The Cubs returned to the scene of the crime Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, 10 1/2 months after the end of their dream season.
“I forgot that,” manager Lou Piniella said facetiously beforehand. “We have a lot of different players, and I’m sure they have a few too.”
The Dodgers started seven position players from their Game 3 clincher of last year’s playoffs, including catcher Russell Martin, whose sixth-inning grand slam off Angel Guzman snapped a 2-2 tie.
The Cubs went on to lose 7-2 and fall seven games behind the Cardinals in the National League Central and six behind the Rockies in the wild-card race.
It may not be over for the Cubs, but the fat lady is definitely tuning up. They have lost 10 of 14 games since Aug. 5, when they were tied for first place with the Cardinals. They haven’t been this far out of first since June 30, 2007, when they fell from 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 behind the Brewers.
But the Cubs had three months to recover that year.
Now they have only 43 games left and have to rely on several teams choking down the stretch to get back into the race.
Piniella knows it’s a tall order for the Cubs and that time is running out.
“We realize that,” he said. “We’ve put ourselves in a situation where we need a little hot streak in the very near future.”
Tom Gorzelanny pitched five innings, allowing two runs, before leaving after 82 pitches. Guzman immediately imploded. He gave up back-to-back singles to Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake to start the sixth before a sacrifice by Orlando Hudson.
James Loney was walked intentionally to get to Martin, who slammed Guzman’s first pitch over the left-field wall to make it 6-2. Martin’s slam was reminiscent of Loney’s grand slam off Ryan Dempster in Game 1 of last year’s playoffs, which erased a 2-0 deficit and silenced a sellout crowd at Wrigley Field.
Blake added a run-scoring single off Esmailin Caridad in the seventh.
Reminders of last year’s postseason were everywhere Thursday, including the Cubs’ dugout. The broken water pipe in the visitors’ dugout was repaired long ago, and the unknown Cubs culprit who caused the dugout flood was back in the clubhouse, never having been identified publicly for his actions after the Game 3 loss.
“The tunnel is passable,” Piniella said with a grin before the game.
But he wasn’t grinning afterward, knowing the hole the Cubs are in. The stakes are much different for the Cubs in this four-game series, as Piniella acknowledged before the game.
“We’d like to be in a similar position this year,” he said. “I’m not talking about being down 2-0 in the playoffs, but a chance to be here for the playoffs, or to be anywhere for the playoffs. Last year was last year.”
And this year is this year, and another miserable ending looms.
“We have another challenge here over the next six weeks,” Piniella said. “We’ll see.”
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psullivan@tribune.com
Cubs sale imminent
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Up next
Friday at Dodgers, 9:10 p.m., CSN-Plus, CLTV
