What can you say? The Cubs probably should have won the first two games against the Marlins and easily could have won the fourth on Sunday. The Saturday game was a bust just because Carlos Zambrano, coming off a couple of weeks on the DL, just had no command.
As for Thursday's game, Marmol, for whatever reason just could not throw strikes. So although Garza pitched seven shutout innings and Marshall an eighth, the whole thing blew up. Even though everybody in the park knew Marmol had nothing, Mike Quade stuck with him and didn't even have anyone warming up until the game had been blown.
The following day, having announced that Marmol would be relieved of closing duties until he straightened himself out, Quade reached back for the old hair of the dog after Dempster had pitched eight shutout innings. Same thing from Marmol, no command. They were lucky that Ramirez tried to stretch his hit into a double and got thrown out at second. Fortunately, this time Quade had Marshall ready to put out the fire.
On Sunday, it was Wood's turn to blow the game. Wells turned in a pretty gutsy performance after a rocky first inning. Wood came in to pitch the eighth inning and after two were retired, he proceeded to hit a batter and walk the next guy. Then he actually picked off the runner at second base by at least a foot. However, the umpire botched the call. Wood and the Cubs then lost their composure. The next guy got an infield hit on a play that Ramirez should have made. It was Wood's turn then to self-destruct, walking in the go-ahead run and allowing a single to put the game out of reach.
Wood and Marmol are not the same pitchers they were at the start of the year, whether it is from overuse or injuries or lack of concentration. Not that there is any hope left for this season, but it is going to be an even longer and more painful finish if these guys continue to fail day in and day out.
As an aside, I was glad to hear that Quade spoke out about the bad call and the generally appalling quality of umpiring this season. I have watched so many games that have turned on umpire's rulings that have been just plain wrong all season long, and not just for the Cubs. It may simply be an impression, but going back a couple of years, the umpires seem to be getting worse and worse and more and more arrogant about it.
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