it was "New York, New York" as the Cubs headed to the Big Apple.

"We had a chance to go three out of three and we failed," he said, "but ultimately you'll take the two out of three, but I'm happy that we're upset that we didn't."

Cubs scouting report

Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park

TV: Comcast SportsNet today-Saturday; WGN Sunday

Radio: WBBM 780-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jake Arrieta (18-6) vs. Adam Morgan (5-5) today at 6:05 p.m.; Kyle Hendricks (6-6) vs. Alec Asher (0-2) Friday at 6:05 p.m.; Dan Haren (9-9) vs. Jared Eickhoff (1-3) Saturday at 6:05 p.m.; Jason Hammel (8-6) vs. Aaron Harang (5-15) Sunday at 12:35 p.m.

At a glance: The Cubs will be looking for a measure of revenge against the Phillies, who left Wrigley Field with a three-game sweep July 24-26. Included in that series was a no-hitter by Cole Hamels, who subsequently was traded to Texas. The Phillies are trying to escape last place in the NL East. They're an organization in transition, with former Cubs president Andy MacPhail having been brought in to oversee the operation. Philadelphia ranks 14th in team ERA (4.84). Playing in a hitter-friendly home park, they're 14th in on-base percentage and 13th in home runs. Ryan Howard entered Wednesday leading the team in homers (21) and RBI (72). Odubel Herrera led in batting average (.302). The Cubs are in the midst of a three-city, 11-game road trip. Arrieta, who is shooting for a 20-win season, was on the mound for the Cubs when Hamels tossed his no-hitter.

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, Tuesday-Thursday

- Bruce Miles