Marmol, Cubs fall again
SAN FRANCISCO - Now, real concern is creeping in about Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol.
Marmol faced only one batter Thursday. That batter, Rich Aurilia, hit a pinch 3-run homer in the seventh inning, enabling the San Francisco Giants to pad their lead from 4-3 on the way to an 8-3 victory and a series split.
Manager Lou Piniella conceded the Cubs will have to take some sort of action with Marmol. Before the game, Piniella talked with the young reliever about concentrating more. Today, they'll take a different approach.
"We're going to look tomorrow at films and see if he's tipping his pitches," said Piniella, whose team heads to St. Louis with a record of 51-35 as it tries to fend off the Cardinals. "It's hard to give up home runs like he's been giving them up on a consistent basis, even if you tell the hitter what's coming. Maybe he is. Maybe he's doing something.
"It's the same pitch. It's up in the zone. Yeah, it's starting to be a little bit of a concern, to be quite honest."
In Wednesday's 6-5 victory, Marmol gave up a 3-run homer to Ray Durham in the seventh. Last Saturday, he gave up a homer to the White Sox' Carlos Quentin. Since June 1, Marmol has an ERA of 9.75, and one has to wonder if the heavy workload early in the season isn't taking its toll now. Each of the last 3 homers off Marmol has come on a pitch up in the zone.
"I don't know," Marmol said of his problems in general. "I'm trying to make my pitches. They're hitting them. I feel great.
The Cubs didn't play a great game overall against the Giants. They committed 2 errors, and the Giants stole a pair of bases.
Reed Johnson, fresh off the disabled list, doubled to lead off the game, and he came home on Derrek Lee's single.
The Giants scored 4 in the bottom of the second off Sean Gallagher, with Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum hitting an RBI single and Fred Lewis adding an RBI triple. Piniella pulled Gallagher after 5 innings, saying he'd send the young right-hander to the bullpen.
"If that's the decision that's been made, I haven't been told anything," Gallagher, who fell to 3-4. "It's fine with me, as long as I'm staying here, as long as I give the team a chance to win."
The Cubs scored twice against Lincecum in the sixth on a 2-run double by Mark DeRosa, but they couldn't touch the San Francisco bullpen.
Third baseman Aramis Ramirez returned to the team after tending to family matters in the Dominican Republic, but he went 0-for-4, extending his slump to 0-for-21.
Piniella voiced bigger concerns, in addition to Ramirez and Marmol. At least the Cubs get ace starter Carlos Zambrano back off the disabled list for tonight's opener against the Cardinals.
"Over the last three series, our pitching hasn't been very good at all," Piniella said. "We've been hit fairly good, starting with the Baltimore series and into the Chicago White Sox series and into this series here. We've been giving up some runs. We've got to shore that up a little bit. Maybe it's coincided with Zambrano's absence. We'll see."