Kerry Wood returned to Chicago from Spring Training victorius in landing the closer’s job for the Cubs. But, how long will his leash be if Wood doesn’t recover from his terrible start to the season?
“I felt good. I actually was surprised that I was able to keep the adrenaline in check,” said Wood, who entered a scoreless game in the ninth inning Monday against division rival Milwaukee. ”Obviously, you don’t want to let guys on base late in a game.”
Wood, who issued only one walk during a stellar spring training, hit the first batter he faced, Rickie Weeks. When Tony Gwynn Jr. sacrificed the runner to second, it left Wood and manager Lou Piniella with the dilemma of facing either 2007 National League home-run leader Prince Fielder or ‘07 Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun.
”We decided to walk Fielder, but if I don’t have a man on base, we wouldn’t be in that situation,” Wood said. ”I wanted to try to get a double play there.”
Instead, Braun singled home a run, and Corey Hart added a two-out, two-run double.
To make matters worse, Bob Howry, who Wood beat out for the closer’s job, came in to stop the bleeding and was tagged for an earned run and took the loss.
”It’s one game,” Howry said. ”It’s not going to be the last one. It’s a long year.”
Howry may not be closing games, but Piniella needs him to get better.
”I have to pitch him,” Piniella said. ”We just have to get him sharp, and the only way to do that is by using him.”
Carlos Marmol, the third competitor for the closer’s job, also pitched in the game, and yielded zero runs while striking out three in 1.1 innings. He, by far, had the best day, but is still third on the Cubs closer depth chart.
photo credit: felicity redwell
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