While you were sleeping…

If you fell asleep early–like maybe in the middle of the second inning–consider yourself

lucky. The Cubs were dismantled and disheartened completely by an embarrassingly awful 8-4 loss

to Arizona.

For the second game in a row, manager Lou Piniella will be second-guessed, this time for

leaving starter Ted Lilly in the game too long. Lilly obviously didn’t have it from the start and

Piniella passed up several opportunities to remove him before the score got out of hand. Playoff

baseball usually calls for quick hooks because every run is so important.

There’s plenty of blame, however. For the second straight night, the offense was a near

no-show. After getting only one double in Game 1, the Cubs had a double and a home run in Game 2.

Not surprisingly, both–a Geovany Soto homer and Daryle Ward double–produced runs. Amazing what

a few long hits can do.

First inning: 9:07 p.m. (Chicago time). First the facts. The roof is closed at Chase

Field because of showers, so it’s 75 degrees inside and even noisier than Wednesday night when

the roof was open. Those in the know say the batted balls won’t travel as far with the lid

on.

Starter Ted Lilly looks a little–what’s that term Lou Piniella used for Carlos Zambrano a

while back–fidgety. Yeah, fidgety. His pitches are all over, some getting to home plate by air

mail, some by submarine. But after two walks, he gets out of the inning. Thanks to Lilly and

fellow lefty Doug Davis, the first inning lasts just short of half an hour. Don’t they know it’s

getting late in Chicago?

As for the Cubs, Alfonso Soriano actually took the first pitch of the game–and it was a

strike. And then he whiffs on a Davis curve that bounces on the plate. And Aramis Ramirez strikes

out on an awful pitch.

Second inning: 9:37. Geovany Soto gives Lilly a much-needed cushion with a two-run

homer, meaning Piniella made at least one right decision. Starting Soto in the playoffs, after

just a month in the big league, was a gutsy move but Piniella likes offense. Cub fans even took

over Chase Field for a few moments.

That all changed when former White Sox farmhand Chris Young clobbered a three-run homer on

a two-out, 3-2 pitch. Total distance 421 feet. Lilly slammed his glove to the ground in disgust.

“Fidgety” no longer describes him.

So here’s the deal: Young’s homer came on Lilly’s 48th pitch, Eric Byrnes’ followed with an

RBI triple on his 53rd pitch. The inning ends on his 58th pitch, which is not good considering

Carlos Zambrano finished six innings with just 85 pitches the night before.

Time of Wednesday’s nine innings: 2 hours 33 minutes. Time of the first two innings

Thursday: 1 hour.

Third inning: 10:11. There’s a key at-bat for Lilly in this inning. After allowing a

leadoff single, Lilly gets a double-play grounder from Chris Snyder. Those are huge outs and

Piniella never budged to go get Lilly despite the hit.

Lilly also gets a third out, but is getting no help from his offense, which leaves its

third runner on base, although none of them has been in scoring position.

While Davis will never be confused with Brandon Webb, the Cubs are having trouble judging

his turtle-paced pitches. And he tries to claim he’s not a “crafty left?” Hah. Davis maybe the

reason Lilly has lasted as long as he has. Piniella must figure his bats will break out

soon.

Fourth inning: 10:28. Accused of pulling Zambrano too early Wednesday, Piniella now

will be accused of waiting too long to pull Lilly. A 4-2 deficit went to 6-2

because an obviously struggling Lilly was forced to throw batting practice. And throw and

throw.

It’s not like Piniella didn’t have chances. He could have done it after the leadoff single

in the third inning because Kevin Hart was warmed up.

He had even more reason to do it in the fourth when Lilly came to bat with a runner on

first base. Yes, there were two outs, but it would have been a great time to get something going.

Instead, Lilly struck out and then couldn’t get anybody out. Hart finally arrived, but only after

two more runs came home.

Fifth inning: 10:57. Alfonso Soriano singled to start the inning. Two, three, four hitters

due up. So what happens?

Ryan Theriot flies out to the left field wall. Derrek Lee skies one to shortstop. And

Aramis Ramirez strikes out—again—on a 69 m.p.h. curve that he couldn’t reach with two

bats.

Meanwhile, the game gets out of reach and that little ex-Cub is at it again. Augie Ojeda’s

single scores a seventh run and about takes Scott Eyre’s pinkie with it. A squeeze bunt by Davis

adds another and the Cubs look like they are in complete disarray.

Totals from Hart, Eyre and Michael Wuertz: Two runs on one hit, two walks, two wild

pitches, a sacrifice bunt and one single.

Sixth inning: 11:39. Well, it has taken 2 hours and 32 minutes to play five innings,

one short of Wednesday’s entire game. Another interesting fact: “only” 47,575 tickets were sold,

a few hundred short of a sellout.

The good news is the Cubs finally got rid of Davis with two runners on and two runners out.

The bad news is the Arizona bullpen is very, very good. Usually.

But ex-Cub Juan Cruz, who is usually Marmol-like, gave up a two-RBI double to pinch-hitter

Daryle Ward before striking out Soriano. As a side note, Cruz is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA against the

Cubs since they traded him to the Braves for a couple of nothings in 2004.

Seventh inning: 12:06. Wood pitched a second scoreless inning. He faced the minimum of six

batters and allowed one hit, the batter erased in a double play by ex-teammate Ojeda. Makes you

wonder what the Cubs will do with Wood next season. Setup man? Closer?

Cub batters again put out a fire as soon as it got started. Lee singled with one out but

Ramirez chopped a perfect double-play grounder to short. Ramirez was left at 0-for-4, ending

three different innings with a double play and two strikeouts.

Eighth inning: 12:21. The Cub offense couldn’t get anything going for a second

straight night against one of the league’s best eighth-inning men, Brandon Lyon, who has been as

good as Bob Howry.

Encouraging was Ryan Dempster’s perfect inning that included a pair of strikeouts. Dempster

isn’t always perfect in non-save situations, but he looked sharp and it was good to get him into

this series before it gets back to Wrigley Field.

Ditto for Hart, Eyre, Wuertz and Wood. They should have postseason jitters out of the way

for Game 3 (and maybe 4 and 5?).

Ninth inning: 12:39. After 3 hours and 44 minutes of pure torture, the game ends.

Mercifully.

Of course, the Cubs try to make it exciting, thanks to Ojeda’s error at second base. They

have runners on first and second with one out, down by four runs and closer Jose Valverde on the

mound. But you know this scene by now. Lee strikes out. So does Ramirez.

This one was a total meltdown. Putrid pitching, ineffective offense. At least the Cubs

didn’t make an error.

So it’s back home now and the questions have become very serious. Will Wrigley wake up the

bats? Or have the Cubs put another season to sleep?

The sad facts: To make it into the NL Championship Series the Cubs have to win three

straight against a team they have beaten only twice in eight tries. And one of those victories

would have to come against Brandon Webb.

More sad facts: The Cubs have won only two of their last eight games, including against

such dregs as Florida and Cincinnati. Arizona is a team that won 90 games.

This strange Cub season now rests on the unpredictable left shoulder of Rich Hill, who has

been as up and down as his team. Coming back from an 0-2 deficit in a five-game series has been

done before, this is certainly not as bad as losing the first two home games (as Philadelphia

has) and the Cubs will have two weekend games at the supposedly Friendly Confines, but . .

.