I swear to God, my first thought when Marmol came on in the ninth was “good call: even if he struggles again, he’s not giving up 5.” Can somebody acknowledge that Carlos Marmol is a disaster right now? He’s been having problems since the Tampa Bay series and we’re at the point where we can no longer put him in low-pressure situations to work his kinks out. This was a great place to use him and he turned this game into an Agatha Christie story: you know, where the delightful party turns into a nerve-wracking murder investigation. What made it worse was that Marshall made it look so easy in the extra frames (you sure Marshall couldn’t have relieved in the ninth? He’s been a starter, long man and lefty specalist this year- why not closer?). Hate to say it, but suddenly the best place for Marmol to right the ship might be Iowa.

That’s a bit more jarring than sending down someone like Michael Wuertz. Heck, the only thing that caught me by surprise with Wuertz’s demotion was that he still had options left. But it has to be done. It’s not like we’ll miss Marmol in his current state: Howry’s pitching well, Eyre’s coming back soon and there’s also that Gaudin guy who stowed away with Rich Harden. Between them, somebody’s bound to pick up the slack.

Incidentally, there were all sorts of bad omens in that game- Wood mysteriously unavailable, Lou using the bullpen very liberally in prior innings (presumably to get everybody some action before the break), the lack of offense after the fourth inning. Yet, once the top of the 9th did end with the score tied, did anybody think that the Cubs would actually lose that game? Drawn-out extra inning affair maybe, but lose? That’s how special this season’s been.