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Cubs aim to bounce back from woeful showing

Jul 11, 2008 - 1:16 PM San Francisco (39-53) at Chi Cubs (55-37), 2:20 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs hope a visit from the struggling San Francisco Giants on Friday can help them shake off an embarrassing performance.

The Cubs were tagged for seven home runs Thursday, suffering a 12-7 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. It was the second time they had surrendered seven blasts to the Reds this season.

"It's a mental grind when something like that happens and you just have to try to battle through it," Chicago's All-Star catcher Geovanny Soto said. "At certain points, you start to think you don't know what else to do. You just have to work with the pitchers and try to get out of it."

The Cubs will look for a better outing from righthander Jason Marquis (6-5, 4.78 ERA) in this one. Marquis, who has not played since July 1, is trying to avoid his third consecutive defeat.

San Francisco's slumping offense could be the cure for Chicago's problem. The Giants have lost four straight contests and were outscored by a 19-3 margin during their three-game series against the New York Mets.

Giants starter Matt Cain (5-7, 4.30) will have to contain the majors' top-ranked offense in this one. The 23-year-old righthander surrendered five runs and eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts over six frames in Sunday's 5-3 setback to the Los Angeles Dodgers.