Strikeout call gets Cubs’ Sveum riled up

Some of the Cubs’ frustration boiled over in the seventh inning of their 6-1 loss to the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

Enough had gone wrong Sunday, and enough has gone wrong during the season that it finally got to a couple of people.

Manager Dale Sveum was ejected by home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi in the bottom of the seventh inning after Cuzzi ruled that Donnie Murphy had gone too far on a checked swing. The Cubs had runners at first and second with nobody out at the time, and they did not score in the inning.

“That’s easily the worst checked-swing call I’ve ever seen,” Sveum said.

Relief pitcher James Russell, who gave up a 3-run homer to Jon Jay in the top of the seventh, was tossed in the bottom half by third-base umpire Tom Hallion.

Murphy was not ejected, but he clearly disagreed with Cuzzi’s call, and replays seemed to back him up.

“I wasn’t even expecting anything on that one,” Murphy said. “At the least, ask for help down the first-base line to the umpire, but I guess he saw it, and I definitely disagreed with him.

“I went straight in and looked at the replay, and it showed I didn’t swing.”

Cuzzi told Sveum he didn’t need to check with first-base umpire Chris Guccione.

The other frustrating thing for the Cubs is that they were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, making them 2-for-26 on the homestand.

They already came into Sunday last in the majors hitting with runners in scoring position, at .222.

Running up the count:Starting pitcher Edwin Jackson fell to 7-13 with a 4.89 ERA. He ran his pitch count to 117 over 6 innings, during which he gave up 6 hits and 3 runs, 1 earned.The second inning lasted 36 pitches, thanks in part to center fielder Junior Lake dropping Kolten Wong#146;s flyball for an error.#147;We have a young team; we#146;re in a rebuilding stage right now,#148; Jackson said. #147;We#146;re going to have some ups and downs. It#146;s just vital for us to learn from our mistakes, and the next game we go out, remember what we did previously and just gain momentum from it.#148;By the numbers:The Cubs have dropped 13 of their last 15 games at Wrigley Field and fell to 5-15 in their last 20 overall. They scored 1 run total over the final two games against St. Louis. Against the Cincinnati Reds last week, they were shut out twice, and on the previous homestand the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked them the final two games. Edwin Jackson gave the Cubs their 73rd quality start Sunday, as the Cubs matched their total from all of last season.