Cubs can't seem to flip the switch vs. lowly Pirates
Groundhog Day, deja vu, same old song and dance .... whatever you want to call it, if you feel like you've been watching the same thing over and over following Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Pirates, well, you're not alone.
"This game here is a nice little synopsis of what our season has been like," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said, following a game that featured solid pitching, a lack of hitting and a key error that gave the powerful Pirates (27-51) yet another win over the Cubs in front of an announced crowd of 37,391.
To put it all in perspective we offer you this stunning number: one third of Pittsburgh's victories this year have come against the Cubs.
What the?
"It's one of those things that just happens in baseball," said Tom Gorzelanny, who returned to the starting rotation and tossed 5 innings of shutout ball. "Baseball is one of those trickier games than football and basketball where there are teams that are truly better than the other team when they go out there.
"I know we're a better team than (the Pirates), but it's just one of those things that's not working."
Not by a longshot.
Brad Lincoln allowed just 4 hits over 7 innings to pick up his first major-league win and up the Pirates' record to 9-3 against the North Siders. Who would've guessed the Cubs would be thankful to have just one more series remaining against Pittsburgh?
The loss marked the fifth times the Cubs have been shut out this season with four of those coming in their last 11 games.
"Our pitching was excellent for the series," Piniella said. "We gave up 5 runs and we lost two ballgames."
But it doesn't help when you total 4 runs ... for the entire series.
"You gotta score runs to win," Piniella said.
The Pirates snapped a scoreless tie in the eighth with a pair of unearned runs after Andy LaRoche reached on Aramis Ramirez's error with one out.
"The error at third base kept the inning going," Piniella said.
The Cubs wrapped up the month of June with a 10-16 record and find themselves 91/2 games behind division-leading Cincinnati, who comes to town today for a four-game series.
"There's always time. We need to win some games here," Gorzelanny said. "There's no reason for us to panic or worry.
"We're a good team. We still feel good about the will that we have. We need to break out and get on a good run. We all believe it's going to happen. This team is way too good to be playing like that."
They're going to have to be against the suddenly perky Reds. Piniella didn't even want to think about the prospect of a long series against the division leaders quite yet.
"I'll tell you what," he sighed, "Pittsburgh was tough enough."
Cubs scouting reportCubs vs. Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley FieldTV: Comcast SportsNet Thursday and Saturday; Channel 9 Friday and SundayRadio: WGN 720-AMPitching matchups: The Cubs' Carlos Silva (8-2) vs. Travis Wood (0-0) Thursday at 1:20 p.m.; Ryan Dempster (6-6) vs. Bronson Arroyo (7-4) Friday at 1:20 p.m.; Randy Wells (3-6) vs. Johnny Cueto (8-2) Saturday at 12:05 p.m.; Ted Lilly (3-6) vs. Mike Leake (5-1) Sunday at 1:20 p.m.At a glance: Remember when back-to-back series with the Pirates and Reds were borderline cakewalks? Those days are long gone. The Reds come to town after calling up pitcher Travis Wood from Triple-A Louisville to start against the Cubs today. Wood, the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2009, will be making his first big league start. The 23-year-old is 5-6 with a 3.12 ERA in 15 starts this season at Louisville, but has an 0.63 ERA over his past four starts. Next: Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, Monday-Wednesday <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=391174">Cubs' set-up man Marshall having an all-star season<span class="date"> [6/30/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=391290">Gorzelanny bright spot on dismal day<span class="date"> [6/30/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>