After taking the first two games from the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cubs appeared to be on their way to another victory on Saturday. They took a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning due to a tremendous performance from Randy Wells who threw seven shutout innings. He did not make it easy for himself, giving up at least one hit for every inning he pitched, but it was another quality start for the right-hander. Wells is now 1-1 with a 1.63 ERA in his last four starts after struggling for all of May and much of June.
Carlos Marmol was supposed to come in and shut the door in the ninth inning and give the Cubs a chance at a sweep on Sunday. Instead, Marmol ended up being the first Cub in 90 years to walk five batters in less than one inning of work. The last man in a Cub uniform to accomplish this feat went by the name of Speed Martin, who walked five Philadelphia hitters and did not make it out of the first inning. Inevitably, all of these walks led to four runs and yet another painful loss for a team that has had more than its share already this season.
Marmol has been good for the most part this season, but anyone who has followed his career knows that he is capable of losing the strike zone completely like he did on Saturday. When Dusty Baker used to run him out there as a starter, five walks in a game was almost a norm for him during his rookie campaign. His control has certainly improved since then and he has become an effective closer, but not an elite one. Opponents are hitting just .153 against the Cubs closer and he does lead all relievers in strike outs with 81, well ahead of the next closest reliever. However, you have to force the other team to actually make contact to beat you and that is something Marmol still doesn’t always do.
