Cubs fall in 11 ... and back to 2nd
HOUSTON -- Lou Piniella didn't even wait for questions.
"It reminds me of the first three games we played here," the Cubs manager said moments after his team lost a 5-4 gut-wrencher in 11 innings to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Piniella, who dressed quickly and left the building after his minute-and-a-half news conference, was referring to the three-game sweep his team suffered at Minute Maid Park just more than a month ago.
Tuesday's loss was much more costly. The Cubs (73-71) came to town allegedly a changed and confident team after losing two of three at Pittsburgh over the weekend before rebounding against the St. Louis Cardinals at home Monday.
But it was more of the same old, same old as they left 15 runners on base and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position against the last-place Astros. The loss dropped the Cubs 1 game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
"Missed chances," Piniella fumed. "I don't know how many opportunities we had to score runs today. How many did we leave on base? Fifteen. Hard to win that way."
Taking the loss hardest was one guy who probably shouldn't have. Closer Ryan Dempster, pitching in his second inning, walked Mark Loretta with one out in the 11th. Eric Bruntlett pinch ran and sprinted home on Luke Scott's triple to the gap in right-center.
"I made a stupid pitch," Dempster said quickly as he finished getting dressed. "I walked a guy. Lost the game. That's it."
Scott's hit was the first since Ty Wigginton singled off reliever Carlos Marmol in the sixth. Marmol, Bob Howry and Dempster retired 15 straight Astros from that point until Dempster walked Loretta.
The real blame lay with the Cubs' offense, which stranded at least one runner in each of the final six innings, including two in the eighth and three in the 11th.
"They made a few plays," said Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, noting several good catches by Houston fielders. "There's other times we just didn't get the job done. I don't have a reason for it. We need to do a better job of trying to get some runs in. It just didn't work out tonight."
The Cubs broke a 1-1 tie in the third against Brandon Backe, making just his second start of the season after coming back from elbow surgery. Mark DeRosa's 3-run homer gave the Cubs a 4-1 lead, and it looked like they might tack on some more runs.
But Cubs starting pitcher Jason Marquis, who was "very so-so," according to Piniella, allowed 2 in the fifth and exited after giving up a single to Carlos Lee and a game-tying double to Loretta in the sixth.
"Obviously, I didn't make the pitches when I needed to," Marquis said. "I left a few balls out over the plate. The team got me ahead with a 4-1 lead, and I just wasn't able to hold it."
There was plenty of blame to go around on the offense. Lee flied out with the bases loaded in the second. In the eighth, the Cubs had runners at first and second with one out, but Alfonso Soriano popped out to short on a first pitch. Left fielder Lee then made a nice running catch on Ryan Theriot's liner.
"I don't know about the approaches," Piniella said of his hitters. "I'm talking about the results. To (heck) with the approaches. It's too late to worry about approaches."
Astros 5, Cubs 4 (11)
At the plate: Mark DeRosa hit his ninth homer of the year, a 3-run drive to left-center in the third to break a 1-1 tie and put the Cubs up 4-1. Cliff Floyd singled twice and walked. Jason Kendall opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second.
On the mound: Jason Marquis threw only 6 pitches but lost his stuff quickly in the sixth inning, when he was charged with the tying run. Marquis got credit for 5 innings, giving up 8 hits and 4 runs, 3 earned. Carlos Marmol bailed Marquis out of further trouble in the sixth. Bob Howry worked 2 innings and struck out four batters for the first time since July 21, 2004, while he was with Cleveland.
-- Bruce Miles