Cubs fall 8-2 to Cardinals, at .500 after 4th-straight loss
On a day that began with important injury updates for Lou Piniella's walking wounded, it was Albert Pujols who inflicted the most pain on the Cubs franchise again.
The St. Louis slugger nearly gave young Cubs reliever David Patton a sore neck as he cranked a towering grand slam at Busch Stadium in St. Louis to propel the Cardinals to an 8-2 victory Saturday over the Cubs. The blast pushed Pujols past the 1,000-career RBI mark, sending the Cardinals (13-5) to a 4-game lead in the NL Central, and handing the Cubs (8-8) their fourth straight loss. It was the eighth career slam for Pujols.
The Cubs' offense fell flat again, scattering 10 hits with the lone extra-base hit a double in the ninth.
"It's not good. Boy, we certainly haven't done much offensively in a while," Piniella told reporters. "It's got to get better."
That make take a few more days.
With Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley nursing injuries and out of the lineup, Piniella juggled his starters in hopes of getting a little pop in the attack. Alfonso Soriano and Derrick Lee, however, offered no punch and combined to go 0-for-8 in the heart of the order.
Lefty starter Sean Marshall came up with the fifth straight quality start for Cubs. It was wasted, though, as the Cardinals took a took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on 4 hits, helped by some poor jumps by Soriano in left and Reed Johnson in center. Khalil Greene drove in a run with a ball that hit the left-field fence for a double, and Brian Barden knocked in 2 more for with a shot to left on an 0-2 count.
That was enough to stymie the Cubs, who got a pair of hits from Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome at the top of the order but couldn't mount a rally.
The only good news for the Cubs was that injury reports on Ramirez and reliever Carlos Marmol were better than expected. Piniella said Ramirez, who strained his left calf in Friday's loss, was no worse off Saturday and could be back in a few days. Marmol underwent an MRI exam Saturday that revealed a mild knee sprain, and he told reporters he could be ready to go by Tuesday.
Now it will be up to Cubs starter Rich Harden (1-1) to salvage something from this road trip against the Cardinals, who have won nine straight home games. He'll face Todd Wellemeyer (1-1) at 1:15 p.m. today.
Cubs game tracker
Waiting for Tuesday: The last time the Cubs had a lead in a game was last Tuesday, which is also when Micah Hoffpauir hit the last home run for the Cubs. Albert Pujols, however, has 7 home runs on the season to go with his .348 batting average and 25 RBI.
When it counts: The Cubs were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals were 6-for-13.
Historical race: Pujols became the sixth Cardinals player to reach the 1,000-RBI milestone. The Cubs have eight players at that level: Cap Anson, Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Gabby Hartnett, Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace.
Free swinger: With Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome in scoring position, Alfonso Soriano chased chase three straight curve balls in the dirt to end the Cubs' threat in the fifth inning. Soriano is now 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.