Diamondbacks beat Cubs 8-4 for 2-0 NL division series lead
PHOENIX — There was no need for second-guessing in this one, little to analyze and nothing left to debate. The Arizona Diamondbacks gut-punched the Cubs’ feel-good season with an 8-4 victory Thursday at Chase Field, putting the Cubs in jeopardy of being swept out of what looked like such a promising October only two days ago.
Not even the Cubs’ designated stopper, Ted Lilly, could hold back the Diamondbacks on this night as the Cubs moved to the brink of their 12th postseason series loss in 13 tries since their 1908 World Series championship — down two games to none in the best-of-five series.
(AP)
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Cubs fall to D-Backs
‘‘Look, we’re going home, we have our home fans, we have a chance to get it back here with a couple of wins,’’ manager Lou Piniella said. ‘‘That’s exactly what we’re planning to do.’’
Lilly, who was 9-1 in games after a Cubs loss this season, looked shaky from the start and was unable to hold an early 2-0 lead for even one inning — giving up four runs in the second that included a three-run homer by former White Sox prospect Chris Young.
Lilly, who couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning, delivered the defining moment of this night of frustration when he responded to Young’s home run by snatching his glove off his right hand, raising it above his head and slamming it to the ground.
‘‘I’ve never seen a pitcher throw their glove like that on the mound,’’ Piniella said.
‘‘I was upset with myself for not executing the pitch,’’ Lilly said of the fastball up in the strike zone. ‘‘There was frustration there. It’s the biggest game that I pitched all year, and I had my expectations that I’d certainly be a lot more effective than I was today.’’
By the time the next batter reached on a broken-bat infield single, followed by a run-scoring triple, fans behind the Cubs’ dugout were lighting into Piniella hard enough that he turned away from the game, pointed into the stands and shouted back at the fans — more than once before the inning ended.
All that debate and second-guessing over the merits of a three-man starting rotation, or preparing Carlos Zambrano for a Game 4 start Sunday? Never mind.
Unless Rich Hill comes up big at home Saturday and, more importantly, the Cubs’ gone-tepid lineup shows up in this series against the D-backs’ tough pitching staff, there won’t be a Game 4.
The only Cubs highlight of this game came and went in the top of the second inning, when rookie catcher Geovany Soto — the surprise starter over veteran Jason Kendall the first two games of the series — hit a two-run homer off Diamondbacks starter Doug Davis for a 2-0 lead.
It might have underscored the wait-till-next-year theme of this day, if not this series, the way the week has headed so far.
One night after young setup reliever Carlos Marmol gave up the decisive runs in a Game 1 loss, gaining valuable experience, if not success, Soto drew postseason blood with his bat and rookie Kevin Hart got a postseason career debut in relief of Lilly.
While the kids were cutting their playoff teeth, Cubs first-year free agents were laying $176 million worth of rotten egg in the desert — the $40 million Lilly unable to turn in a competitive start, and $136 million leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano going 2-for-9 with four strikeouts in October after that September flourish.
This was a night that was supposed to be made for Lilly in a series Piniella manipulated for him. In the end, the biggest rationale for Piniella using a three-man rotation was to get Lilly a potential Game 5 start, instead of leaving him with just one scheduled start.
‘‘I certainly want to get another opportunity at this and redeem myself and help the team,’’ Lilly said. ‘‘You look over the season, I could care less how many games I won. Winning here is what it’s all about. This is not going to be easy to swallow.’’