Cubs' early returns on Garza not so good

The early returns on the Matt Garza trade, which cost the Cubs four of their top minor-league prospects plus utility outfielder Sam Fuld, are not encouraging.

Garza's record as a Cub fell to 0-2 in Friday night's 5-0 loss to the red-hot Rockies in Colorado, and his ERA, 5.68 at game time, rose to 6.27, after he allowed 5 earned runs in 6 innings.

To make matters worse, Fuld went 3-for-4 for the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night to lift his average to .366. He also has 7 stolen bases, 5 more than the Cubs have as a team.

On a larger scale, and even more discouraging, has been the early performance of the entire pitching staff. Entering Friday night's game the Cubs were 13th in the NL with a 5.06 ERA, and they have not gotten a quality start since April 4.

The starting rotation has been especially disappointing, although it has been dinged early by injuries to Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells. But the acquisition of Garza was supposed to provide a stabilizing force and give the Cubs a pitcher who could complement if not challenge Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano at the top of the rotation. Through 3 starts, it hasn't happened — for any of the Big Three.

Dempster, Zambrano and Garza all have ERA's over 6.00.

Casey Coleman and James Russell, who were called on to replace Cashner and Wells, have ERA's of 7.20 and 7.71, respectively.

In Garza's defense, he didn't get much offense Friday night. Even though he scuffled throughout, frequently falling behind hitters, Garza only had just one really bad inning — and it was one swing that did him in.

After allowing singles to Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton, Garza walked Seth Smith, one of nine hitters he went to three balls against. One out later, Chris Iannetta's long drive to center field barely eluded the grasp of Marlon Byrd, scoring all three baserunners. Iannetta scored, too, after Starlin Castro's relay throw to third base went into the Cubs' dugout.

Garza spent most of the evening working from behind against a Rockies team that has now won seven straight. He started 3-0 on five hitters in his 6 sloppy innings before Jeff Samardzija and Russell set down Colorado in order in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

For the fourth straight game, 21-year-old shortstop Castro and rookie second baseman Darwin Barney hit 1-2 in the Cubs' lineup.

“We're going to stay with the kids,” Cubs manager Mike Quade said on his pregame radio show on WGN. “Fortunately, those two kids have continued to do a great job.”

But there was no top-of-the order magic against the Rockies, as Castro and Barney combined to go 0-for-7. Barney had struck out just once in his first 32 plate appearances but fanned in his first 2 at-bats Friday before drawing a walk.