Well, umm, uh, what can you say? I guess this is a perfect illustration of the thesis I proposed after yesterday's game: that there comes a time when anything a manager does is wrong. The Cubs had one good inning when Fukudome tripled and scored on Nady's home run. The following inning Castro made a great throw to cut down a Pirate runner at third before the lead runner had scored and rob them of a run. After that they relaxed and wound up losing 3-2.
I will say this, Lou Piniella manages as if he had no bullpen at all. He always leaves a struggling starter around one batter too long and this is not the first game he has lost in this way. It is, I think, the third or fourth. In this case, there was no excuse for not removing Lilly after he walked a man in the bottom of the eighth inning. There was one out and Marmol, only the most difficult pitcher to hit in the league, was ready. Instead, Walker hit a two run homer to win the game.
I really don't care what the reasons may be or who is hurt or sulking or unhappy, this kind of effort is just impossible to tolerate. 1-7 against the Pirates. Give me a break. It looks like they will never score a run and they will always find a way to lose. Maybe Zambrano needs to lean on someone after each inning tomorrow night to shake things up. Lou certainly won't.
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