Record: 3-6
Season Record: 23-31
Games Behind First: Irrelevant at the moment
Well so much for that. This was supposed to be the point where the Cubs kicked it into gear, hosting three of the worst teams in the National League. Not only was the homestand bad, it progressively got worse. The Cubs routed the Mets in two of three in the first series, and their only loss was a wild one that showed plenty of effort from the Cubs.
In one of the weirdest things I have ever seen, Justin Berg came in in relief during that game with two men on and one out and promptly walked the next three batters, forcing in two runs. Not only did he walk these hitters, he walked them on 12 pitches, meaning he didn't throw a single strike. After the third walk he was taken out and sent to the minors immediately.
The Cubs were basically shut out in the first two games against the Pirates, not including a ninth inning two-run bomb by Alfonso Soriano that didn't hold much significance. The Pirates, meanwhile, put up 14 runs between the two games, including a homer parade from former Cub shortstop Ronny Cedeno, first baseman Lyle Overbay, catcher Chris Snyder, and center fielder Andrew McCutchen. The Cubs won the Sunday matinee 3-2 on a homer from Aramis Ramirez (about time, don'tcha think?) and a pair of sac flies.
The Astros, jealous of their fellow NL Central team the Pirates, decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a homer parade of their own at Wrigley Field, which is just this magical place for opposing power hitters. I think the media is sticking with the story that the wind blows in during the spring despite the fact that visitors seem to have no trouble homering. The Astros' homer parade consisted of second baseman Clint Barmes, right fielder Hunter Pence, catcher J.R. Towles (really?), and shorstop Jeff Keppinger. They cruised to a 12-7 win.
As manager, Mike Quade can't just come to a press conference and blame the entire loss on one player because of the media frenzy and drama that would follow. Luckily, I am not bound to such restrictions. Tuesday's loss was almost entirely the fault of Carlos Marmol. Almost entirely. As usual, the Cubs left a million runners on base and could have scored plenty more, but Marmol comes in a 3-1 game in the ninth and gives up six. And here's the one part I just don't understand.
Marmol comes in, blows the lead, and then puts two men on base with a 4-3 Astros lead. He clearly didn't have good stuff out there that day, and had his morale blown after blowing the lead. But Mike Quade leaves him out there to pitch to Hunter Pence, who homers off him. A closer, especially one as emotionally pumped as Marmol, should never be left in a game after blowing a lead and letting the other team go ahead. A pathetic waste of a game.
The Cubs would lose the next afternoon too, ending the homestand at 3-6. Weren't they supposed to have their big winning swing on this homestand? No one on the Cubs actually got the memo. And not only that, the Cubs, as they have the last two years, looked completely disinterested. There's no anger here besides that of Carlos Zambrano (stay tuned on that).
I say it all the time; if the Cubs aren't going to beat the bad teams, they'll have to beat the good ones. Because you can't turn around the season without winning games. And the Cubs don't seem to be too interested in doing that these days. That is precisely the most frustrating thing about watching the Cubs. The Cubs just got swept by the Cardinals, and now head to Cincinnati and Philly. With all these injuries, underperformers, and losses, this is probably rock bottom for this team. If it isn't, the Cubs will probably lose 100 games this season.
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