Marmol bounces back from tough inning
It's been a thrill ride of a season for Cubs closer Carlos Marmol.
Those lining up for tickets Monday got a short and boring experience. And that was just fine with Marmol and his manager.
Two days after throwing 39 pitches and suffering a horrendous blown save against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Marmol needed only 9 pitches to retire the three Cincinnati batters he faced as he quietly closed out the Reds to preserve a 4-3 Cubs victory at windy and chilly Wrigley Field.
“I would say 9 pitches, whatever, it's a strange world, isn't it?” said Cubs manager Mike Quade, whose team won its second straight to improve to 61-80.
Quade spent much of his pregame session talking about Marmol, his mechanics and his “options” with Kerry Wood and Sean Marshall in the bullpen.
But Quade showed no hesitation in turning to Marmol, and he wasn't about to fret any ups and downs that come with the Marmol roller coaster.
“No,” Quade said. “I can't get in that mindset. I'm a bit of a realist. When a guy struggles two days ago, you're always a little bit concerned. But Marm's pattern has been that he'll come back after those days and pitch like he did today.
“He's learning that because he's been so good. He hasn't had a year like this. He hasn't had the struggles he's had this year before.
“So figuring out how to get back to where he was, figuring out how to deal with the frustration of not saving some games he's accustomed to saving, it's all, to me, a learning process. He's still very young.
“I wish he hadn't had this adversity, for sure. I do believe he'll be better for it. The response today was exactly what you were looking for.”
Marmol's save was his 32nd in 41 opportunities this year. He lost his closer's job for a time after a brutal stretch in July. Since then, though, he has saved 13 of 15.
“I was feeling good with my slider, and I threw a couple fastballs,” he said. “Tomorrow's a new day. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow? Try to stay the same.
“You have to learn because that game is over. You give up a couple runs, blown saves, you have to. You don't want to think about tomorrow what happened yesterday. It'll kill you.”
As far as Quade could see, much of Marmol's problems, when he's had them, have come down to mechanics, largely because of a violent delivery.
“He's a tough guy to keep on track mechanically,” the manager said. “Whether it's getting under the ball, whether it's his length of stride, all those things when you see him good, that's what he does and continues to go back to it.
“But he's got as tough a delivery to repeat as anybody has heard of. It's also a part of what makes him effective — he's all over the joint. It's not fun to be standing up there when he's all over the place as far as the deception he brings to the table.”
Marmol saved the victory for Matt Garza, who worked 7⅔ innings and gave up 6 hits and 3 runs, 1 earned. Garza also stood by Marmol.
“He grinds it,” said Garza, who is 8-10 with a 3.52 ERA. “He's not going to stop. He wants the ball. What else can you ask for? You don't want a closer who's afraid to grab the ball, and he's not. He wants the ball every chance he gets.
“It's a rough year. What are you going to do? You just keep going, keep grinding and next year, he'll learn. He'll see. He'll learn from what he did.
“The last 3-4 seasons, he's been unbelievable. This is just a rough patch. He still has 30-plus saves. So that's still a positive thing on a team where we're 22, 23 games out. That's a huge positive.”
Inevitably, questions came up about next year, and whether Marmol still would be the closer. Nobody knows that now, but Marmol handled it with some humor.
“You want somebody else?” he asked. “I can't make that call. I can't say anything. I'm going to be here. Every time they give me the ball, I'm going to be here no matter what, unless they trade me.”
bmiles@dailyherald.com