By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune –
LOS ANGELES —— Coming off eight shutout innings in his last Triple-A start, Chris Volstad hoped to end his 20-game winless streak on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Despite his best outing as a Cub, Volstad left trailing 2-1, extending the winless streak to 21 games.
The Cubs wound up losing 3-1, extending their losing skid to four straight games since the sell-off began.
“I just go out there and throw pitches,” Volstad said. “Try not to think too much. That’s what gets me in trouble. I tend to think a lot, and my mind gets in my own way.”
Volstad, now 0-8, was called up Wednesday after the trades of Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm. Manager Dale Sveum was satisfied with the outing, coming against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, the reigning National League Cy Young winner.
“He matched him pitch-for-pitch basically, and it was a good matchup,” he said. “It was a good game. It was unfortunate we just couldn’t muster up any runs.”
The Cubs broke through in the third on an RBI double by Alfonso Soriano, but the Dodgers came back in the fourth with a leadoff single by Mark Ellis and a two-run home run by Matt Kemp that bounced off center fielder Joe Mather’s glove and went over the wall.
“I felt like I could’ve caught it, honestly,” he said. “I was pretty upset I didn’t get it. It might have tipped off the top of my glove. The ball just kept going. It kept going and going and going. Three inches shorter and it’s an out.”
Mather said it would’ve gone out if he hadn’t touched it with his glove. Volstad said “even the home run pitch was decent- down and in. It’s pretty tough to hit that out to right-center field. That’s why he gets $180 (million) or whatever it is.”
Volstad was lifted for pinch-hitter David DeJesus in the eighth with the Cubs still trailing 2-1. He allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings, his longest outing in a Cubs uniform.
But Kershaw outpitched him, allowing one run on three hits over seven innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Sveum was looking for Volstad to go at least six innings, after Travis Wood and Jeff Samardzija failed to do so in their last two starts. Volstad did everything asked of him, but couldn’t deliver a win without any offensive support.
The winless streak continues, but the Cubs saw a bright side.
“The streak is there through no (fault) of his tonight,” Sveum said. “You give up two runs in seven innings to that lineup, you’ve (gone) far and above your job to win a baseball game.”
