No magic in this one as Brewers beat Cubs 6-2

Cubs manager Lou Piniella made it short and to the point Wednesday night after his team dropped a lackluster 6-2 decision to the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field.

Piniella even anticipated a question about starting pitcher Jason Marquis, who gave up 3 runs in the first inning to set the tone for the rest of the night.

With the loss, the Cubs' record fell to 91-59, and their magic number for clinching the National League Central held at 4.

Marquis, who was coming off 3 quality starts in a row, hadn't pitched since Sept. 6, and it looked like it took him awhile to get fully with the program.

So did the long layoff hurt Marquis?

"I knew you were going to ask that," Piniella said to a reporter. "Look, I don't know if it did or not. But the 2 walks didn't help."

Piniella was talking about back-to-back walks in the first inning that preceded a 3-run double by Prince Fielder.

Marquis and Piniella more or less peacefully coexist, and that's about it. When it comes time to skip somebody in the rotation for something other than health reasons, No. 5 starter Marquis usually is the guy.

"Like I say, any starter will tell you they like the routine of getting the ball every five days," Marquis said. "Sometimes outside circumstances don't allow it. You've got to deal with it. You've got to find a way to still go out there and make pitches.

"It took me a few hitters to get my release point where I wanted it to be. Unfortunately, it cost us the game, giving up some early runs.

"But I tried to do my best and battle and keep my team in there. That's all I could do."

The Brewers wasted little time jumping on Marquis. Mike Cameron led off the game with a single. Marquis walked Ray Durham and Ryan Braun before giving up a bases-clearing double to Fielder.

Aramis Ramirez put the Cubs on the board in the second, when he led off with his 25th homer, a line shot to left.

Things then appeared to be setting up just right for the Cubs because Brewers starter Ben Sheets had to leave the game after 2 innings because of tightness in his right forearm. But it wasn't to be, as the Cubs managed only Ramirez's hit off Sheets and 5 more against seven Milwaukee relievers.

"You think you have the advantage when you see Sheets leave in the second inning," Ramirez said. "It doesn't matter how many games we need to clinch. We can't win every day. Come back tomorrow and try to win a game. I hit the ball good tonight, and we still lost the game."

"We'll go out and try to win a series tomorrow," Piniella said. "That's all we can do. Thanks."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=235783">Sheets' elbow woes latest bad news for Brewers <span class="date"> [9/18/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=235784">Piniella: Clinch, then talk about it<span class="date"> [9/18/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>