Nothing to call it but swoon over Miami
Cubs' offense manages just 3 hits against Willis, Marlins
MIAMI -- These aren't the games that try Cubs' souls. Just their patience.
No legions of men left on base and scores of missed opportunities. No blown leads, no lack of pop.
No legions of men left on base and scores of missed opportunities. No blown leads, no lack of pop.
Just nine angry men, an oblong strike zone and an opposing pitcher who picked Tuesday night to pitch his best game of the year.
(AP)
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Cubs vs. Marlins
Nothing to call it but swoon over Miami
Just nine angry men, an oblong strike zone and an opposing pitcher who picked Tuesday night to pitch his best game of the year.
''There are no curses here -- there never have been,'' Cubs manager Lou Piniella said before the opener of a three-game series against the Florida Marlins. ''It's a figment of -- it's good copy. Games are won and lost on the baseball field, period.''
If Tuesday's 4-2 loss to former Cubs prospect Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins proved anything, it's that there are plenty of curses around this team -- most of them coming from Mark DeRosa and Aramis Ramirez in the ninth inning on this night.
It also turned out to be a quick reminder that the toughest, hottest week of a pennant race is the last one -- whether it includes a series against a last-place team or the team that bounced you from the playoffs the last time you were there.
Or, in this case, both.
''We've been playing well. We're not going to get down over this,'' first baseman Derrek Lee said after the Cubs' lead in the National League Central fell to two games with five to play -- following second-place Milwaukee's win over St. Louis.
''That's why we had a three-game lead when we came in,'' Piniella said. ''Now we squandered a piece of it. You come back and play tomorrow.
''You can't win every day. You like to. You think you can. You want to. But it just doesn't happen the way you want it to happen.''
Especially on this night, when nothing seemed to go right following a 5-1 homestand and Monday off.
After Cubs starter Ted Lilly got blooped around in a four-run second -- the only hard blow struck by Jeremy Hermida with a two-run double in the gap -- Craig Monroe hit his first homer as a Cub, a two-run shot in the eighth.
But in the ninth, two hours of Cubs frustration with Willis' newfound command coupled with home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher's generously wide strike zone boiled over.
When DeRosa was called out on a 1-2 pitch that appeared to be well outside the strike zone, it didn't take a professional lip reader watching TV to know what he said to Fletcher.
And after Lee followed with a single, Ramirez flied to center on a 3-2 pitch and muttered enough on the way back to the bench to get ejected by Fletcher.
''Quite a few players complained tonight,'' Piniella said.
''It was a ball, period,'' DeRosa said of the pitch he was called out on. ''I mean, I'm the leadoff guy in the top of the ninth in a 4-2 game. I've got to find a way to get myself on. And you don't like having the bat taken out of your hands in that situation, period.
''I don't know what else to say. I came in and watched it on video, and I still think that pitch is outside. People are human and they make mistakes. It's one of those things that gets blown up in these situations.''
Ramirez wouldn't comment on Fletcher's strike zone but said he was surprised he got ejected. ''Yeah, because I didn't say that bad a thing,'' he said.
Maybe it was just the aura of a curse coming off the circle-c on the hat at that point -- at this point in a season with so much promise riding on just five more games.
At a time when every loss is going to be scrutinized to the highest degree with this franchise.
''You know, it should be,'' DeRosa said. ''We realize what's at stake. We realize Milwaukee's winning. We're in good position. That's all I know. I don't want to come here and lose ballgames. But you're not going to win every night.''