Ugly night in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS -- Jason Marquis was giving, and the St. Louis Cardinals were more than willing to take.
After getting through the first 3 innings quickly and efficiently, Marquis fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning and then fell completely out of it in the fifth, as the Cardinals scored 5 runs on their way to an 11-1 victory over the Cubs.
The Cardinals salvaged the finale of this three-game series, while the Cubs failed to gain ground on the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central after the Brewers lost to the Reds earlier in the day.
The walks did in Marquis, who saw his record fall to 7-6 and his ERA balloon from 3.92 to 4.20, making him the only Cubs starter with an ERA above 4.00.
The warning signs came early for Marquis. He allowed a walk in the third and another in the fourth but got help from a double play before Scott Rolen put St. Louis up 1-0 with a home run.
The biggest walk of the night came in the fifth after No. 8 hitter Aaron Miles singled. Cardinals pitcher Braden Looper went up looking to bunt, but Marquis ended up walking him.
"The big walk was the one with their pitcher, Looper, just trying to bunt," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team fell to 53-47. "Just let him bunt, get an out. If they get a run, it's a 2-0 ballgame."
Things got much worse for Marquis and the Cubs.
After David Eckstein sacrificed, Marquis walked Jim Edmonds and then hit Albert Pujols to force in a run. Chris Duncan put the game out of reach with an opposite-field grand slam to right-center.
Like his manager, Marquis looked back on the walk to the pitcher.
"That was a little frustrating, obviously," Marquis said. "When they give you the free out, you put yourself in a better position to get out of that inning. Obviously, I didn't make a pitch when I needed to."
Marquis was coming off a victory last Friday against the Diamondbacks. But he hasn't been able to find the consistency he had earlier in the season.
"I don't know about inconsistency," Piniella said. "But when he seems to get in trouble, it prolongs out there. You've got to make a pitch and get a double play, like he did earlier in the ballgame when there was a man on third and (one) out."
Billy Petrick relieved Marquis in the sixth and gave up a 3-run homer to Albert Pujols, who was hitless in his first 11 at-bats against the Cubs this series.
Derrek Lee provided the only Cubs run with his one-out homer in the sixth. It was Lee's ninth homer of the year.
The Cubs' Ryan Theriot saw his errorless streak at shortstop end after 346 innings when he threw a ball away in the eighth.
Even ironman radio man Pat Hughes saw a streak end, as he missed his first game in 12 years because of an illness.
The blowout loss didn't dampen Piniella's spirits as the Cubs got set for a three-game series against the Reds.
"Hey, look, we won two out of three here," Piniella said. "Let's go to Cincinnati and try to do the same, that's all."
Cardinals 11, Cubs 1
At the plate: Derrek Lee hit his ninth homer of the year in the sixth inning. Cliff Floyd had a pair of singles. Jason Kendall singled and doubled.
On the mound: Jason Marquis gave up 5 hits and 6 runs in 5 innings. Included were a solo homer by Scott Rolen in the fourth and a grand slam by Chris Duncan in the fifth. Billy Petrick fared little better, allowing 4 runs in the sixth, 3 coming on a homer by Albert Pujols.
-- Bruce Miles