Cubs suffer 2 tough losses

MILWAUKEE - Lou Piniella has sounded angry during his time with the Cubs, but rarely has the manager sounded as frustrated and exasperated as he did Friday night.

Yes, Piniella was upset about reliever Aaron Heilman blowing a save in the eighth inning, allowing a 2-run homer to Ryan Braun as the Milwaukee Brewers came from behind to beat the Cubs 3-2.

The larger source of Piniella's frustration was the dislocated left shoulder suffered by star third baseman Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs' best and most productive hitter for several years.

Ramirez suffered the injury diving and backhanding Braun's grounder in the third inning. Upon hitting the ground, Ramirez threw off his glove and writhed in pain.

A Brewers doctor popped the shoulder back into its joint, and Ramirez had X-rays at the park. Today, he'll undergo an MRI in Chicago to determine a possible course of action.

The Cubs will place Ramirez on the disabled list, and he'll likely need 4-6 weeks off.

"I've never seen anything quite like this," said Piniella, whose team fell to 16-13 while the Brewers improved to 17-13. Both teams are chasing the Cardinals in the NL Central. "Every day, it seems to be something different. Just tough it out. What can I say?

"It just gets frustrating. Every time you put something a little together, something different happens."

Ramirez had his left arm in a sling. He suffered a hyperextended left shoulder while with the Pirates in 1998 and a dislocated shoulder in 2000.

"It seems like I can't be out there this year," said Ramirez, who missed 9 starts because of a strained left calf. "Hurt all the time. I don't know what to say.

"I felt it pop. I've done it before. As soon as I felt that pain, I knew what happened."

As far as the game went, Cubs right-hander Randy Wells pitched 5 scoreless innings in his first major-league start. He worked out of trouble in each of the first 3 innings.

"It wasn't how I drew it up in my mind," Wells said. "I had to battle."

Milton Bradley gave Wells a 1-0 lead in the fifth with his third homer, a drive to right. Bobby Scales batted for Wells in the sixth and tripled. He came home on Alfonso Soriano's sacrifice fly.

Reliever Angel Guzman gave up a homer to J.J. Hardy in the bottom of the sixth. Heilman walked Hart, uncorked a wild pitch and gave up an opposite-field homer (right-center) to Braun in the eighth. The Cubs left the bases loaded in the top half.

"Leadoff walks," Piniella said. "Never came close to throwing a strike to the first hitter."

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