Cubs Down 0-2

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 5, 2007 2:16PM

Does Starbucks have anything larger than a venti? We're sure that many across Chicago are wondering the same thing if they stayed up to watch the entire Cubs-Diamondbacks game last night. Between the 9:07 p.m. first pitch and a 3-hour, 44-minute game, one was hard pressed to brush their teeth and make it to bed before 1:00 a.m. — enough time for a few hours of shuteye before getting up to trudge into the office.

There wasn't even a Cubs victory to give a little energy boost. The Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 8-4, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. The Cubs now stand on verge of losing their 12th playoff series in 13 tries since their 1908 World Series win.

The game started out promising for the Cubs, when rookie catcher Geovany Soto hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give them a 2-0 lead. But Ted Lilly promptly gave up four runs in the bottom half of the inning, and Arizona never looked back, adding four more runs before the Cubs finally cut the eventual margin of victory to four.

Lilly — their supposed "stopper" on account of his 9-1 record following Cubs losses — looked nothing like his regular-season self. He lacked control of both his pitches and himself, walking four batters during his 3.1-inning outing and slamming his glove in disgust after dishing up a three-run homer to Chris Young in the second inning.

The series moves back to Chicago for the weekend, with the Cubs and D'backs taking the field at Wrigley on Saturday afternoon. Will the event still be the party many anticipated, or more like an Irish wake?

Photo by REUTERS/Jeff Topping.