Talk on the wild side
As Brewers, Sheets even series, Piniella may have Cubs aiming for 2nd-best path into playoffs
The Cubs as the National League wild-card winner?
It may seem unlikely, given that their strong June ended Saturday with a sobering 13-4 loss to the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers -- a loss that also ended their season-best seven-game winning streak and dropped them again to one game below .500 (39-40).
It may seem unlikely, given that their strong June ended Saturday with a sobering 13-4 loss to the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers -- a loss that also ended their season-best seven-game winning streak and dropped them again to one game below .500 (39-40).
But the Cubs and manager Lou Piniella may be starting to see a bigger, clearer picture as the first half of the season winds down.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
PHOTO GALLERY
Streak stopped at 7
Rich Hill, Friday
| H | R | ER | BB | HBP | SO | HR | E | ERA |
| 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 45.00 |
Sean Marshall, Saturday
| H | R | ER | BB | HBP | SO | HR | E | ERA |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 36.00 |
But the Cubs and manager Lou Piniella may be starting to see a bigger, clearer picture as the first half of the season winds down.
''Milwaukee has a really good team,'' Piniella said. ''We just have to stay in contact with them. We've had our adversity with key people having had injuries. Now we just have to stay in contact with [the Brewers] and win games because regardless of what happens [in the division], you're picking up games on the wild-card team when you win.''
After the game, the Cubs were six games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the wild-card picture.
Piniella's first reference to the wild card might be the clearest sign yet of his goal after the Cubs' rocky April (10-14) and May (12-15).
The team finished 17-11 in June, the same number of victories as the Brewers (17-9), putting them 7½ games behind the division leaders.
''We're playing good, but they just came out swinging today,'' Aramis Ramirez said of the Brewers, who put up four runs in the first against left-hander Sean Marshall (4-3), one fewer than their total Friday against lefty Rich Hill. The difference this time was an unrelenting Brewers offense and veteran ace Ben Sheets (10-3) backing it up.
''He's definitely one of the best pitchers in the National League,'' Mark DeRosa said. ''They came right back out today and put it on us.''
The Brewers have punished lefties all season, improving to 18-10 against them, compared to 29-23 against right-handers.
The last meetings between the teams come Aug. 28-30 at Wrigley Field. First comes the rubber game of this series today.
''It's a huge game for us,'' DeRosa said. ''We want to get on that plane [to Washington for a series against the Nationals on Monday] 6½ games back. The Brewers are playing good ball and have so much talent, we'll have our work cut out for us the second half.''
Piniella opted against an all-out fight Saturday, taking out Ramirez (triple), Derrek Lee (0-for-2) and Alfonso Soriano (1-for-2) after the fifth.
''These guys have been playing a lot, so we gave them a little breather,'' Piniella said. ''I'd have rested a couple more, but we were out of players.''
He flipped his starting double-play combination of DeRosa at second and Mike Fontenot at shortstop after Fontenot booted Corey Hart's ground ball on the first play of the game. Fontenot, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI triple in the first, committed another error in the fifth at second. But Piniella said second is where the hot-hitting newcomer will stay.
''Let's leave it at that,'' Piniella said. ''From what I've seen, second base is a much better position for Mike.''
Fontenot, who mostly played shortstop at Class AAA Iowa earlier this season, didn't think the position was the problem.
''I just didn't put myself in a good position playing the balls,'' he said.
DeRosa hadn't played shortstop since Sept. 2, 2006, with the Texas Rangers, but he has been the most versatile of Piniella's interchangeable parts, playing second, third and right field.
Resiliency as much as versatility seems to be an increasingly important component for the Cubs.
''Is June over?'' Lee said, smiling. ''It was a good month for us. We played well, but we have to continue to play well. There's still a long way to go. To follow it up with a bad July, it wouldn't mean much.''