Friday’s game at Wrigley certainly seemed like a game no Cubs — players or fans — really wanted to be at. Especially not the pitching staff.
On a wet and frigid afternoon, the Cubs essentially walked the game away. For the first two innings, Casey Coleman pitched well, but in the third inning he completely unraveled. Eleven Dodgers hitters came to the plate in that inning, and Coleman managed to give up six runs.
Though he was pulled shortly after, the Cubs would still endure more lackluster pitching as the bullpen dug the hole deeper. Reliever Jeff Stevens came in and pitched 3.1 innings… while walking six batters and giving up three more runs. John Grabow pitched two scoreless frames, but Marcos Mateo made sure the day got worse, giving up another three himself.
In the end it wouldn’t matter, as the Cubs had virtually no offense on Friday. Only Marlon Byrd’s triple and a few back-to-back singles were hit by the north siders. All, in all, the game was a mess.
The Cubs will try to rebound against old teammate Ted Lilly on Saturday afternoon. First pitch in that game will be at 12:05 P.M., CDT.