Late-game implosion buries sinking Cubs
CINCINNATI - If nothing else, give the Cubs credit for ingenuity, for finding new and creative ways to lose.
The final figure Saturday night - 14-2 in favor of the Cincinnati Reds - suggests a classic blowout, but the Cubs trailed only 3-2 in the seventh inning with a chance to blow the game open themselves.
Instead, they left the bases loaded in the top half of the seventh and then helped the Reds score 11 runs in the seventh and eighth.
"It's hard to do; it's hard to do," marveled Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team fell to 14-17 overall and to 1-4 on this road trip to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
The Cubs' Derrek Lee grounded out on a half-swing to the pitcher with the bases loaded to end the visitors' seventh. The Reds then batted around in both the seventh and eighth.
Errors by Starlin Castro and Mike Fontenot began the seventh, which saw Cubs relievers Esmailin Caridad, Sean Marshall and Carlos Zambrano touched, even though the team was charged with no earned runs.
In the eighth, Justin Berg hit a batter, walked two and gave up a grand slam to Ryan Hanigan. Oh, and the Cubs continued their wasteful ways on offense, leaving 11 runners stranded.
Piniella put things succinctly.
"Look, 'til we solve our bullpen problems and figure out how to score runs consistently, it's going to be a struggle," he admitted. "I'm being honest. If we can get those areas resolved, we can go on a nice stretch of baseball where we'll win with consistency."
That sounds all pie-in-the-sky now, given how the bullpen and the key hitters are going. The Cubs got 6 innings of 3-run ball from starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny, who fell to 1-4 with a 2.83 ERA. He gave up a 2-run homer to Joey Votto in the first inning and an RBI single to Jonny Gomes in the third.
"It's hard to explain," Gorzelanny said. "We just need to go out there and play the way we know how to play. This is way too good of a team to be in this situation right now. The hitters we have on this team, there is so much more there, and we know that, and they know that. And us pitchers, as well. There's so much more there."
The Cubs scored a run in the sixth. In the seventh, Castro got things going with a two-out double. Xavier Nady later walked with the bases loaded as a pinch hitter, setting up Lee, who couldn't deliver.
"There's no frustration," said Lee, batting .217. "The bottom line is I got to pull my weight. Those guys set the table for me with a chance to take the lead. I get a hit, it's a different game. There's no frustration. I just have to get the job done. There's no question. That game changed on that play."
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Bruce Miles' game tracker
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Reds 14, Cubs 2</b></p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Wasted effort: The Cubs continue to defy the stats by losing quality-start games. Tom Gorzelanny turned in the team's 19th quality start, but the Cubs are just 9-10 in those games, with the starters' ERA being 2.06.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Castro watch: Shortstop phenom Starlin Castro was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored. He also committed a costly fielding error to start the Reds' 5-run seventh. </p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Memory Layne: The Cubs were none too thrilled with home-plate umpire Jerry Layne, who rang them up for 6 called third strikes. They also felt Cincinnati's Jonny Gomes was tagged out at home plate in the seventh, as he scored from second on an infield single. Layne ruled he slid under the tag. </p>