Cubs can't get big hit in loss to Marlins

The on-again, off-again Cubs offense made like many of its fans and took Friday afternoon off.

Though the Cubs posted a respectable 10 hits against six Marlins pitchers, they couldn't deliver the timely knock in a 3-2 loss before 41,570 at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 men on the bases, including six runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings combined.

Such offensive inefficiency left the Cubs vulnerable late in a 2-2 game, and Florida pinch hitter Jeremy Hermida stuck his finger in their collective eye by ripping a game-winning, solo home run to the right-field bleachers off Bob Howry in the ninth.

The Cubs, who have scored 2 runs or less in six of their last 9 games, went down meekly in the bottom of the ninth against Florida closer Kevin Gregg. He earned his 21st save by retiring Ryan Theriot on a groundball, Derrek Lee on a flyball and Aramis Ramirez on another grounder to end the game.

"Going through 2-3-4 in the order isn't exactly what you're wishing for when you go out there, but who cares?" Gregg said. "They still have to hit it and you still have to throw strikes."

So what's the answer for the inconsistent Cubs offense?

"If I knew I'd be hitting .350 by now," said Aramis Ramirez, who went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .267. "I don't know, I just go out there and try to make adjustments pitch by pitch and try to put the ball in play."

The only Cubs offensive production came in the form of a second-inning home run by Geovany Soto that tied the game 1-1 and Reed Johnson's solo shot in the sixth that staked them to a 2-1 lead.

Otherwise ... crickets, a sound hardly soothing to manager Lou Piniella, who said change will come sooner than later.

"I'm looking for people that can hit, that's what I'm looking for," Piniella said. "We're going to try to put the best team out there to put some runs on the board with a little more consistency than we have. Outside of that, there's not much we can do. We have some people who are hurt and some people that are limited in how much we can play them."

The floundering offense squandered a quality start from Ryan Dempster, who battled his way to a no-decision. Though he allowed just 1 run on 2 hits in 6 innings, Dempster found trouble due to 6 walks, including 3 consecutive free passes with two outs in the fifth inning

Dempster escaped that jam by striking out all-star Dan Uggla with a slider in a 1-2 count.

"It's not all going to be roses every time you go up there and breeze through things," Dempster said. "It was a battle, but it was nice to get through it unscathed."

Jeff Samardzija, asked to protect a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning in his major-league debut, wasn't able to do so. Florida's Hanley Ramirez singled up the middle with one out and stole second, and Jorge Cantu got on top of a 97-mph Samardzija fastball and ripped it past third base to tie the game.

"I was happy with my fastball, but a couple of them stayed up in that first inning," Samardzija said. "I know that the pitch to Cantu, the ball stayed up and he kind of hooked it down the line."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=223402">Samardzija gets a wakeup call at Wrigley<span class="date"> [7/25/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=223594">August slate looms large<span class="date"> [7/25/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>