Cubs back at Square 1

BOSTON — For as badly as this road trip started for the Cubs, they had a chance to do more than salvage it.

Heading into Sunday night’s series finale with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Cubs actually had a chance for a winning road trip.

“It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” said manager Mike Quade before the Cubs fell 5-1. “This game will drive you nuts. I’ve said it a lot about this group. They shook off two really bad games in Cincinnati, played well in Florida and came back and found a way to win last night. Yeah, given everything that’s surrounded us the last week or so, you would have loved things to have gone better, but a win tonight would really help.”

It wasn’t to be, as Cubs hitters couldn’t get much going against Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

The Cubs were all over the map, literally and figuratively, on this trip. And they ended up pretty much at their own version of Square 1. That is, not quite mediocre with a record of 20-25.

They started with two sloppily played losses in Cincinnati. The games were so poorly played that I wondered whether the Cubs would win another game on this trip.

The Cubs quickly dispelled that notion with two nicely played victories at Florida.

In their long-awaited return to Fenway, the Cubs got blown out in the first game but took advantage of what some would call Cubs-like baseball on the Red Sox’ part to take Game 2.

But the Cubs’ luck, not to mention their able bodies, ran out Sunday night. Matt Garza couldn’t make his scheduled start because of a tight right elbow. And the Cubs were still trying to process the loss of center fielder Marlon Byrd, who will be out indefinitely after having facial bones broken Saturday night, when he was hit with a pitch.

James Russell trotted out for another start after getting an unsuccessful 4-start trial earlier this year.

Russell pitched well throughthe first 3 innings. He allowed 2 in the fourth after loading the bases with nobody out.

His night ended in the fifth after a leadoff homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and a single by Jacoby Ellsbury. “We wanted to give him a shot,” Quade said of sending Russell out for the fifth. “I think he earned that. We could have pulled the trigger earlier, but I thought he was OK 54 (pitches).”

The Cubs got more bad news in the war of attrition in the seventh when Jeff Baker hit an RBI double. Baker looked to be hobbling right out of the box, but he kept going to second. He came out of the game with a left-groin strain. The Cubs termed it mild.

“It was the swing before; I kind of got stuck in the (batter’s) box,” Baker said. “My front cleat got stuck a little bit. I dont think it’s that bad. Get some treatment tormorrow and hopefully be ready to go Tuesday.”

Cubs reliever Kerry Wood spiced things up in the eighth inning, first buzzing Jed Lowrie with a pitch and then plunking him, perhaps evening the score for Byrd and Kosuke Fukudome, who also was hit Saturday.