Good pitching, little hitting in extra-inning Cubs loss
Give the Cubs credit for varying the script a little bit Thursday.
The ending followed form - a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.
You know the pattern by now. The Cubs get a good pitching performance but waste it by not hitting, leading to shrugs of the shoulders by manager Lou Piniella.
A game-tying 2-run single by Tyler Colvin in the eighth inning only prolonged the agony, as the Reds picked up 3 hits against Cubs relievers Bob Howry (1-2) and Sean Marshall in the 10th, with the eventual game-winner scoring on a forceout.
"You can't ask any more of our pitching than what they're doing," said Piniella, whose team dropped to a season-worst 11 games under .500 at 34-45 and to 101/2 games behind the first-place Reds. "They keep us in every game we play. We just don't seem to come up with the big hit when we need it, and we fall short.
"It's been a reoccurring theme. Until we start doing that, it'll continue to be a struggle."
The victim Thursday was Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Silva, who dueled Travis Wood, a lefty making his major-league debut.
Silva got a no-decision. He has not won since June 7, but he has a tidy ERA of 2.96 to go along with a record of 8-2. If anybody has reason to be frustrated at the hitters, it's Silva.
"I'm not going to turn my back to my team and get upset because we don't score some runs," Silva said. "But we need to start. There's nothing better and fun than being in the race and making the playoffs. Everyone's trying too hard. Maybe in their mind, 'We have to score runs, we have to score runs.' Maybe that's why we don't score any runs. I think we have to loosen up a little bit and go up there and have fun, and whatever happens, happens."
The Reds scored 1 in the first. Scott Rolen tripled over a leaping Marlon Byrd in left-center in the first to drive in the game's first run. Silva gave up a run-scoring single to Jonny Gomes in the eighth before exiting.
The Cubs managed a hit in the second and not another until the seventh. Wood walked the first two batters of the eighth before coming out for Nick Masset. Colvin singled the runners home with one out. After pinch hitter Mike Fontenot singled, Derrek Lee grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Lee was 0-for-4, and cleanup hitter Aramis Ramirez was 1-for-4. Many in the announced crowd of 36,880 let them hear it.
"No, I don't blame them," Lee said. "They probably feel like we feel. We want to get it done. Trying's one thing, but it's about results. We all know that. We understand the frustration."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Reds 3, Cubs 2 (10)</p>
<p class="News"><b>Wasted quality:</b> Cubs pitcher Carlos Silva turned in his team-leading 12th quality start and the Cubs' 50th as a team. The Cubs are 27-23 in quality-start games, with the starters having an ERA of 2.18 in those starts. Silva gave up 11 hits and 2 runs in 72/3 innings.</p>
<p class="News"><b>First-pitch hacking:</b> The Cubs made quick outs against Reds rookie pitcher Travis Wood. Marlon Byrd flied out on first pitches in the fourth and seventh innings. Geovany Soto lined out and grounded out on 2 pitches in the second and fifth.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Nice debut, kid:</b> Wood, a lefty, pitched 7 innings of 2-hit, 2-run ball in his major-league debut. "It was a tremendous performance," said Reds manager Dusty Baker. "Until the eighth, he had great control. He was cutting the ball and throwing his changeup."</p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=391535">Baker focuses on the moment<span class="date"> [7/1/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=391536">Piniella thinks team will accept Zambrano<span class="date"> [7/1/10]</span></a></li>
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