“I need a three-day vacation from Tampa-St. Petersburg.”
– Lou Piniella after getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays
Man, I thought Lou was making the right decision by not bringing in Neal Cotts tonight. I guess I was wrong…
I don’t know what else could have gone wrong with the Cubs in series against the Rays. Ok, I’m not pushing the panic button just yet but this isn’t the kind of series we needed going into the Sox weekend.
The Cubs became the last team in the majors to lose three in a row when the bullpen just couldn’t get the job done once again. This time, we had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of 7th. Then the Rays exploded for 7 runs ensuring a Rays sweep. Marmol and Eyre bore the brunt of the Rays’ attack giving up all seven runs.
That’s bad enough. Now we play the waiting game with Zambrano undergoing tests on Friday. He’s already scheduled to rest on Tuesday. A likely candidate to take Z’s spot in the rotation is Sean Marshall.
Were that not enough, both Jim Edmonds (plantar fascitis) and Reed Johnson (back spasms) sat out Thursday’s game as well.
Shall we add some more? Kevin Hart, pitching his first game for the Iowa Cubs, was hit in the head with a line drive and suffered a Grade 1 concussion. Welcome to Iowa, Kevin.
But I’m not I’m panicking yet. We’re still 17 over .500 and we get to play the Sox at home this weekend. Time to make up for those three games with a sweep!