Marmol wild, blows save in Cubs' 5-3 loss to Braves

Despite being traded to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, Friday felt like any other morning of the baseball season to Derrek Lee until he arrived at Wrigley Field.

Then it got "weird."

Lee left home, drove to the ballpark and pulled into the same players' parking lot he had used for every Cubs home game since arriving in Chicago in 2004. But the lot attendant initially told Lee he couldn't enter.

"They played a good trick on me," said a smiling Lee in the visitors' dugout before the game. "I pulled up and he said, 'No. you can't park here.' I got a little upset. Then he told me he was just joking."

It was the first foreign feeling of Lee's day but not the last. He was issued his new uniform - No. 27 instead of No. 25, which is already taken in Atlanta by Troy Glaus ­- met his new teammates and went over signs before taking the field for batting practice.

"It was weird walking past (the Cubs) clubhouse to get to this one, seeing the same workers in the hallway," Lee said. "It was definitely weird walking up the stairs into this clubhouse and putting on this uniform."

It marked the first time Lee had stepped foot in the cozy visitors' clubhouse at Wrigley since October 2003, when he and the Marlins celebrated their victory over Kerry Wood and the Cubs in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

A two-time all-star with the Cubs, Lee was given a 30-second standing ovation by appreciative Cubs fans when he stepped to the plate in the first inning as Atlanta's cleanup hitter.

And though he went 0-for-4 in his Braves debut with 2 strikeouts, Lee was able to celebrate in the visitor's clubhouse once again by day's end after his new teammates rallied for 3 runs in the ninth against Carlos Marmol to pull out a 5-3 victory over his former teammates. The reeling Cubs (50-73) have now dropped eight straight games at Wrigley, including the first five games of the seven-game homestand.

Trying to protect a 3-2 lead, Marmol walked the bases loaded in the ninth. He had Rick Ankiel down to his last strike with two outs, but the lefty was able to pull a 2-2 slider into the right-field corner for a go-ahead, 3-run triple.

"I wasn't throwing strikes. Then I made a mistake and I paid for it," Marmol said. "It's not about mechanics. I didn't have the command to throw my slider for a strike. That's why I walked a few people. That's why they scored three people."

"You just can't walk people with a 1-run lead," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We walked three of them and that's what cost us the ballgame."

Atlanta closer Billy Wagner allowed a leadoff single to Darwin Barney before he retired the next three Cubs in order to earn his 30th save and solidify Atlanta's grip on first place in the National League East.

The Cubs had taken a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning when Aramis Ramirez doubled home Marlon Byrd, who had tripled with one out.

The loss was a tough one for Cubs starter Ryan Dempster, who was lifted on a hot day after allowing 2 earned runs in 8 innings. He threw 106 pitches.

"I think we deserved better," said Dempster, who finished with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. "It's unfortunate. It's tough. In a 1-run game at Wrigley anything's possible. A couple of walks, they laid off some really close pitches and we were one strike away from getting out of it.

"I've been there before and I know how that feeling is. The only thing we can do is come back out tomorrow and try to put this one behind us."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Jerry Fitzpatrick's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Braves 5, Cubs 3</p>

<p class="News"><b>Lee watch:</b> Derrek Lee went 0-for-4 against his former teammates. Facing Ryan Dempster, Lee flied out to left in the first inning, struck out on 3 pitches in the fourth and lined out to Starlin Castro in the sixth. Carlos Marmol struck Lee out on 3 pitches in the ninth.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Hot day, hot pitcher:</b> Pitching in 90-degree heat, Ryan Dempster tied his season best by lasting 8 innings. He left the ballgame after 106 pitches with a 3-2 lead. The right-hander held the Braves to 4 hits and finished with 7 strikeouts against 2 walks.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Hot day, cold pitcher:</b> Closer Carlos Marmol walked 3 batters in an inning for the fourth time this season. He walked 3 or more batters in an inning four times in 2009.</p>

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