Another game in which the Cubs had a lead, and another late loss. The heart can take only so many.
Ryan Dempster did his best Matt Garza impression, by which I mean he was dominant save for a throw-away. Dempster’s throw-away cost the Cubs a run, as did a Darwin Barney error and an ugly walk by Rafael Dolis. The Marlins had a few gaffes of their own, but they were outweighed by the Cubs’ mistakes.
The offense offered base runners, but sacrificed them to the double-play gods (the Cubs grounded into four of them).
Dale Sveum is going to get shredded for his decision to stick with a visibly shaky Rafael Dolis in the 8th inning (after a luckily scoreless 7th – you could argue he shouldn’t even have come out for the 8th, but, keep in mind, the Cubs’ pen is currently missing their normal 8th inning guy). Sveum was trying to get Dolis through Hanley Ramirez so he could bring in lefty James Russell, but it was Ramirez who hit the deciding three-run bomb. Dolis opened the 7th by getting a ground ball, which Barney booted. From there, he was clearly rattled, and walked the next batter (looking ugly in the process). Sveum probably should have pulled the plug there, though I can understand why he didn’t. I don’t think I’m going to rip him too hard for it, but, yeah, he’s going to get blasted in some corners.