Yes, all five non-pitching All-Stars played.
The Cubs lost a double-header to the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday afternoon, dropping the first game 1-0, then the second game 6-3 before 34,031 puzzled people in Wrigley Field.
In the opener, Rick Sutcliffe pitched his fifth complete game of the season. It was his third complete-game loss.
In Game 2, the Cubs left the bases loaded three times, and manager Don Zimmer pulled his starting pitcher by mistake.
Strange day.
Second game first.
The Cubs trailed 4-2 in the fifth. Starter Calvin Schiraldi, who had been rocked by home runs off the bats of Mike Marshall in the first inning and Kirk Gibson in the third, walked pitcher Brian Holton leading off the fifth, which brought pitching coach Dick Pole to the mound for a chat.
Pole was in the dugout and left-hander Frank DiPino was getting loose in the bullpen when Schiraldi got Steve Sax on a comebacker force that would`ve been a double play if Shawon Dunston`s relay hadn`t been in the dirt. Then he retired Danny Heep on a pop to short.
With Gibson coming up, out came Zimmer. Schiraldi, aware this was the inning`s second mound visit, tried to hand Zimmer the ball.
Zimmer, who forgot this was the inning`s second mound visit, wouldn`t take it-until Schiraldi suggested politely that he had no choice.
Someone after the game asked Zimmer if he yanked Schiraldi because he wanted the left-hander in to face left-handed batter Gibson, which seemed logical.
There was a long, long pause.
”You want to know the truth?” said Zimmer, a hint of a blush rising in his cheeks. ”I made a mistake. I forgot that Pole had been to the mound.
”I didn`t want Gibson to hurt us in this situation. So I was going to tell Schiraldi how to pitch to Gibson. And it was the second time out, and I didn`t realize it.
”It wasn`t a big thing. I had the left-hander ready anyhow, and he got Gibson out.”
It was that kind of a day: The Cubs, who dropped to fourth behind Montreal with the two losses, never did have it in sync. They tied their season high in the second game by stranding 12 runners. They left the bases loaded in the third, when Dave Martinez lined out; in the fifth, when Manny Trillo struck out; and in the ninth, when Martinez swung and missed a high pitch by Jay Howell for strike three, saving the game for fellow reliever Holton (4-2).
A few minutes later, Martinez was sent out of the country.
The unintentional hook was a bizarre ending to another frustrating day for Schiraldi. It was the seventh straight start in which he`s failed to finish seven innings. In 15 starts, he`s gone nine once.
They haven`t all been bad. They just haven`t been very long.
”The only really bad pitch was the one I made to Marshall,” said Schiraldi (4-8). ”I was trying to get it in, but I didn`t want to go down. That`s his zone. He hit the tar out of it.”
No one hit much of anything off Sutcliffe (7-7) in the opener. He was touched for nine hits, but the only run came in the second.
With two outs, he walked Jeff Hamilton, and Dave Anderson followed with a 27-hopper that dribbled between first and second. Los Angeles starter Tim Leary (8-6), who came into the game batting .300, then poked a outside 0-2 slider in front of Andre Dawson in right, Hamilton scored and that was the ballgame.
It wasn`t that Leary was untouchable. The Cubs had at least a hit in each of the first six innings and made some loud outs. Ryne Sandberg scorched a couple off Leary but went hitless, and Vance Law and Martinez each drilled balls that never left the infield.
”I thought we hit the ball pretty good for not scoring any runs,”
Zimmer said. ”I can remember six, seven line drives that were hit, but they`re outs. So it`s not like were were popping the ball up or striking out. We hit the ball decent.”
Leary struck out six and walked one before leaving after the seventh.
”I wasn`t tired,” Leary said. ”I mean, well, of course, a little. It was their decision to make a change. Our bullpen has been throwing darts lately.”
One of the dart-throwers has been Alejandro Pena, who hasn`t allowed an earned run in his last nine appearances (16 innings, 17 strikeouts). He retired the last six Cubs for the save.
”The last time I pitched the first game of a double-header, I lost 1-0,” Sutcliffe said. ”Maybe the next time, I should pitch the second game.”
”I`d rather lose 15-14 than lose 1-0. It`s tough to swallow as a pitcher, and it`s boring to watch as a fan.
”Horrible way to start the second half.”
