Two field box seats behind home plate in St. Louis' Busch Stadium. The best seats in the house! Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 3:05pm

April 25, 2012|By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter
The Cubs vowed before the season not to make any excuses, but they knew they would be on a rocky road early.

"We knew (with) the teams we were going to play and the pitching we were going to face, it was going to be a really tough stretch," manager Dale Sveum said Wednesday.
"Scoring runs was going to be tough, and holding the other teams down. But that's baseball. Every team is good. Every team has more pitching than it had before, and you see that."

Rest assured every team is not good, with Exhibit A being the Cubs right now.

On a raw day at Wrigley Field, the Cubs lost 5-1, falling to 6-13 as starter Lance Lynn (4-0) helped the Cardinals avoid a sweep.

Cubs starter Chris Volstad pitched well for five innings before giving up three two-out runs in the sixth on Carlos Beltran's RBI double and David Freese's two-run homer.

"You have to be able to close those innings out," Volstad said. "One swing of the bat put us in a big hole."

Volstad (0-3) has not won in his last 15 starts since beating the Astros on July 10, 2011, when he was with the Marlins.

The Cubs seemed content with winning their first series of the season, coming back to beat the Cardinals on Monday and Tuesday before looking flat Wednesday.

"Winning any series is good, especially against the Cardinals," Darwin Barney said. "Especially in the fashion we did it ??? those comeback wins. It's something we needed. We need to run around the field a little like kids. That's why we're here."

The Cubs wound up with six hits and are hitting .235 for the season. Bryan LaHair provided their only offense with a fourth-inning home run. After Barney doubled leading off the fifth in a 1-1 game, Volstad failed to execute a bunt, though Barney advanced on a grounder. Tony Campana also failed on a bunt attempt before striking out.

"That was a big one because we could have taken the lead right there, could have changed things around a little bit," Sveum said.

Starlin Castro grounded out to end the inning, and after Volstad left his pitches up in the sixth, the Cubs were toast. After a day off Thursday, they will start a seven-game trip Friday in Philadelphia.
They have lost five straight on the road and will be facing Roy Halladay.