Sutton delivers winning hit for Reds over Cubs 7-5

Posted September 11, 2009 11:00 pm

By Bruce Miles

Just when you thought Carlos Marmol was over the hump, his problem of walks reared its ugly head again.

Just when you thought that 9 saves in a row signaled a new age in Cubs closers, it was more of the same old bad stuff Saturday for Marmol in a 7-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.

Marmol entered the game with the score tied at 5-5 in the ninth. He gave up a hit but got a double play.

Then it was walks to Jonny Gomes and Kevin Barker before pinch hitter Drew Sutton made Marmol and the Cubs pay with a 2-run double to the right-field corner.

"You know, you just can't keep walking people like that late in the game," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team fell to 72-68 as its four-game winning streak ended. "It catches up to you. And it did today.

"With Marmol, it's the walks. This young man wants to be a closer. And that's OK. But you've got to have command. If you don't have command, you can't close."

Even so, Piniella seemed to say that Marmol is still the Cubs' closer.

"We haven't even thought about next year," Piniella said. "Obviously, he's the heir apparent here, and he deserves every opportunity, but at the same time, you put people in late in the ballgame (and) you don't make them hit their way on, it's an invitation for disaster. Basehit, double-play ball and 2 walks. Double, and the game's over."

Marmol also hit a batter in the inning, but that runner did not score. For the season, he has pitched 672/3 innings, giving up 38 hits while walking 61 and hitting 12.

For some reason, he seemed to blame home-plate umpire Paul Schrieber for his problems Saturday. He walked Gomes on 5 pitches and Barker on 7, with Barker taking first on a 3-2 count. However, Marmol's anger seemed to be directed at Gomes' walk.

"I made a good pitch; he missed, the umpire," Marmol said. "It was right down the middle. I walked a couple guys, and they got a basehit. The first batter I walked, it was right down the middle."

Whatever the case, Marmol suffered the loss to fall to 2-3.

Starting pitcher Randy Wells was victimized by some bad defense, as he lasted 32/3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs (3 earned).

Infielders Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Theriot each committed an error in the Reds' 2-run third. Ramirez's came on a double-play grounder at third with runners on first and second. The throw from Ramirez to second instead hit baserunner Corky Miller in the batting helmet and bounded into the stands, allowing Miller to score.

In the fourth, Wells gave up 3 runs and was yanked. The Cubs rallied from a 5-0 deficit to tie the game, with 3 in the sixth and 2 in the seventh, but they gave it all back in the end.

"It's just one of them days," Wells said. "I really don't know what to say. I thought I threw the ball well and thought I made some good pitches when I had to. I thought I made pitches all day, actually.

"To be honest with you, I thought I did a good job of staying composed and making pitches."

Bruce Miles' game tracker Reds 7, Cubs 5 Home sweet home: Third baseman Aramis Ramirez went 2-for-3 with an RBI. He's batting .319 for the season. At Wrigley Field, Ramirez is batting .405 (49-for-121). Error of their way: The Cubs committed 3 errors in the third inning. It's the first time they did that since Aug. 18, 2006, against the Cardinals. A rarity: Randy Wells' 32/3-inning start, coupled with Rich Harden's 4-inning start Friday, marked the first time this year Cubs starters have failed to go at least 5 innings in back-to-back starts. The Cubs are 19-37 when they don't get a quality start.