Cubs hear boos in lopsided 12-5 loss to Phillies
The good news for the Cubs is that Ted Lilly pitched 5 scoreless innings Wednesday night.
The bad news is that he did it in a rehab start for Class A Peoria.
But the worst news for the Cubs and their increasingly restless fan base is how far outclassed they looked in a 12-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
Already ahead 4-1, the defending world champions put up an 8-spot against starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija and reliever Sean Marshall in the fourth, bring down boos from the 41,133 in attendance.
"It just one of those days; sometimes you get kicked," said Samardzija, who lasted 31/3 innings in his first major-league start. "Today, we got kicked."
The Cubs have lost the first two games of this series after dropping two of three in Philadelphia last month. The loss was the sixth in seven games for the Cubs (58-54), who fell 4 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central.
Since July 20, the Cubs are 3-9 against teams who now have winning records. Overall, they're 19-32 against clubs above .500.
Samardzija is in the rotation because of a back injury to ace Carlos Zambrano. Lilly is out because of knee and shoulder problems. That, more than any lack of effort, is at the root of the problem, according to manager Lou Piniella.
"What are you talking about, effort?" Piniella asked. "We're getting hit. We've got two starters on the DL, and that's not easy. Our bullpen is a little used up. Every day we go through about the same thing. Until we get healthy and until we get these guys a little more rested, these things can happen.
"We don't want them to happen. In Colorado, we got hit pretty good. And we got here again tonight."
The Phillies teed off early and often against Samardzija, as they looked totally comfortable at the plate.
Shane Victorino tripled with one out in the first and scored on Chase Utley's double. That was followed by a triple by Ryan Howard. All 3 hits went to the right-field corner by the left-handed hitters.
Victorino hit a 2-run homer in the third. The Phillies sent 13 men to the plate in their 8-run fourth, with Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez each hitting 3-run homers off Marshall.
"Injuries aren't excuses," second baseman Jeff Baker said. "There's always guys in here who are big-league players, and everyone in here is capable of producing. We've got to play better."
The Phillies' run support made a winner of veteran Pedro Martinez, who was making his first start since last year after signing recently as a free agent.
The Cubs found themselves apologizing to the Phillies after Victorino had a beer thrown at him in center field as he caught Jake Fox's sacrifice fly in the fifth. A fan was taken out of the park, but it was the wrong one. The Cubs say they hope video leads them to the culprit.
"That shouldn't happen," Piniella said. "It's not good sportsmanship, and it's not good behavior. We apologized to Victorino and the Phillies for that."
Bruce Miles' game tracker
Phillies 12, Cubs 5
Wednesday's grade: F. The Cubs didn't look to be on the same plane of reality as the defending world-champion Phillies, who outhit them 14-9 and looked to be taking batting practice in their 8-run fourth.
Happy return: Phillies starter Pedro Martinez (1-0) made his first start of the year and his first start at Wrigley since 1996, when he was with the Montreal Expos. He worked 5 innings in his comeback, giving up 7 hits and 3 runs.
Rehabbing Lilly: Lefty Ted Lilly pitched 5 innings for Class A Peoria in a rehab start. He gave up 2 hits, both in the first inning, walking one and striking out two. He threw 58 pitches, 45 strikes. Lilly could start for the Cubs on Monday at San Diego.
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