LOS ANGELES. August 21, 2009. To lose the game to a hop of the ball must be like getting stung on the end of your nose when you bend down to smell a rose.  The pain lingers to remind you how close you got. Tonight’s loss will really have hurt. The frustration of Lou “The Guru” Piniella at the end of the game was palpable. He stomped off from the brief end of game interview probably to go to a quiet corner where no one would be able to see a grown man cry! I mustn’t be a grown man because I couldn’t help letting people see the tears streaming down my face. The Cubs got so close.

We all have a short attention span when the worry of how tough things are for the Cubs is to the forefront of our brains. But let me remind you what I said yesterday!

“In a perfect world where there were no fielding errors and the pitching staff were strong and confident and not giving up walks the Cubs would be well on the way to the Play-offs”. I also said that just “one slip” was enough to tumble you out of the game! Prophetic words?

The Dodgers had no fielding errors versus just one for the Cubs! That was the difference between the sides, that and the Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf.

As close games go this was a true chess game of the pitchers. Wells gave up only two runs out of 7 hits and where he will find the pain is that with two out an Aramis Ramirez error was responsible for Hudson for the Dodgers getting to 1st base and extending the innings. It was simply the bobble of the ball. This was in the 2nd innings and Russell Martin was also base.

Two on, two out! Up comes your nemesis, the opposing pitcher. So how do you feel when he gets the end of his bat to your 91mph breaking fast ball and hits it out to hop off the centerfield wall and all you see is two runs romping home and the pitcher Randy Wolf, your opposing pitcher scooting around for what turned out to be the game winning double. What do you do? At the end of the game you join your manager in a quiet corner and silently shed a tear with him!

I take real positives out of the game. Wells never let his shoulders down. He pitched another four innings and only gave up four scoreless hits. He gave his team a real chance. And they tried hard too. By the way, another positive for Cubs: The Cardinals also lost to the Padres.

But the Wolf was too strong for the visiting Cubs. He pitched a great game. He only gave up one hit. His two blemishes were in the 3rd innings, first was the walk he gave to San Fuld and the second was the single hit by Theriot to get Fuld home for the Cubs’ only RBI of their 9 innings. Yes, the Cubs offence will feel real bad but there is not much you can do when the opposing pitcher freezes you out with a brilliant performance.

The Cubs lost 1-2 to Dodgers by one error and one double. My betting is that they will try even harder tomorrow.

A.L.

Chicago Baseball Insider