Hit batsman stings Marmol, Cubs in 3-2 loss to Brewers
MILWAUKEE - Carlos Marmol picked a bad time for an old bugaboo to rear its ugly head: the hit batsman.
The Cubs wound up feeling the sting a lot more than the Brewers' Rickie Weeks, who led off the bottom of the ninth with his team trailing the Cubs 2-1.
Marmol hit Weeks, and just when it looked like he'd get himself out of trouble, Marmol later gave up a game-winning 2-run single to former Cub Casey McGehee for a 3-2 Milwaukee victory Tuesday night.
McGehee's ball wasn't hit hard, but it got past Marmol and skittered off the second-base bag, scoring Weeks and Prince Fielder.
"It's the first hitter," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team fell to 26-32. "That's the inning. He hits the guy and steals second. And it causes a problem."
After Marmol hit Weeks, the Cubs caught a break when Carlos Gomez popped out bunting. Weeks stole second base, forcing the Cubs to walk Fielder intentionally.
Ryan Braun went out on a broken-bat chopper, but McGehee ended it.
"I was struggling a little bit to throw the slider for a strike," said Marmol, who had converted 6 straight saves. "No doubt about it. Then I hit Rickie Weeks. McGehee did a nice job hitting that slider. I thought it was a good pitch."
Otherwise, this game had a familiar look, with the Cubs wasting another good pitching performance, this time by Ted Lilly, who worked 8 innings and gave up only a homer to Corey Hart in the eighth. That happened right after Tyler Colvin broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single to right in the top of the inning.
Pinch hitter Alfonso Soriano put the Cubs ahead 2-1 in the ninth with a run-scoring groundout. But Lilly had little margin for error as the Cubs stranded eight runners, with Ryan Theriot going after a first pitch to leave the bases loaded on a forceout in the fifth after Lilly walked. Marlon Byrd left a runner on in the sixth and two in the eighth, both times swinging at first pitches.
"Sometimes that's all it takes; you make a mistake at the wrong time," Lilly said of the Hart homer. "I felt good. In that situation, I second-guessed my selection a little bit. More than that, really location. I feel if I locate that ball and I get it in there, I have a chance of getting an out."
It might have been Lilly's best performance of the season. He threw only 90 pitches. That performance and a few other things had Lilly's battery mate, Koyie Hill, looking at the good things the Cubs did.
"Ted had great stuff; I think it was the best stuff he's had all year long," Hill said. "I'm not going to lie. It stings a little bit. That's a (heck) of a ballgame, both sides.
"You know what? I'm proud of Teddy. I'm proud of the way the guys battled today. We had a lot of energy today, and I think you're going to see a lot more of that in the future. We're going to grind this thing out and find ways to win. We're not going anywhere. I like the effort we put forth today."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Brewers 3, Cubs 2</p>
<p class="News"><b>Wasted effort:</b> Lefty Ted Lilly got a no-decision, and he has not won since April 24 despite a 3.28 ERA. Lilly had single-digit pitch counts in the second (6 pitches) and in the sixth (5 pitches). </p>
<p class="News"><b>Streaking:</b> Backup catcher Koyie Hill got his third start in four games and extended his hitting streak to seven games, tying a career high. Hill was 1-for-4 with a run scored. </p>
<p class="News"><b>Two apiece:</b> Kosuke Fukudome, Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro accounted for 6 of the Cubs' 8 hits, with 2 apiece. Colvin, who wasn't in the original lineup, is batting .300. </p>
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