All-around slump for Cubs
REDS 9, CUBS 0 | Cub bats go silent, but pitching's no better as Reds bash 7 homers
CINCINNATI -- And the White Sox thought they needed slump-busting help.
The way the Cubs are going now, the most strategic place they're placing any bats is the bat rack.
(AP)
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Cincinnati 9, Cubs 0
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And if you think the hitters aren't getting it done, you should see some of the pitching problems they'll try again to fix after today's scheduled breather, with the major-league-leading Arizona Diamondbacks due Friday for a three-game series at Wrigley Field.
''It's a little frustrating. You don't want to give back what you've gained,'' said first baseman Derrek Lee, whose Cubs were jockeying with Arizona for the best record in baseball barely two weeks ago.
Since then, it has been a 4-9 tailspin during which they've lost four straight series, including two against important division rivals, and had every area of the game break down at some point -- bottoming out, so far, with a 9-0 loss at Cincinnati on Wednesday in which the Reds clubbed seven home runs.
''We had a great month [of April], but we've kind of come back down to earth,'' Lee said. ''We just need to regroup and pick it back up.''
Lee blames the hitting for the team slump -- in large part his 4-for-24 road trip -- but the pitching remains the biggest cause for concern as the Cubs approach the season quarter-pole.
Left-hander Rich Hill's disappointing start already cost him a demotion to Class AAA Iowa, and the fifth spot's first runner-up, Jon Lieber, could be abdicating to the second runner-up -- whoever that might be -- after lasting just two power-blasted innings Wednesday.
''We'll sit on it,'' manager Lou Piniella said of the decision on what to do with that spot in the rotation next time around. ''We don't need to make a decision right now, so we'll think about it and see what we do.''
The options are limited. Sean Marshall, probably the next-best choice, isn't stretched out enough to start -- as he showed in relief of Lieber when he sailed through two innings, then got knocked out before getting an out in his third -- and he doesn't have time to build up before the Cubs need to fill that spot again Tuesday against San Diego.
And they can't use today's day off to skip the fifth starter because they're already using it to skip Jason Marquis' turn. He's now scheduled for Monday.
That leaves rookie Sean Gallagher, who was a starter at Iowa and threw 97 pitches as recently as April 28. Gallagher, who pitched two innings Wednesday and surrendered one of Joey Votto's three homers, said he's prepared to start.
''Anything they want,'' he said.
Lieber (2-2), who was exceptional in long relief the first five weeks, wasn't sharp at all in his first start of the season -- tying an eight-year-old franchise record by allowing four home runs in an inning.
That was the Reds' quick-strike, five-run second that Votto and Adam Dunn opened with a pair of homers in the span of three pitches. Two batters later, Paul Bako added a third, and Jerry Hairston Jr. hit the fourth with two outs.
''Last time I remember going through something like that was my first year [with the Cubs] in '99 against the Cardinals,'' said Lieber, referring to a 7-2 loss in September in which all seven runs were scored in the seventh, five off three home runs. ''It just happened so quick. You try to regroup. That just didn't happen.''
Lieber, who was done after the second, wouldn't blame his lack of starting this season for his inability to keep his modest fastball from splitting the strike zone.
''It has nothing to do with it,'' he said. ''Just terrible pitching, and I put my team in the hole right off the bat.''
By the time it was over, it was the Cubs' most lopsided loss of the season, with much of the air from that 15-6 start hissing away from a rapidly deflating clubhouse mood.
''It's not very good,'' Lieber said.
