After changing closers Tuesday night in San Diego, the Cubs were hoping to change their luck at Petco Park.
Carlos Marmol took over for Kevin Gregg before the game, but the Cubs fell to 0-5 in San Diego with a 6-3 loss to the Padres.
In the process they wasted a home run and double by Derrek Lee. Ryan Dempster had 10 strikeouts in seven innings, but lost a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning when Adrian Gonzalez led off with a home run.
Kyle Blanks, who had the game-winning three-run homer against Gregg on Monday night, gave the Padres some wiggle room in the eighth inning with a two-run inside-the-park homer off Angel Guzman.
The Marmol-Gregg saga that began in spring training took another twist on Monday night when manager Lou Piniella finally soured on Gregg after another in a series of blown games.
“Hopefully Marmol can take off with it and do a nice job,” Piniella said.
When Marmol lost the battle in Arizona, he claimed he wasn’t given a fair shot because he played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. But nearly five months later, Marmol was ecstatic upon being given the news in Piniella’s office.
“I told you they believe in me, and I believe in myself too,” he said. “That’s the reason why I think he made a good decision.”
Marmol’s control issues have kept him from being the dominant setup man he was in 2007 and ’08, but he said he has been working with pitching coach Larry Rothschild on his mechanics.
Piniella cited Marmol’s experience while subbing for Kerry Wood last year, calling it a “natural progression” for him.
“Obviously he has the stuff to do it, and he has the toughness to do it,” he said. “It’s just a question of getting the ball over the plate.”
Marmol is last among NL relievers with 8.43 walks per nine innings, but first in batting average allowed (.163) and fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.7). When he’s on, he’s practically unhittable.
Either way, it figures to be a wild ride.
One thing Marmol doesn’t do is give up home runs. Among relief pitchers, Gregg has served up a league-worst 12 homers.
“I’ve given up more home runs than I gave up extra-base hits last year,” Gregg said. “So there’s something to it, and I have to figure out what’s going on.”
So Gregg is officially out, and is unlikely to get his job back before season’s end.
“We told him he could really help us in those setup roles, take the burden off a little bit, be able to relax a little more, that he was very important in those roles and he could help us win,” Piniella said.
John Grabow and Angel Guzman also will get closing opportunities when Marmol can’t go some nights.
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psullivan@tribune.com
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For more details on the Cubs’ loss in San Diego, go to chicagotribune.com/sports
