Lack of answers after Cubs 2-1 loss to Dodgers

There were questions aplenty for Cubs manager Lou Piniella after Thursday night's 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field.

The only thing missing was someone to answer them.

Piniella pulled his first no-show act of the season following a tough loss.

A Cubs spokesman said Piniella "declined" to take part in the customary postgame interview. The reasons are known only to Piniella. Maybe he was frustrated that his team outhit the Dodgers 9-8 but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven stranded.

Now about one of those questions.

How about in the eighth inning, when the Cubs seemed to inadvertently burn a pinch hitter without that hitter actually hitting?

The situation: The Cubs entered the inning trailing lefty Randy Wolf 2-0. Bobby Scales, right back from Class AAA Iowa, led off with a pinch home run. Dodgers manager Joe Torre immediately went to his bullpen and right-hander Ramon Troncoso.

Jake Fox, up from Iowa Wednesday, whistled a single past Troncoso. Piniella had Koyie Hill on deck to hit for Aaron Heilman, but Hill never batted.

Piniella apparently wanted Kosuke Fukudome to hit, but Hill officially entered the game when he stepped into the batter's box, at least according to the Cubs' communication channels that were in place because Piniella wasn't around.

Fukudome did his part by walking. But then it looked like the 2008 playoffs again, as Alfonso Soriano flailed at an outside pitch to strike out, and Ryan Theriot bounced into a double play.

"We had great opportunities to win this game tonight, but we didn't get the big hits," said Soriano before he tried to explain his at-bat. "A guy we never faced before (Troncoso). He's very tough.

"He has a very good breaking ball. He threw a first-pitch fastball, and I had not seen the breaking ball before. He threw me two breaking balls, and he got me out."

The Cubs appeared poised in the ninth. Milton Bradley bunted for a single, and Derrek Lee put runners on first and second with a single to center. Reed Johnson grounded out after failing to sacrifice, but the runners advanced.

An intentional walk to Geovany Soto left it up to the kids from the Iowa Express, but the ride ended with strikeouts by Scales and Fox, with Troncoso getting Fox on a slider.

"That's all you can ask for in that situation," Fox said. "I got a pitch to hit (early in the count), and I missed it. I was at his mercy. He threw a good pitch, and I had to tip my cap to him."

Cubs starting pitcher Randy Wells fell to 0-2 with a 1.80 ERA despite working 7 strong innings, giving up 8 hits and 2 runs. Dodgers speed guys Juan Pierre and Rafael Furcal scored runs in the first and third, respectively, putting pressure on the Cubs' defense.

"Early on, I gave up some hits," Wells said. "I was able to limit the damage, but the damage was done."

Bruce Miles' game tracker

Two out of three: Randy Wells now has accounted for 2 of the Cubs' last 3 quality starts. He worked 7 innings, giving up 8 hits and 2 runs. He threw 111 pitches, 70 for strikes.

Web gem: Second baseman Andres Blanco is showing range uncommon to the Cubs. He ranged to his left to glove Andre Ethier's grounder in the third and flipped to first in one motion.

In a pinch: Bobby Scales hit his second homer of the year leading off the eighth. Both of Scales' homers are pinch-hit home runs.

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