Cubs not coming through in the clutch

p class="News">Shaky defense and a continued failure to hit with runners in scoring position doomed the Cubs to a 4-3 loss to the Reds in 11 innings Saturday night.

In splitting the first two games at the Great American Ball Park, the Cubs are 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position, and they threw in 3 errors to spoil another quality start, this time by Ryan Dempster.

"We try to preach the pitcher's the one in trouble, not the hitter," Lou Piniella said on WGN-TV's pregame show about his team's failure to hit with runners in scoring position. "But you go out there, and you know that you've been struggling in that department, and you're not as selective. You try to overdo it, you don't take what the pitcher gives you, and it becomes more difficult."

After getting 4 scoreless innings from the bullpen, Sean Marshall, the Cubs' fifth pitcher of the night, walked Jay Bruce leading off the 11th and wild-pitched him to second before he was bunted to third.

After an intentional walk to Ryan Hanigan, pinch-hitter Adam Rosales bounced a high hopper down the third-base line to Mike Fontenot, who had to throw over Bruce, forcing catcher Geovany Soto to leap to make the catch as Bruce scooted past him for the win. Fontenot was charged with an error, his second of the game.

While the Cubs were wasting leadoff doubles in the first two innings and stranding five baserunners, the Reds scored 3 unearned runs in the first off Dempster.

Leadoff hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. reached on Fontenot's fielding error and then scored when Alfonso Soriano loped into the gap and waved at Chris Dickerson's lazy flyball in the gap, which went as a double, scoring Hairston. Two outs later Ramon Hernandez's 2-run homer completed the Reds' scoring until the 11th.

In the fourth, the Cubs wasted a third inning-opening double, this one by Reed Johnson. One out later, Johnson tried to advance to third on a flyball to center but was gunned down by Chris Dickerson. That cost the Cubs a critical run when Bobby Scales followed with a solo homer.

Soto homered leading off the seventh, which left the Cubs trailing 3-2, and they tied it in the eighth. Ryan Theriot singled, went to third on Derrek Lee's second single of the night and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Jake Fox, getting his first start of the season in right field.

The loss dropped Marshall to 3-5 and the Cubs to 27-26 and fourth place, a game behind the 29-26 Reds.