While the Cash for Clunkers program ended Monday, the Cubs continued to roll out their lemons Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
But judging by the number of empty seats scattered around the ballpark for the opener of a 10-game homestand, the biggest losers of the season may be the local scalpers, who have 23 home games left to try and dump.
Carlos Zambrano’s return to the mound from his celebrated back problem didn’t bring the spark the Cubs anticipated in a 15-6 loss to Washington, dropping them nine games behind the Central Division-leading Cardinals.
Zambrano (7-5) was charged with eight runs over 4 1/3 innings in his worst outing of the year. Josh Willingham homered twice and drove in six runs, while Elijah Dukes hit a grand slam and drove in five as the Cubs gave up their highest run total this season.
Though Zambrano homered in his first at-bat, he failed to last five innings in his first start since pulling up lame on Aug. 1. After Zambrano’s third-inning home run tied the game 1-1, the Nationals answered with two runs in the fourth on Willingham’s homer onto Waveland Avenue and Dukes’ RBI double.
Zambrano labored through a 30-pitch fifth before Piniella removed him following a bases-loaded walk to Willingham. One out later, Aaron Heilman served up a grand slam to Dukes.
After the Cubs scored three in the sixth, the bullpen gave up three in the top of the seventh.
The glimmer of hope the Cubs have been clinging to during their August collapse appears to be a mirage. With a 44-81 record entering the game, Washington had the worst record in baseball and a starting pitcher in Garrett Mock who gave up seven runs over 3 1/3 innings in his last start against the Cubs on July 19.
But Cubs fans have learned the hard way not to take anything for granted with this team, which continues to confound and confuse. Coincidentally, the Cubs began their free fall on July 31 in Florida on the night the Marlins trotted out a billy goat between innings with their mascot, Billy the Marlin.
Since then, the Cubs have gone from leading the Cardinals by a half-game to falling nine back.
“I never believe in any of that,” said Washington manager Jim Riggleman, who managed the Cubs for five years in the 1990s. “Just a combination of things.
“Sometimes people forget the other team is trying to win too. They just figure you should win. And sometimes people want to look at the payroll. Money doesn’t play. Players play.
“They’re not cursed. Anything can happen.”
“We’ve had a terrible two weeks, and we need a great homestand to get back in it,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “It’s not time to be loose.
“It’s time to produce.”
psullivan@tribune.com Up next Wednesday vs. Nationals, 7:05 p.m., CSN
