Accustomed to winning, team suffers rare setback
These days, there's even a bright side to a Cubs loss -- rare as that has been since June.
It's the fact that losing seems foreign now to the Cubs. Their 3-2 loss Saturday to the Arizona Diamondbacks was only their second in nine games since the All-Star break.
It's the fact that losing seems foreign now to the Cubs. Their 3-2 loss Saturday to the Arizona Diamondbacks was only their second in nine games since the All-Star break.
''It is a weird feeling,'' said Cliff Floyd, who pinch-hit in the ninth inning with two outs and Mark DeRosa on first base as the potential tying run. ''I had every confidence going into that at-bat. It ticked me off a little because I felt pretty good.''
(AP)
''It is a weird feeling,'' said Cliff Floyd, who pinch-hit in the ninth inning with two outs and Mark DeRosa on first base as the potential tying run. ''I had every confidence going into that at-bat. It ticked me off a little because I felt pretty good.''
Floyd, who popped out to end the game, hadn't played in two days after bruising his left shoulder and was facing one of the National League's better closers in Jose Valverde.
''Facing any closer and pinch-hitting when you haven't been out there the whole game,'' Floyd said, ''things are going faster than you're used to. It's a tough one to swallow, but you have to get back at it.''
The loss went to Bob Howry (5-5), who had been stellar filling in for closer Ryan Dempster. Howry made a mistake against Stephen Drew in the eighth, and Drew hit a homer that eventually decided the game.
''You make mistakes to good hitters, and they'll hit it,'' Howry said. ''Both [teams] made mistakes.''
Diamondbacks starter Micah Owings had his share, including one that sailed near the head of third baseman Aramis Ramirez in the first inning. Owings had walked Alfonso Soriano and Mike Fontenot before his first pitch to Ramirez, who took several steps toward the mound before Jacque Jones, who quickly came out from the on-deck circle, and third-base coach Mike Quade helped calm him down.
''I think I overreacted because it was close to my head,'' Ramirez said. ''That's why I reacted.''
Owings ended up on the better end. He struck out Ramirez, then retired the Cubs' RBI leader again in the third when he grabbed a hard-hit grounder up the middle and threw out Ramirez to end an inning with two men on base.
''Rami can't get the big hit every game,'' DeRosa said.
But the Cubs did get a big one from Angel Pagan, who tripled in both Cubs runs in the fourth against Owings. Pagan, one of six stranded Cubs, was at third with no outs but never scored.
''It's baseball, and anything can happen,'' Pagan said. ''It was a pitcher's game today, and both sides were pitching well. I got the big knock, and they did, too. They had the advantage of that Stephen Drew homer. You just come back tomorrow and keep playing hard.''
While Owings lasted only four innings, ex-Cub Juan Cruz (4-1) excelled for the Diamondbacks, working three scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
Rich Hill lasted six innings and threw 116 pitches because Arizona's hitters kept fouling off his deliveries.
''I think I made a few bad pitches early and got frustrated,'' said Hill, who allowed two runs but only one was earned. ''It was definitely a battle out there with the foul balls and a few counts that went deep. It seemed like I was getting ahead pretty well, but they'd foul off pitches. I just have to make a better [finishing] pitch.''
Hill still kept the Cubs in the game by stranding eight Diamondbacks, including a bases-loaded situation in the third.
''Rich Hill gave us six innings and did a good job,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''We had some opportunities and didn't take advantage. But it was a good game. We'd been doing a good job early in the week of compensating without our big bats [Derrek Lee and Floyd], but give the other guys credit.''
The Cubs were willing to do that this time, though a victory today becomes more important to decide the series.
''It's baseball, and we've all played long enough to know you have to stay on an even keel,'' catcher Koyie Hill said. ''We're used to coming back from situations, but today was just one of those days.''