Quade happy with Coleman, bullpen despite shutout loss

Posted September 12, 2010 11:00 pm

By Bruce Miles

MILWAUKEE - Shutouts were the order of the weekend at Miller Park, and the Cubs ended up on the bottom end Sunday.

After blanking the Brewers in the first two games of this series, the Cubs fell victim to Yovani Gallardo, who stymied the Cubs for 7 innings. The Milwaukee bullpen did the rest, the Brewers salvaged the finale 2-0.

The Cubs got a pretty fair pitching performance from their own starter, with manager Mike Quade finding little fault with rookie Casey Coleman.

Coleman gave up doubles to Gallardo and Ryan Braun in the fifth and wound up working 6 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball.

"Better than creditable," Quade said of Coleman's game. "You just run up against Gallardo, and it's just a tough day. He did fantastic. Kind of strange, a pitching dominated series with these guys. I don't know if we've seen too many of those.

"Good series today. The kids battled today. Gallardo's tough. We've got to give him his due."

The Cubs managed just 5 hits against Gallardo and the Milwaukee bullpen, with John Axford getting the save.

When Quade said "kids," he meant kids. After Coleman, Quade used rookie relievers Marcos Mateo, James Russell and Thomas Diamond.

Mateo and Russell were perfect. Diamond gave up a home run to Casey McGehee in the eighth.

"The bullpen was excellent," Quade said. "Mateo did a great job. Casey (McGehee) has had a nice year. You get a pitch belt high - he (Diamond) just got a cutter up where he didn't want it, and that's going to happen.

"This is, again, complementing a very good start, keeping us in the game. They did a good job. And we don't have go to go to the prime guys.

"That's the other thing. The bullpen is a six- or seven-man deal, maybe eight, now this time of year. The ability of those kids that aren't (Carlos) Marmol and aren't (Andrew) Cashner and aren't (Sean) Marshall to keep you in these games, to get you through the middle innings of games you're in when those guys are available, is huge.

"So we roll into St. Louis in great shape in the bullpen because those kids were able to do their jobs."

Samardzija for Silva: Carlos Silva will be scratched from Monday's series opener in St. Louis because of a strained right elbow, the Cubs said after Sunday's game.

Right-hander Jeff Samardzija will start instead. The Cubs had talked about starting Samardzija on Saturday in Florida. Samardzija opened the season in the Cubs' bullpen, but he found success as a starter at Class AAA Iowa.

"Sometimes you get pulled into the office for bad things, and sometimes for good things, I guess," Samardzija said. "Sounds good. Ready to go."

Silva, who had just returned after recovering from a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat, will be examined in Chicago by Cubs doctors.

Mike Quade said Silva reported the problem after Sunday's batting practice. The Cubs aren't sure whether this means Silva will be shut down for the year.

"I would let the doctors make that decision," Quade said. "Yeah, that's a possibility, obviously. The severity of it is huge. Let people smarter than me make those decisions. We do have the luxury a lot of starting pitching."

Bruce Miles' game tracker

Casey at the mound: Starter Casey Coleman fell to 1-2, but he turned in a quality start with 6 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball. He threw 91 pitches, 48 strikes. In a long third inning, it was 22 pitches and only 7 strikes. "I would have like to have thrown more strikes," he said.

Streak snapped: Cubs pitchers had their scoreless-innings streak snapped at 25, their longest since a 28-inning stretch in June 2005.

Bad numbers: No Cub had more than 1 hit. The Cubs were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and they stranded nine runners.

Cubs scouting report

Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium

TV: Comcast SportsNet Monday and Wednesday; Channel 26 Tuesday

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jeff Samardzija (0-1) vs. Jaime Garcia (13-7) Monday; Randy Wells (6-13) vs. Adam Wainwright (18-10) Tuesday; Carlos Zambrano (8-6) vs. Chris Carpenter (15-6) Wednesday. All games 7:15 p.m.

At a glance: The Cubs took two of three in St. Louis last month and are 5-4 against the Cardinals this year. The Cardinals are barely alive in the NL Central, and the Cubs can speed their demise. Garcia is a lefty, and the Cubs get St. Louis' two aces after that. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez (quadriceps) could return to the Cubs lineup Monday. He's 17-for-54 (.315) with 2 homers vs. Carpenter and 13-for-35 (.371) with a homer off Wainwright. The Cardinals entered Sunday third in the NL in ERA (3.58), but they're middle-of-the-pack in most key offensive categories.

Next: Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium, Friday-Sunday

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