Cubs miss an opportunity

PHOENIX -- Two chances to win two important games.

Two disappointing losses.

One seething manager.

That summed it up Sunday after the Cubs dropped a 5-4 decision to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

On Saturday night, the Cubs failed to execute in key situations, and they fell 3-1.

In Sunday's loss, they jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but starting pitcher Jason Marquis couldn't hold it, and the Cubs failed to complete a ninth-inning rally.

"When you lose, they're all tough," manager Lou Piniella said. "We've got to start scoring more runs. I mean, that's really the bottom line. We can't expect our pitching to go out there and give up 1 or 2 every time we play."

Luckily for the Cubs, they still hold first place by 1½ games over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

But this is a division where the leaders are mudsliding to the rest of the pack.

The Cubs lead the "race" at 66-63 with the Brewers at 65-65. Don't look now, but the Cardinals are within 2 at 63-64, and it's gotten so that the Cubs are talking about the Reds, 6½ back at 60-70.

There were plenty of Cubs in line to take the blame Sunday.

First among them was catcher Jason Kendall, who couldn't get a bunt down with runners on first and second and nobody out in the ninth with the Cubs down 5-4.

Kendall eventually struck out on a bad ball, and to top it off, Mike Fontenot was thrown out stealing third on the play. Piniella said he put the runners in motion because Kendall is a good handler of the bat. That was cold comfort to Kendall.

"The bottom line is I should have got the bunt down," said Kendall, who entered the game in the sixth inning. "I didn't. I didn't get the bunt down. There was one (pitch) that was good, and the other one was high, the one I popped up. The bottom line is I have to get the job done, and I didn't."

Back at the beginning, the Cubs scored 3 off D'backs starter Yusmeiro Petit, with Cliff Floyd capping the first inning with a solo homer, his first since June 26.

"I tell you what, I didn't know how to run around the bases," Floyd said. "I hit the bag with the wrong foot."

Chris Young homered leading off the bottom of the first against Marquis. Young hit a 3-run homer in Arizona's 4-run second.

"I, obviously, didn't do my job," said Marquis (10-8). "The guys battled hard and put runs on the board early for me. I just didn't make pitches when I needed to."

The only other run of the game came in the third, when Derrek Lee hit an inside-the-park home run on a ball that hit high off the center-field wall and caromed back toward left, enabling Lee to circle the bases.

Lee has 15 homers for the season, and he agreed with his manager's overall assessment of the offense.

"Yeah, today was an example of this game was kind of there for the taking," Lee said. "We just couldn't get any offense generated. You would have thought we would have scored more runs. I've scuffled awhile. Sori (Alfonso Soriano) is out. So things aren't going exactly as we planned.

"But, I mean, we can dwell on that, or we can say we're in first place."

For whatever that's worth.

Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 4

At the plate: Cliff Floyd hit a solo homer in the Cubs' 3-run first inning. Floyd was 2-for-4. Derrek Lee hit an inside-the-park solo homer in the third. Ryan Theriot walked and doubled in what could be his final game as leadoff man, with Alfonso Soriano set to come off the DL Tuesday.

On the mound: Jason Marquis could not hold a 3-0 first-inning lead. He gave up a homer to D'backs leadoff man Chris Young in the first inning and a 3-run shot to Young in the second. Marquis worked 51/3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs. Carlos Marmot worked 12/3 scoreless innings of relief. Bob Howry finished up with a scoreless inning as the bullpen continue its solid work of late.

-- Bruce Miles