Wrigley Field looked like a time warp Tuesday night as the Cubs fell into the basement of the National League Central with a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh.
The announced crowd of 31,494 was the smallest of the season at Wrigley, and with school back in session and the two worst teams in the National League facing off, thousands of fans opted to eat their tickets instead of coming out to witness a Juan Mateo-Victor Santos matchup.
By the third inning, only 32 fans were sitting in the bleacher section right below the center-field scoreboard, hearkening back to the days of the late 1970s.
The unfortunate souls who decided to show up saw exactly why the Cubs and Pirates were battling it out for the cellar.
Beleaguered closer Ryan Dempster was booed off the mound once again after imploding on cue in the ninth inning. Dempster (1-8) loaded the bases with an infield hit, a walk, a wild pitch and another walk, before throwing a second wild pitch with two outs to hand the Pirates a 6-5 lead.
The Cubs lost for the 14th time in 16 games, falling a half-game behind Pittsburgh and into sixth-place–28 games below .500 at 55-83.
Manager Dusty Baker also saw his record drop to 311-313 in four years with the Cubs, after starting out a combined 30 games above .500 in his first two seasons.
The Cubs looked like a Little League team at times, perhaps in tribute to the Lemont Little League team that was invited to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Jacque Jones turned a Jose Bautista hit into a run-scoring triple in the third by taking a circuitous route to the ball. Juan Pierre ruined an eighth-inning rally by getting thrown out trying to steal third with one out, one pitch after he had stolen second. And Aramis Ramirez was ejected in the fourth inning for smashing his helmet down after being called out on a close play at first.
Jason Bay’s two home runs off Mateo helped the Pirates jump out to a 5-1 lead before the Cubs chipped away, tying it 5-5 on an errant pickoff attempt to first by reliever Marty McLeary.
Dempster’s wild streak gave Salomon Torres a chance to save it in the ninth, and the new Pirates closer struck out Derrek Lee and Jones before Matt Murton and Henry Blanco each singled to keep hope alive.
But Torres ended the game by striking out Freddie Bynum on a 3-2 pitch, sending the Cubs to a new low in a season full of them.
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psullivan@tribune.com
