Nothing normal after Cubs' 7-4 loss to Brewers
How bizarre are things with these 2009 Cubs?
On the heels of a 7-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, follow us through the maze of wackiness that is the Cubs, and maybe you'll get a better understanding.
• It starts with manager Lou Piniella deciding not to talk to the media after the Cubs' second straight loss to the Brewers. No reason is given.
• Next, starting and losing pitcher Randy Wells (10-9) enters the media room and basically unloads on himself for his 4-inning, 5-run outing in which he gives up a 2-out grand slam to right fielder Jody Gerut.
"A home run is a home run, but looked what happened before that," Wells said of allowing a walk followed by a single to Brewers pitcher Dave Bush to load the bases. "It's pitiful. It's not going to cut it."
• In the corner of a quiet locker room, catcher Koyie Hill is talking about Wells' performance in serious tones, then looks to his right to see Sam Fuld putting the finishing touches on a Wonder Woman outfit he'll be wearing on the charter to St. Louis. All the Cubs' rookies will be donning special outfits for the short flight.
"The only thing worth reporting today is all these outfits we've got going on here," Hill says with a smile, as Micah Hoffpauir struggles into a big pink pig outfit four stalls down.
• After delaying a large pack of reporters interested in finding out why he was taken out of a game early for the second day in a row, this time in the sixth inning, right fielder Milton Bradley gives nothing but rapid-fire answers to reporters.
Asked about a problem with his legs, he said: "I'm not talking about that. What else you got?"
Reporter: Why did you come out of the game?
Bradley: "I got knee inflammation. I got two knee surgeries, and that happens when you got knee surgery, in case you don't know. What else you got?"
Reporter: It flared up?
Bradley: "What else you got?"
We now we rejoin the bantering in progress:
Reporter: Lou wouldn't do a postgame; that's pretty rare for him ...
Bradley: "If I had a choice, I wouldn't do it, either. What else you got?"
Reporter: That was a strange scene.
Bradley: "It's strange? It's strange when a guy hurt comes off [the field]?"
Reporter: Yeah, I didn't see a trainer, didn't see the pinch-runner go out there first ...
Bradley: "OK, it's strange."
Reporter: The scene was ...
Bradley: "I'm out."
• On the heels of Bradley's Q and A, Piniella summons reporters to his office and plays down the whole thing.
"No (problem)," he says. "None at all. If he couldn't run, we needed to get somebody in there who could, and we did."
• Piniella closes the day by explaining his decision not to face the media initially:
"Listen, sitting in my office here and just having a bottle of cold water it helps me relax a little bit and you all can't get my goat as easy, you know?
"I take these losses hard, guys. I don't enjoy losing ... I really don't."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike Spellman's game tracker/p> <p class="News">Brewers 7, Cubs 4</p> <p class="News"><b>All's Wells that ...</b> Cubs starter Randy Wells came into Thursday's game having allowed no runs in 81/3 innings this season against the Brewers. That streak ended in the first inning when leadoff man Felipe Lopez scored on a sacrifice fly. Jody Gerut added the exclamation point with a grand slam in the fourth inning.</p> <p class="News"><b>What a relief:</b> Unsung reliever Sean Marshall had a doozy of a fifth inning. The first batter he faced, Prince Fielder, led off with a rumbling triple. But Marshall erased the next three batters in order to come away unscathed.</p> <p class="News"><b>No new friends:</b> After making a catch in left-center to end the eighth inning, Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron caught some flak from bleacherites when he faked a toss into the bleachers and ran the ball in. Everything ended on a good note after Cameron gave the ball to a kid seated near the Brewers' dugout.</p> <p class="factboxheadblack">Scouting report</p> <p class="News">Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium</p> <p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Comcast SportsNet today, Channel 32 on Saturday, ESPN on Sunday</p> <p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WGN AM-720</p> <p class="News"><b>Pitching matchups:</b> Ted Lilly (12-8) vs. John Smoltz (1-1) today at 7:15 p.m.; Ryan Dempster (10-8) vs. Chris Carpenter (16-4) Saturday at 3:10 p.m.; Carlos Zambrano (8-6) vs. Adam Wainwright (18-8) Sunday at 7:05 p.m.</p> <p class="News"><b>At a glance:</b> Oh, what might of been: a Cubs/Cardinals showdown in the final weeks of the season with everything on the line. Instead, the Cubs are playing for pride and the Cardinals, well, they're looking to win yet another series, albeit against the Cubs.</p> <p class="News">"Every series you play when you're trying to get to the finish line is a chance to knock numbers off (the magic number)," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told mlb.com. "The difference is that you win a game (against the Cubs), you knock two off. I don't ever like that bigger game thing, because what are they going to do, try harder? They are trying hard now."</p> <p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Cubs vs Milwaukee Brewers, Monday-Wednesday at Miller Park in Milwaukee </p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=322314">Harden to skip turn in rotation<span class="date"> [9/17/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>