Sunday, April 24, 2011
Posted: 4:40 p.m.Updated: 6:35 p.m.
By Patrick Mooney
CSNChicago.com
Mike Quade walked into the interview room on Saturday afternoon with announcement to make: Kerry Woods vacation is over. The reliever who hadnt pitched since April 16 would start ahead of Carlos Zambrano on Sunday.
The manager was joking, and maybe a little annoyed at people wondering why Wood was sitting in the bullpen that long.
The Cubs do not need a radical solution like moving Wood to the rotation (an idea that also happens to be completely unrealistic). They need Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner to get healthy. They need their big-money pitchers to play up to their contracts. Theyll keep waiting.
The Los Angeles Dodgers buried Zambrano in the first inning of Sundays 7-3 loss in front of 32,943 fans at Wrigley Field. It snapped Zambranos personal 10-game winning streak, the longest for a Cubs pitcher since Rick Sutcliffe won 16 in a row across the 1984-85 seasons.
Its over with, Zambrano said. Lets get a new winning streak. I knew sooner or later I was going to lose a game. Lets move on. Lets focus on my next (one).
The Cubs rank last in the majors with five quality starts this season. They led the National League with 96 last year. As much as anything, that explains why theyre now 10-11 and havent won more than two games in a row.
MLB
Just too much to overcome, Quade said. Normally when you get on a roll and you start playing well consistently, it has a lot to do with your starting pitching. And once we get that straightened out, Ill feel pretty good about this thing. Were just very inconsistent in that area right now.
Ex-Cub Aaron Mileswho went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scoredtripled to lead off the game. The first five Dodgers reached base and all five scored. It was pretty much game over at that point.
The Dodgers (12-11) just hammered the ball all weekend, and the Cubs were lucky that they didnt get swept. Los Angeles scored 27 runs during this three-game series.
Were right there, third baseman Aramis Ramirez said. I think weve been lucky because we havent pitched the way we liked to. Were giving up a lot of runs, but Im pretty sure we got some good arms here and the pitchers are going to come around.
The last time Zambrano lost a gameJune 25, 2010he was kicked out of U.S. Cellular Field. He steered a question about what hes learned during the streak, how hes grown as a pitcher, back toward the team.
Defensive breakdowns led to that meltdown, but there was Zambrano going over to Darwin Barney and telling the second baseman to forget about the error he just made.
Zambrano promised to get the next guy out in the second, and sure enough he induced an inning-ending double play. Zambrano (2-1, 5.28) allowed six runs on eight hits across five innings. But that response may have been just as revealing.
Z loves to play hard, Barney said. He loves guys that play hard. He knows were playing hard behind him.
At this point, it all depends on whether youre an optimist or a pessimist. The Cubs are still hanging around first place, but theyve missed a real opportunity to create some space within the division.
Until the starters get rolling, Wood will be pitching in low-leverage situations, the Cubs down four runs in the eighth inning, the seagulls flying in and the fans heading toward the exits.
I say (it) every year leaving spring training, especially here in Chicago, Wood said. Get to that first week of May .500 or better, youre in a good spot. Its tough (in) this weather, (but) I think the guys have done a good job. Weve been in a lot of games. (Were) right there. I feel good about what we have here.
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Patrick Mooney is CSNChicago.com's Cubs beat writer. Follow Patrick on Twitter @CSNMooney for up-to-the-minute Cubs news and views.