A closer look at what prompted Cubs' playoff collapse

You don't need a highlight DVD to relive last October's National League division series between the Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

All you need are snapshots.

Yep, it was over that fast. The Cubs had to say goodbye to the playoffs just when it seemed they were saying hello.

The Diamondbacks, who return to Wrigley Field today to open a three-game series, knocked off the Cubs in rapid fire: 3-1 and 8-4 in Phoenix and 5-1 at Wrigley Field.

Instead of reflecting on a second-half rush that got them to the playoffs, the Cubs were packing up.

"Yeah, exactly, more shocked than anything," said infielder-outfielder Mark DeRosa, who starred in one of the series' most important snapshots. "We just played three really bad games. I wouldn't say the first game was a bad game. We got beat with the longball late. It's a perfect example of a shock, 'Oh my God, the season's over.' We didn't really give ourselves much of a chance to win that series."

Of course, the way the two teams played had a lot to do with this series being over faster than some of manager Lou Piniella's recent postgame news conferences.

Aside from Game 1 starter Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs didn't pitch. And for the most part, the Cubs didn't hit against an Arizona pitching staff that had the perfect game plan.

"The way that we played, it's not a surprise that we weren't around long," said Game 2 starter Ted Lilly, another snapshot subject. "We played a good team. We needed to pitch and hit, and we weren't able to do that. I think it's a combination of we didn't play well, and they were kind of hot going in."

With all that in mind, let's take a look at the key snapshots from the 2007 division series:

Snapshot 1: Z's early hook

In Game 1, the Cubs were tied at 1-1 in the sixth inning, and Zambrano kept it that way in the bottom of the inning, when he threw his 85th pitch of the game.

It turned out to be his final pitch of the series.

Piniella pulled Zambrano after 6 innings, and Carlos Marmol allowed 2 runs in the seventh inning. That was it.

Afterward, Piniella was ready for the second-guessers. He said he was saving Zambrano for Game 4.

"I'm not accused of anything, sir," he shot back to one question. "I've got a good bullpen here, OK, and I trust my bullpen. I'm bringing back a pitcher on three days' rest on Sunday, and I took a shot with my bullpen. It didn't work today."

Snapshot 2: No glove love

In Game 2, the D'Backs' Chris Young hit a 3-run homer off Lilly in a 4-run second inning. Lilly showed his frustration over the blast by throwing his glove to the ground.

"I think that I was just maybe putting a little bit too much pressure on myself to perform and trying to throw harder than I needed to in order to get hitters out," Lilly said in Cincinnati during the recent road trip.

Snapshot 3: From din to zero decibels in one swing

The series shifted to Wrigley Field for Game 3 on an unseasonably warm October evening. The D'Backs took a 2-0 lead against Rich Hill in the first inning and added a run in the fourth when Michael Wuertz came in after Hill put two runners aboard.

The Cubs scored once in the bottom of the fourth and had the crowd in a frenzy in the fifth.

Ryan Theriot opened with a walk and a stolen base. After Derrek Lee grounded out, Cliff Floyd and Aramis Ramirez walked to load the bases for Mark DeRosa.

As DeRosa came to the plate, the 42,157 fans in attendance may have made Wrigley Field sound the loudest it has ever been.

"It was deafening for a split second," DeRosa recalled this week. "It really was. I had to step out of the box to be able to hear myself think."

Cubs fans and DeRosa gladly would have lost a little more hearing, but it wasn't to be as he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and, as it turned out, the Cubs' chances.

"It went from probably the most unbelievable moment of my playing career to just a terrible letdown for me, personally," DeRosa said. "I felt like if I get a hit there, you never know what can happen. The course of an entire series could change. I hope I get another chance to redeem myself."

Snapshot 4: Swing and miss

If anybody wants to tear up the photos from this series, it would be Alfonso Soriano. He went 2-for-14 with 4 strikeouts.

The D'Backs weren't going to give Soriano anything good to hit, and they didn't, keeping first-pitch fastballs out of his hot zone. But he swung away anyway, drawing only 1 walk. Soriano wasn't alone. Ramirez went 0-for-12 with 5 strikeouts.

"We finished the season very strong, and we went the playoffs very excited," Soriano said this week. "We didn't have the big hit. They (the Diamondbacks) knew that every pitch and every play counts in the playoffs, and they pitched good -- and different, too. They made very good pitches. They played better than us."

Bruce's blog: Visit www.dailyherald.com to check out "Chicago's Inside Pitch" with Bruce Miles for the latest on Kosuke Fukudome's road woes, his trouble with hitting change-ups, and much more.

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Associated Press

Carlos Zambrano mops his brow next to teammate Ryan Theriot after Chris Young stole second base against the Cubs in Game 1 of the NL division series. It was Zambrano's only appearance in the series.