8 for 15 and 1 for 17

The Cubs lost a very winnable game tonight to the Dodgers. Randy Wells was excellent again. He’s now winless in 4 starts despite throwing very well in each start. He’s allowed 22 hits and 5 runs in 24 innings. He’s walked 6 and struck out 22. He allowed 2 runs tonight, though one of them came on a play that every 3rd baseman not named Mike Fontenot makes. The Cubs got their hits tonight. The problem was they were all with nobody on base. They were 8-15 with the bases empty and just 1-17 with men on base. They were 0-13 until Derrek Lee’s single up the middle in the 9th. Reed Johnson bounced out, Soto was intentionally walked, Scales struckout and jake Fox struckout. It was the 2nd inning in a row in which the Cubs had runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out and failed to score. Unless you’re hitting home runs (Scales hit a home run tonight), you’re not going to win games when you only get 1 hit in 17 at-bats with men on base. That simple. Doesn’t matter how well your pitching is and it was really good tonight. Give credit where it’s due. Randy Wolf was excellent. He kept the ball on the ground all night long and the Cubs grounded into 4 double plays as a result. The Cubs really did fail to come through in the 8th and 9th innings though. They had runners all over the place and couldn’t get anything done. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball and they have one of the best pitchers in the game going tomorrow. The Cubs are going to have to win if they want to stay above .500.