Cubs relievers ripped apart in 10-7 loss

Fresh from a day off, Cubs manager Lou Piniella had high hopes Tuesday night for his team's starting pitchers and its hitters.

Despite concerns about both areas, Piniella was citing another areas of concern after his team fell 10-7 to the Milwaukee Brewers in 38-degree weather at Wrigley Field.

Piniella wasn't all that thrilled with starter Jason Marquis, who lasted only 5 innings and gave up 10 hits and 5 runs.

But the manager put his middle relievers on notice that they have to get better -- and soon.

"Our pitching wasn't good tonight," said Piniella, whose club dropped its second straight and fourth in five to fall to 16-10. "We've got to do a better job in the middle, before we get to our short people. That's been a problem now for a while."

Kevin Hart, Sean Marshall and Michael Wuertz combined to give up 4 runs in the sixth and seventh innings as the Brewers turned a 5-4 lead into 9-4. Piniella stopped short of saying changes were coming.

"I said it's been a problem for a while, and it needs to be shored up," he said.

Marquis (1-1) gave up 1 in the first before the Cubs went ahead with 2 in the second. At the start of the third inning, home-plate umpire Jerry Crawford took ill and left the park for the hospital, forcing a delay of 13 minutes. There was no updated on Crawford's condition, but he walked off the field under his own power. When Marquis came back out, he gave up 3.

He downplayed the significance of the delay.

"No, not at all," he said of its impact. "I was able to stay loose, and they gave me ample amount of time to get loose again. I just didn't make pitches when I needed to. It seemed they jumped on every mistake I made. I had good movement on my ball today. I just wasn't able to keep it down consistently like I wanted to, and I put my team behind the 8-ball at the beginning."

The Cubs couldn't take advantage of the 7 walks issued by Brewers starting pitcher Ben Sheets (4-0).

Derrek Lee homered to lead off the Cubs' 2-run third inning with his eighth homer run of the season. That tied Sammy Sosa (2000 and 2002) and Lee Walls (1958) for the team record for April home runs.

"I didn't even know that," Lee said. "It's nice to get off to a good start. The team's off to a good start, so it's nice to contribute to that."

Piniella declined to say before the game that his team's offense was in a "mini-slump." The Cubs put 11 hits on the board Tuesday, including a 3-run double by Mike Fontenot in the seventh that brought the Cubs within 9-7. Even so, Lee said he'd like for the Cubs to halt this "mini-slide."

"We were playing so well that it's a little disappointing to kind of fall back," he said. "But dust yourself off and try to get hot again."