Too much Conor Jackson, not enough offense

The Cubs continues their offensive funk of this road trip, and the Diamondbacks exploded for six runs on the Cubs bullpen, beating Chicago 9-2 Tuesday night in Arizona. The losing streak is now at five of six games, and coupled with the Brewers win against the Cardinals, shortens their division lead to one game.

Maybe it's time to leave Jason Marquis alone for awhile. Once again last night, the Cubs got good starting pitching, and were unable to capitalize. Now I know that Jason is likely to have another second-half swoon, but he's not there yet. He did struggle a bit to be sure, giving up a 1st inning home run to Conor Jackson - his first of three RBI - before settling down for the night. This was fairly understandable, as this was his first start since July 11th. Marquis's fastball looked a little too strong and high early on, a supposed common problem amongst sinkerball pitchers throwing on extra days rest. He lasted six innings, giving up three runs. Jason is now 0-2, with a 2.25 ERA for July, after a pretty good June - yes, I'm forgetting about the dude against Baltimore. Maybe this is how you maximize his talents; keeping him in the 5th starter role, and missing a turn or two down the stretch to keep him a bit more fresh. I certainly saw enough last night to feel that he can continue to make a contribution, and he certainly pitched well enough to win.
But what really did the Cubs in was no offense. Now granted, they got a late pinch-hit home run from Daryle Ward to bring the deficit to 5-2 at the time. But the middle of the order continued their funk, going 0-10, with eight left on base. Let me make a suggestion. Sit Aramis Ramirez today. Release Alfonso Soriano from his chains, and play Mark DeRosa at 3rd. We'll just consider this the lost road trip for Aramis, and move on. This is streak is now 2-33, and he appears to be just killing the Cubs.
And speaking of releasing prisoners, it's time to activate Scott Eyre. The Kevin Hart party is over, as the meltdown last night proved. And put Kerry Wood on the DL if you must, because this is crazy. The kid has shown absolutely nothing in his turn here, and if you don't have the 12th pitcher that you want, go get him. The kid had a filthy slider last year that got hitters out, and he made quite a difference down the stretch. So, I understand why Lou wanted to give him another look. Now though, he's just way too wild, and can't seem to find the release point on that pitch. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed this morning to hear that the Diamondbacks acquired Jon Rauch last night. It's an under-the-radar sort of deal that many won't talk about, but I promise their opponents took notice. Jon has established himself as a top-shelf reliever, and I've fancied him a Cub for the last few years now. I'm still very in favor of the Cubs pursuing Ron Mahay though, because no one in the farm system has stepped up for that middle relief role, and Sean Marshall, who had his own problem in relief last night - 2/3 innings of work, with two earned runs - doesn't appear to be the guy either.
I've said enough. Let's grab the win today, and end this debacle of a trip. But that match-up in Milwaukee next week is looming larger. Get it together Cubs