Cubs need this out of Garza
While the Cubs' starting pitching had been a disappointment in the early going, back-to-back strong outings by Carlos Zambrano on Monday and Matt Garza in Wednesday's first game of a doubleheader with San Diego could be a signal that the rotation is rounding into shape.
Garza, who came in with an unsightly 6.27 ERA, was dominant.
He threw 6 shutout innings but didn't get the win in the Cubs' 2-1, 11-inning victory over the Padres because closer Carlos Marmol allowed a game-tying run in the ninth.
Still, it was by far Garza's best outing of the season, as he threw fastballs and hard sliders with equal success, setting up Padres hitters up with breaking balls and putting them away with fastballs. He lowered his ERA to 4.74, and his 9 strikeouts left him an MLB-best 34.
“I'd rather be leading the league in innings pitched,” Garza said. “Strikeouts are awesome, they're great, but I'd rather be a guy that's known for going 8 or 9 every time out.”
Cubs manager Mike Quade believes that will come from Garza, whose potential was on display against the light-hitting Padres. Five of the eight position players in San Diego's starting lineup came in hitting under .200. Garza flashed the consistency that he displayed the previous three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, which prompted the Cubs to trade for him.
“He's capable of doing a lot of different things,” Quade said. “He's a power pitcher who throws the ball in the mid-90s. But you'll see him throw some unbelievable changeups and sliders. A (scout) friend of mine graded him and said it wasn't just a ‘plus' fastball and average stuff. Every pitch was a ‘plus' pitch. If he commands all those, he should have dominant stuff.”
While the rotation stumbled out of the gate, the back end of the bullpen has been effective, despite Marmol's second blown save, and the Cubs' fourth in 9 opportunities.
Marmol, Kerry Wood and Sean Marshall had combined for a 1.95 ERA going into Wednesday, and they have not allowed any of 7 inherited runners to score.
Marshall pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh and worked a perfect eighth to preserve the 1-0 lead.
“I'm real fortunate — we're real fortunate to have these guys at the back end,” Quade said. “Those three at the back end, any manager in the world would tell you what a luxury it is to have (them). I wouldn't trade them for anybody.”
The bullpen also got a boost from the up-and-down Jeff Samardzija, who kept the Padres off the scoreboard in the 10th and 11th inning, long enough for Reed Johnson's solo homer in the bottom of the 11th to give Samardzija his first win of the season.
Fill-in starter James Russell didn't fare as well in Game 2, allowing the Padres to go up 4-0 after his 4 innings. Alfonso Soriano's 2-run homer in the eighth got the Cubs to within 5-4, but that's how it ended.