Only five days earlier, Cubs rookie Sean Marshall pitched a stellar seven
innings against the Houston Astros, giving up only one run and still ending up a
1-0 loser.
On Tuesday night, Marshall was a victim of the Astros again -- but this time
he provided too much of their ammunition.
"I fell behind guys, and then you're asking for trouble,'' the
left-hander said after a 9-2 loss ended the Cubs' three-game winning streak and
started the homestand off on a sour note. "My command was a little off. I
let them be patient by throwing first-pitch balls. It was pretty much me. I
found trouble when I did that.''
ASTROS
9
CUBS
2
The trouble began in the first when Chris Burke scored the first of his five
runs in a career-best four-hit night. He homered to give veteran Andy Pettitte
an early lead that grew to 3-0 by the third. The cushion propelled Pettitte
(6-7) through seven innings and his first career victory against the Cubs in six
starts, four of them no-decisions.
"When you give a veteran pitcher that many runs, they have a different
mentality,'' Cubs catcher Michael Barrett said. "From the fourth inning on,
Pettitte was really good.''
So good that he allowed only two hits after the third, both coming in the
seventh and one of them Phil Nevin's third homer and first at Wrigley Field as a
Cub. By then, the Cubs trailed 6-1, Pettitte having allowed only five hits
before the Astros added on in the ninth off Will Ohman, the fourth Cubs
reliever.
"Sean had a tough night,'' manager Dusty Baker said. "He wasn't as
sharp as we've seen him. He had trouble controlling his fastball and curveball,
and everything was up. We didn't want to go to the bullpen that early because
that hurts you later [in a series].''
Marshall (3-5) weathered a third inning that could have broken the game open
early. But the Astros managed just two runs despite having the bases loaded
twice with no outs thanks to a ground-ball, home-to-first double-play ball off
the bat of Brad Ausmus, swinging on a 3-0 pitch. Ausmus was the player who
homered off Marshall in their last meeting in Minute Maid Park a week ago, the
only mark against him.
But they chased Marshall out with two more runs in the fifth with no outs,
making for Marshall's shortest home outing of the season.
"Not to take away from the Astros, but I don't think Sean had his best
stuff,'' said Barrett, who had one of his two hits against Pettitte.
Losing again to the division-rival Astros was a bitter pill after a 6-4 road
trip had the Cubs feeling good to start the six-game homestand. But Wrigley
Field for the last two seasons has become an inviting place for visitors, who
have won more than the Cubs. The trend is continuing, with the Cubs 12-15 at
Wrigley, which drew another capacity crowd of 40,563. The loss was only the
second under the Wrigley lights, however, with the Cubs now 7-2 at home at
night.
"This is the best place in the world to play baseball,'' a somber
Barrett said. "The fans keep coming out to support us. It's frustrating
when people keep coming out to support you and you don't feel like you give
enough.''
All the Cubs could muster after Nevin's homer was a run in the ninth off Brad
Lidge when pinch hitter John Mabry doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and
scored on Juan Pierre's single.
The Cubs again had double-digit hits with 11 and the Astros 12.
But the Cubs didn't get them when they mattered most -- in the second with
two men on and no outs and in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one
out.
"I think we swung the bats pretty well tonight, but just didn't get much
results,'' Marshall said, absolving the offense. "I just have to try to
pitch and minimize the number of runs.''
Baker is as tired of the home losses as anyone.
"Teams come in here and can out-slug us,'' Baker said. "We each
only had one homer, but they had some more extra-base hits. There wasn't much
working tonight.''
