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MIAMI -- Greg Maddux was rolling until recording the
second out in the bottom of the fifth inning. Maddux surrendered five runs with two outs in the fifth as the
Chicago Cubs lost to the Florida Marlins, 9-3, completing a
three-game sweep. The future Hall of Famer slipped to 0-4 with a 7.81 ERA in five
starts this month after going 5-0 with a 1.35 ERA in five April
outings. "They got me," Maddux said. "I made pretty good pitches that
inning. I don't like to lose especially like that. I threw the
ball where I wanted to and they still hit it ... At least I did
it right, if there is such a thing." After the fifth, Maddux swung a bat at a water cooler in the
dugout. He returned to pitch a scoreless sixth. "This is the first time they've seen Maddux," Florida manager
Joe Girardi said. "He went through the lineup easy the first
time and our guys made adjustments the second and third time
through." Maddux held a 3-1 lead before Hanley Ramirez stroked a single
with two outs in the fifth. Dan Uggla followed with a triple
and Mike Jacobs a double to tie the game, and after Miguel
Cabrera was intentionally walked, Joe Borchard homered to give
the Marlins a stunning 6-3 advantage. "We can't think, 'Oh, wow, that's Greg Maddux out there,'" said
Uggla, who recorded three hits in the game. "Obviously you have
a tremendous respect for him, but it is me against him, so I am
going to do everything I can to win that battle." "It was just one of those things where it was a pitch that I
could hit," Borchard said. "I handled it and it turned out well
for me." Florida pushed its cushion to 9-3 on a three-run homer by
Cabrera against Roberto Novoa in the seventh. "I didn't want to try to do too much with a big swing," Cabrera
said. "I tried to hit the ball away when he threw me a fastball
away. I made a good swing and I hit it out. I got lucky." Brian Moehler (2-4) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven
innings. He has logged at least seven innings in his last three
starts after not lasting that long in any of his first six
outings. "Earlier in the year I think I was pressing a little bit and
overthrowing," said Moehler, who has lowered his ERA from 9.76
to 6.80 over his last four starts. Aramis Ramirez had a two-run triple and Matt Murton a sacrifice
fly for Chicago in the fourth, giving the visitors a brief 3-1
edge.
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