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Cubs-Diamondbacks Preview

Jul 5, 2010 - 1:12 AM By JON PALMIERI STATS Editor

Chicago (35-46) at Arizona (32-49), 4:10 p.m. EDT

A seven-game homestand did nothing to prove the Chicago Cubs are capable of turning around their extremely disappointing season.

The road hasn't been any kinder lately either.

The Cubs hope to avoid dropping 13 games below .500 for the first time in four years Monday when they open a seven-game trip against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

While winning 83 games and finishing second in the NL Central last season failed to meet expectations, the Cubs (35-47) will need to play much better in the second half to reach those marks in 2010.

Chicago was blown out for the second time in three games Sunday, serving up seven homers to Cincinnati in a 14-3 loss. The Cubs, 12-0 losers to the Reds on Friday, lost five of seven on their homestand, and have dropped 10 of 11 series.

"It got ugly towards the end again. It reminds us of the Friday game," manager Lou Piniella said.

Rookie Tyler Colvin provided the lone bright spot for Piniella's club, homering twice and driving in all three runs.

Even with Colvin's contributions, the Cubs still scored three runs or fewer for the seventh straight game. They are batting .205 during that span, going 7 for 50 with runners in scoring position.

"What do we need? We need to hit, we need to pitch," Piniella told the team's official website. "For the first seven innings of these games, they're close and then they open up and sped by us. We need to score some runs."

Chicago, which has lost nine of 14 on the road, hasn't been 13 games under .500 since finishing the 2006 season 66-96.

The Diamondbacks (32-50) are in no position to offer the Cubs any sympathy. They are last in the NL West with 12 losses in 18 games.

Arizona dropped its second straight after winning Kirk Gibson's first game as interim manager, falling 3-1 to the Dodgers on Sunday. The Diamondbacks matched their season high by striking out 16 times, and with 761, are on pace to shatter the major league strikeout record.

"We are trying to address that. We are trying to get people to make adjustments," Gibson said.

It's been a rough couple of games for Gibson, who watched his team make a franchise-record six errors in Saturday's 14-1 loss.

Tom Gorzelanny (2-5, 3.14 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago. He was excellent in his first start in over a month Wednesday, throwing five scoreless innings in the Cubs' 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh.

The left-hander, in the rotation with Carlos Zambrano on the restricted list, has surrendered one earned run in his last seven appearances, spanning 11 1-3 innings.

Gorzelanny beat the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field on May 2, yielding two runs and six hits in seven innings of a 10-5 victory.

Arizona's Ian Kennedy (3-6, 3.77) hopes to bounce back from a miserable outing. After issuing one walk in his previous two starts, the right-hander walked a franchise-record nine over 5 1-3 innings June 26 in a 5-3 loss at Tampa Bay.

Kennedy is 0-4 with a 4.50 ERA in seven starts since beating San Francisco on May 19. He has been especially good at home, going 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA in six starts at Chase Field.

He did, however, beat the Cubs at Wrigley on April 29, giving up four earned runs and six hits in eight innings of a 13-5 victory.