After being called up from Triple-A Iowa last month, Randy Wells vowed to pitch every game “like it’s my last day” in the big leagues.
“That’s the only way I know how to pitch,” he said. ” I’ve spent too many years in the minor leagues to get comfortable anywhere.”
The 26-year-old right-hander looked most comfortable Tuesday night, throwing 6 2/3 no-hit innings against Atlanta and leaving with a four-run lead in the eighth inning.
But a bullpen implosion by Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg led to a spectacular late-inning collapse, and the Cubs wound up losing 6-5 in 12 innings for their seventh straight road loss.
In the 12th, with Aaron Heilman in his second inning, Yunel Escobar had a one-out single and stole second before Chipper Jones singled him in with the winning run.
Marmol fell apart after replacing Wells with a 5-1 lead in the eighth, walking two men and hitting another while allowing two more runs to score.
After Garret Anderson reached on a dropped third strike (wild pitch) with one out in the ninth, Gregg served up a two-out, two-run, game-tying homer to Jeff Francouer, denying Wells his first major-league victory and sending the game into extra innings.
It was Gregg’s second blown save in 10 opportunities, and the eighth in 19 chances for Cubs relievers this season.
Wells has been dominating in his five big-league starts, and had his best outing Tuesday. Until Jones broke up the no-hit bid with a sharp single to left with two outs in the seventh, on Wells’ 69th pitch of the night, the only Braves hitter to reach was shortstop Escobar.
Even that was a fluke. Escobar reached with one out in the fourth after plate umpire Brian O’Nora ruled an inside pitch hit him. Replays showed the ball actually grazed Escobar’s bat, and that it should have been ruled a foul ball. Escobar promptly was erased on a double play grounder to end the inning.
Wells was cruising with a 5-0 lead in the eighth before Anderson’s leadoff homer spoiled the shutout bid.
A Derrek Lee error prompted Wells’ removal after only 83 pitches and two hits allowed in his seven-plus innings of work. The rookie left to a standing ovation, and tipped his cap to the crowd of 30,262, which included thousands of road-tripping Cubs fans.
But Marmol had nothing and quickly unraveled. After walking the first man he faced and hitting the third, Marmol forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk to Kelly Johnson. Escobar’s sacrifice fly made it 5-3, before Marmol finally got out of the inning after throwing 23 pitches.
Gregg retired the first hitter in the ninth, but catcher Geovany Soto couldn’t corral strike three to Anderson, who managed to reach on the wild pitch. One out later, Francoeur hit a no-doubt-about-it shot into the left-center field bleachers, turning Turner Field upside down.
Lost in the excitement over Wells’ performance and the nightmarish outings from Marmol and Gregg was another potentially serious injury to right-fielder Milton Bradley, who suffered a strained right calf while trying to beat out an infield hit in the fourth inning.
Bradley was removed from the game and is listed as day-to-day. After watching the wild goings-on of Tuesday night’s game, manager Lou Piniella may be listed as day-to-day himself.
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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
