Bullpen can't keep Cubs from dropping series to Red Sox

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Sunday's Cubs-Red Sox series finale was supposed to have a plethora of storylines surrounding Josh Beckett and his return to Wrigley Field to pitch against the Cubs.

Beckett soared to stardom with his dynamic postseason run in 2003, when his Marlins outlasted the Cubs in the Steve Bartman series nobody in Chicago could forget.

Instead, the story Sunday was Franklin Morales, who replaced Beckett after the right-hander landed on the disabled list Saturday morning with shoulder inflammation.

Morales, who hasn't started a game in the Majors since 2009, shut down the Cubs in a 7-4 Red Sox win. Morales struck out nine batters in five innings and allowed just four hits.

Both teams displayed shoddy defense on the night, committing two errors apiece, which didn't include a Starlin Castro popup that Dustin Pedroia misplayed into a double.

Daivd Ortiz homered and drove in two runs while Pedroia picked up his first two hits of the series.

Starlin Castro led the Cubs offensively with three of the team's eight hits, falling a homer short of the cycle. He also drove in two runs. Darwin Barney singled and scored two runs.

Paul Maholm turned in a quality start, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings, but three Cubs relievers combined to surrender four more runs.

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