LLLLLL: Padres 3, Cubs 1
After losing to the likes of Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Jake Peavy earlier in the current losing streak, the Cubs fell Saturday night at San Diego to young Josh Geer, who came into the game with a 5.61 ERA and no victories in five starts.
Cubs starter Randy Wells, subbing for the injured Rich Harden, pitched well enough to win (again). He yielded 3 runs on 5 hits and 1 BB over 7 innings.
Some of the Cub hitters even showed signs of life: Derrek Lee and Mike Fontenot had two hits each: Milton Bradley had a hit and a first-inning rocket that died deep in the vastness of Petco's centerfield.
Still, going into the final inning, Lee's solo home run in the second inning accounted for all the Cub scoring. Then, in the ninth, Bradley and Lee stroked back-to-back singles, and the Cubs had the tying runs at first and third with none out against Padres closer-for-a-night, Edward Mujica.
Micah Hoffpauir then ripped a hard ground ball at Padres first-baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who touched first, looked Bradley back to third, and fired to second to double up Lee.
Geovany Soto was the Cubs' last hope, and he worked the count full before watching a belt-high fastball pass for strike three.
Ted Lilly (5-3, 3.35) gets the start Sunday against Chris Young (3-2, 5.07) as the Cubs try to avoid getting swept at San Diego and concluding the six-game road trip without a victory.
1984: The Padres honored the members of their '84, Steve Garvey-led National League Championship team before the game, so those of us who lived through that horror had a chance to be reminded of it before the fun of the actual game began.
Coming attraction: The Cubs' next opponents, the Pirates, were blanked for a second consecutive night by the White Sox in their interleague series at U.S. Cellular Field. Pirates' offense vs. Cubs' offense—should be a matchup for the ages.
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