It was one of those nights for the Cubs were everything was going right … until everything started going wrong.
Randy Wells pitched 6 2/3 no-hit innings against Atlanta in his fifth major-league start before leaving with a four-run lead in the eighth inning in search of his first big-league victory.
But then the roof caved in on relievers Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg.
The two best relievers in a mediocre bullpen blew the lead in the eighth and ninth innings before Chipper Jones knocked out a game-winning, RBI single off Aaron Heilman in the 12th to hand the Braves a 6-5 victory.
“They came back on us and, really, we just gave them the ballgame with a nice little ribbon,” manager Lou Piniella said.
The Cubs lost for the seventh straight time on the road, falling back to .500 at 25-25 as they began a nine-game road trip. Wells allowed only one earned run on two hits in seven dominant innings, lowering his earned-run average to 1.69, but he came away with nothing to show for it.
“Stuff happens, man,” Wells said. “We’ll go out there and win some ballgames next time, and things will start turning around.”
Jones broke up Wells’ no-hit bid with a two-out single in the seventh, but the Cubs still held a 5-1 lead when Marmol replaced Wells with a man on in the eighth. But Marmol walked the first batter he faced again, then hit the third and walked Kelly Johnson with the bases loaded.
“I think I need to throw more strikes,” Marmol said in an understatement. “The balls are killing me.”
Marmol left with a 5-3 lead before Gregg entered in the ninth. After Garret Anderson reached with one out after striking out on a wild pitch, Gregg served up a two-out, two-run, game-tying homer to Jeff Francouer.
“A five-run lead in the eighth inning?” Piniella said. “Those shouldn’t get away from you.”
One bright spot for the Cubs was Alfonso Soriano’s home run to lead off the game — the 54th leadoff homer of his career — moving him past Craig Biggio into second place all time behind Rickey Henderson (81).But the joy of that milestone ended with Gregg’s second blown save in 10 opportunities, and the eighth in 19 chances for Cubs relievers.
“This is a glitch in the system,” Gregg said. “We’re not going to be perfect all year. We’re all going to be in a lot of games. Unfortunately, there were five runs given up in the eighth and ninth innings combined.
“It’s unacceptable, but we’re going to roll with it. It’s one of those things that happens now and then, but on the whole, look at the way the group has pitched down there. “
Until Jones broke up the no-hit bid with a sharp single to left with two outs in the seventh, on Wells’ 69th pitch, the only Braves hitter to reach was shortstop Yunel Escobar, who was ruled to have been hit by a pitch with one out in the fourth.
“I don’t care what anybody says, you’re aware of it,” Wells said of the no-hit bid. “I wasn’t thinking about it. I wasn’t trying to get it. Just continue to make pitches.”
Wells will get many more chances to win his first game, and the sting of Tuesday’s loss eventually will fade.
“It stinks not getting the win,” Wells said. “But it’s baseball. Stuff will come. It’s just a little escalated right now, but it’s just one of those things.”
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Another ouch
Milton Bradley strained his right calf while running out a ground ball in the fourth inning Tuesday, and is day-to-day, the team says. It’s his third injury as a Cub, just a third of the way into the season. His other injuries this year:
April 12: Strains groin. Returns four days later as pinch-hitter and is ejected following argument over called third strike.
Spring training: Suffers a quad injury early but still plays in regular-season opener April 6.
12: Number of visits to the disabled list from 2002-2008.
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psullivan@tribune.com
Up next
Wednesday at Braves, 6 p.m., CSN
