PITTSBURGH The Cubs finally are out of the state of Pennsylvania- but they are far from a state of well-being.
As bad as Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates werethe gloomy circumstances surrounding it: Mike Morgan (0-2) absorbed his second straight loss, stumbling againin the sixth inning when 10 Pirates batted against Morgan, PaulAssenmacher and Heath Slocumb in a four-run outburst aided by fourwalks (one of them intentional), two of which scored. Cubs bats faltered again, accounting for eight hits but few when itcounted. Twice runners were stranded at third base, including whenHector Villanueva and Luis Salazar were left at third and secondafter back-to-back, one-out singles in the second inning, and whenRyne Sandberg (3-for-4, one RBI) never scored after tripling in SammySosa with no outs in the sixth.
"The old saying is the worm has to turn," manager Jim Lefebvresaid after the team's fourth road loss to division rivalsPhiladelphia and Pittsburgh. "We haven't had much luck in thisseries, and that happens."
The Cubs had only bad luck in the third inning when the Piratesscored two unearned runs.
Slow-running catcher Mike LaValliere led with a single andshould have been a dead duck when he broke for second on ahit-and-run play. The Cubs called for a pitch-out, but Morgan'sthrow wasn't "out" enough.
Jose Lind reached out for it at the same time catcherVillanueva did. Lind's bat rapped Villanueva's glove and the catcherwas called for interference.
"He (Lind) had a job to do to swing the bat," said Villanueva,who wasn't injured on the play.
LaValliere and Lind eventually scored, LaValliere on a Morganwild pitch and Lind on a chopping infield single over third by JayBell.
"That was the biggest play of the game and it will go unnoticedbecause of the score," Lefebvre said. "If we throw the guy out,maybe no runs score that inning.
"Then we come back with a triple (by Sandberg in the sixth) andwe didn't get him home."
The Pirates also stranded a man at third after ex-Cub GaryVarsho tripled home pitcher Randy Tomlin (2-0) in the fifth. Tomlinwas one of three Morgan walks that scored.
Where would the Pirates be without their reserves?
"We definitely wouldn't be 6-2," said reserve Varsho. "We'd be.500 or maybe un der .500. That's what a 25-man roster is all about. Jim Leylandpicks and chooses for the best matchups and we've had some success."
"Whoever wins this division, I guarantee will be a club thatgets the most out of all 25 guys," Leyland said. "You have to haveeveryone contribute."
Morgan tried to explain his tough night on the mound.
"Five walks (one intentional) isn't me," Morgan said. "I wastrying to get Lind to hit a ground ball for a double play, but thesituation was a pitch-out and it was an excellent call. I just gotit too close to the plate.
"It's the little things to night that turned out to be the big things. I beat myself."
As they had in both games here, the Cubs gave Morgan afirst-inning lead when Sammy Sosa singled, took third on Sandberg'ssingle and scored on Andre Dawson's sacrifice fly. But like theirprevious game, they managed only one other score when Sosa andSandberg again combined in the sixth.
"Things aren't going our way right now and they took advantageof it," Lefebvre said. "They took advantage of every one."
The loss was especially frustrating for Morgan, who had analmost identical first outing in Philadelphia last week, lasting only five innings before getting chased in a similarfour-run sixth.
"It's been kind of tough - six innings in Philly and six inningstoday. In the past I've been strong out of the blocks in April andMay, so maybe good things are ahead for me and for this team.
"I'm not very happy about it. It's kind of hard to tip yourhat to the opposition when you beat yourself," Morgan said. "It'snot fun when you don't give your team a chance to win. But it'searly. It'll get better - let's put it this way, it better getbetter." BOX SCORE, PAGE 98
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