Game Twenty-Two – Cubs 2 Rockies 4
WP – Aaron Cook (3-1) LP – Kevin Hart (2-1) Save – Brian Fuentes (1)
The Cubs lost their first game in a week on Thursday afternoon in Denver as the 6-game winning streak came to an end. Aaron Cook shut down the Cubs offense as they managed only 2 runs on 4 hits on getaway day. But Jason Marquis was just as effective and the difference in the game was an error by Ryan Theriot in the bottom of the 8th.
Aaron Cook did not allow a base runner after the 2nd inning until the 8th when the Cubs tied the game on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Mike Fontenot. Kevin Hart took the mound in the bottom of the inning, gave up a lead off double to Matt Holliday and after an intentional walk with 1-out to Brad Hawpe it appeared Hart had gotten out of the inning. Troy Tulowitzki hit a grounder to Ronny Cedeno, he flipped to Theriot to start the double play….but Theriot dropped the ball, Holliday scored and the Rockies added a 2-out insurance run later in the inning. After driving in the winning run on Wednesday night in the 10th, Ryan Theriot followed with a not-such-a-good-day-at-the-park. Theriot was 0-for-4, hit into two double plays and his error in the 8th was the deciding play. With that said, Theriot was not alone. Only Felix Pie 2-for-3 with a RBI had what could be described as a good day and for the first time this season Aramis Ramirez did not reach base. The middle of Lou Piniella’s lineup (Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome and DeRosa) finished 0-for-14 with 2 walks and a run scored.
In a 162-game schedule teams are going to have ones like the Cubs did on Thursday.
Despite pitching his way in and out of trouble all afternoon, Jason Marquis turned in a quality start and allowed only 2 runs on 8 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 7 innings. The Cubs lost the first game of the year Marquis started (3-1) but most importantly, his performance kept Piniella from using his bullpen once again.
The only mistake Marquis really made was on the lead off home run to Chris Iannetta in the 7th.
Kevin Hart was a hard luck loser. While he gave up the double, he did his job by inducing Tulowitzki to hit the grounder to Cedeno.
Lou Piniella’s crew opens a 3-game series in the Nation’s Capitol on Friday night. Ryan Dempster is scheduled to face Odalis Perez in their first game at new National’s Park.