Cubs' offense fails for third straight game

The highest high and the lowest low for the Cubs occurred within seconds of each other Saturday night.Mark DeRosa was at the plate facing the Diamondbacks' Livan Hernandez with the bases loaded, one out and the Cubs down 3-1 in the fifth inning.The Wrigley Field crowd of 42,157 rose and created a crescendo of noise not heard in these parts, perhaps even in the playoff year of 2003.In a split second, the sound, the air and the life went out of the crowd and the Cubs as DeRosa hit into a double play, the third of 4 by Cubs batters.The D'backs went on to a 5-1 victory sweeping the Cubs out of the National League division series in three games."It was deafening for a second," DeRosa said. "Those are moments I want to be in. I have all the confidence in the world in myself to get it done because, the at-bat before, I hit the same pitch for a basehit, and the at-bat after, I hit a line drive, and it's for nothing."That's the most deflating play in baseball, obviously. It was one of those things. Every time we got someone on and were about to hopefully get the offense going, we grounded into a double play and took us right out."That's baseball, as they say.More to the point, it was Cubs baseball, both Saturday and for too many stretches this season.The Cubs were just good enough this year to win the National League Central, but they weren't good enough to dominate or win a postseason series."What did we score, 6 runs in three games?" asked manager Lou Piniella, who steered the Cubs to the playoffs in his first season as manager. "Hard to win that way. I talked about when the series started, we had to hit their pitchers. To me, that was the key."We've had some spells this summer where we've had a week or 10 days where it was hard scoring runs, and we've had the other kind."The "other kind" didn't show up in this series for the Cubs, who got outscored 16-6 in this series and outhomered 6-1.Aside from Game 1 starter Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs didn't do so hot in the pitching department either. Saturday's starter, Rich Hill, took a page from the book of Game 2 pitcher Ted Lilly and struggled early.Hill gave up a home run on the first pitch of the game to Chris Young, who has emerged as one of the most dangerous leadoff men in the game.The D'backs scored twice in the first, as Hill threw 31 pitches. He lasted just 3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs, but Piniella had his bullpen up as early as the first."I didn't command the zone as well as I wanted to," Hill said. "I ended up getting hurt with some bad pitches in the middle of the plate. I wanted to go out there and have a great game. That's how you picture it."The Cubs left eight men on base over the first five innings. Ryan Theriot hit into a double play after Alfonso Soriano opened the bottom of the first with a walk.Aramis Ramirez, who was 0-for-12 in the series, struck out to end the first and grounded into a double play to end the third.Hernandez, who floated slow breaking ball after slow breaking ball up to the plate, appeared ripe for the taking in the fifth, when he walked the bases loaded."There's a lot of situations in the game today," Hernandez said. "I know what I got to think and what I got to do. I'm not the kind of guy (to) get nervous."Indeed, he didn't, as he got DeRosa to go 6-4-3 to end the fifth.The D'backs got a homer from Eric Byrnes in the sixth off Carlos Marmol and a solo job from Stephen Drew (7-for-14 in the series) off Kerry Wood in the ninth.The Cubs couldn't do anything with the D'backs' bullpen, with Jose Valverde finishing his third game."We're shocked right now," DeRosa said. "I don't think there's a guy in here who expected this to happen. Our lineup is too good for the way we performed these three games. It's frustrating right now, I'll tell you that. I felt we were in good position going into the postseason to make a run at this thing. That's why it's so stunning."Piniella was gracious in defeat."We had a lot of opportunities, but look, I want to congratulate the Arizona team," Piniella said. "They played really well."They have a good ballclub with good pitching, and I wish them well in their endeavors in the next round. We're disappointed, but at the same time, I'm really proud of our players. We got off to a slow start this year, put together a good run, culminated in getting in the postseason." 424512Arizona closer Jose Valverde pumps his fists to the sky after recording the final out.Rick West | Staff Photographer 400247Ryan Theriot is dejected after being forced out at second after teammate Derrek Lee hit into a double play.Associated Press 233512Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez reacts after a called third strike in the first inning against the Arizona D'backs in Game 3 of a National League Division Series.Ed Lee | Staff Photographer 512329Mark DeRosa starts to leave the field after hitting into a double play to end the 5th inning with the bases loaded.Ed Lee | Staff Photographer