Cubs fall to Red 11-4; could lose 100 games
Can these Cubs do it?
Can they possibly lose 100 games this season?
It'll take some doing, but the way things are going, anything is possible.
The Cubs fell 11-4 Sunday to the Cincinnati Reds, getting swept in the series and dropping to a record of 47-64. In addition to the loss being the Cubs' third in a row, it was their 10th in 11 games. They are on pace to finish with a record of 69-93.
To reach the century mark in losses, the Cubs would have to go 15-36 the rest of the way. Considering their schedule, it might be doable. To wit:
• The Cubs have a tough road trip coming up to San Francisco and St. Louis. They come home to face contenders San Diego and Atlanta.
• Later this month, the Cubs travel to Cincinnati.
• Next month's schedule features games against the Mets, the Cardinals twice, the Giants and the Padres.
"No good," said manager Lou Piniella. "Spiraling out of control? Yeah, we need to turn it around, no question. It's no fun, no fun to go out and get beat. We're playing good teams. We've got San Francisco. We've got St. Louis. We've got San Diego, and we've got Atlanta. We better be up to the challenge and play better."
There are other factors, too. Six of the 12 pitchers on the team are rookies, and four of them got into Sunday's game.
"When you run five or six of them out there in one game, you're looking for some problems at times, and today wasn't a good day," Piniella said.
Rookie Thomas Diamond (0-2) made his second major-league start and lasted only 3 innings. He left with the Reds ahead 5-0. Diamond walked three and hit a batter.
"This was terrible out there for me," he said, lamenting the walks. "That's the first and foremost thing I have to stop, and that's it."
As Piniella alluded, Diamond didn't get much help from his defense even though all the runs against the Cubs were earned. Starlin Castro threw one away in the first, and an infield hit bounced off third baseman Aramis Ramirez in the second.
"Our young pitching got hit around today, but we didn't help them," Piniella said. "We didn't help them, either. We didn't make some good plays behind them. A few double plays (weren't turned)."
The announced crowd was 39,016, and the Cubs kept them quiet most of the day. Their first hit didn't come until Koyie Hill singled with one out in the sixth.
The Cubs gave the fans a little thrill in the seventh, getting 4 runs off Reds lefty Travis Wood (3-1). Jeff Baker led off with a homer, and the Cubs got a couple of runs on an error and another on an RBI double by Xavier Nady.
All of the Cubs' rookie relievers - Casey Coleman, James Russell and Mitch Atkins - gave up runs.
The Cubs fell to 16½ games behind Dusty Baker's first-place Reds, and there seems to be no end in sight to the misery.
"We've got to do something, because if not, it can be like a long two months," left fielder Alfonso Soriano said. "We don't want to have that because I think there are a lot of good guys here, a lot of good players.
"We've got to turn it around and try to win some games because if not it can be a long two months."
Bruce Miles' game tracker Reds 11, Cubs 4Lots of kids: The Cubs used four rookie pitchers: starter Thomas Diamond and relievers Casey Coleman, James Russell and Mitch Atkins. That was the most since they used five rookie pitchers on Sept. 30, 2006. The five were Juan Mateo, Jae Kuk Ryu, David Aardsma, Angel Guzman and Les Walrond.They can play: The Reds outhit the Cubs 13-4. Joey Votto and Jonny Gomes each scored 4 runs. Votto hit his 28th homer, a 2-run drive off Atkins in the eighth. Jay Bruce was 3-for-4.Shakin' Bake: Second baseman Jeff Baker hit his fourth homer of the year to put the Cubs on the board in the seventh. It was his first homer since June 17.Bad stretch: In this stretch of losing 10 of 11 games, the Cubs have fallen by scores of 11-4, 18-1 and 17-2.False14581964Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Mitch Atkins reacts after giving up a two run home run hit by Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto in the eighth inning.Associated PressFalse