By Dave Van Dyck, Chicago Tribune –
CHICAGO — After the final weekend game at Wrigley Field this season, a 6-3 loss Sunday to the Cardinals, here is what the Cubs face, courtesy of manager Dale Sveum:
“With nine games left, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Six are on the road and three at home, so we’ve got to find some way to come up with four wins.”
The remaining games, on paper at least, should not be as challenging as this past weekend when the wild-card-contending Cardinals won two of three.
The next three opponents — Rockies and Diamondbacks on the road and Astros at home — are, combined, more than 80 games out of first place.
“We played (the Cardinals) pretty much toe-to-toe for three days. That was nice to see anyway,” Sveum said. “We fought them and gave them the best we had. Hopefully we go on the road and do the same.”
“We already have a losing season, but it can get worse if we have over 100 losses,” said Alfonso Soriano, whose homer Sunday gave him a career-high 105 RBIs. “We want to keep fighting because 100 losses is too much.”
Justin Germano suffered his seventh consecutive loss for the Cubs and was left with a 5.65 earned-run average.
No bull: Sveum singled out several relievers while commenting on young players who had been impressive.
“(Jaye) Chapman really impressed us with his mound presence, and the things he’s done for us has opened a lot of eyes,” Sveum said, while also mentioning Rafael Dolis and Alberto Cabrera.
Chapman came from Atlanta as part of the trade for Paul Maholm. He has been unscored upon in eight of 10 appearances.
“These young guys who have these power arms or pitch-making ability, these are the things we’re working for next year out of the bullpen,” Sveum said. “The hardest thing to put together is a bullpen, so it’s nice to see guys coming back from adversity and do nice things.”
Sox, scoreboard: Sveum has been where the White Sox’s Robin Ventura is now, managing a team fighting for a playoff spot.
Sveum’s 2008 Brewers made the playoffs after he was named interim manager with 12 games remaining in the season.
Has Sveum texted his old Sox teammate?
“No, I probably will when it gets down to the last week,” he said. “Obviously, as a player he’s been in the playoffs. Every game has been a playoff game these last 10 days or so. Games are intense and there’s a lot of pressure.”
Extra innings: The Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse won his 16th game of the season Sunday. The Cubs’ current five-man rotation has 12 for the season, half of those from Travis Wood. … The Cubs have lost 24 consecutive games when scoring three or fewer runs, dating back to July 28. … A crowd of 33,354 attended the game.
