Yes, I know. You saw an almost identical headline just a few days ago after the horrendous 12-0 loss to the Angels on Saturday.
But last night, it got worse. When the score became 4-1 Mariners and the Cubs failed to score in the fifth inning, I made what turned out to be the right choice -- I went to sleep.
The Cubs lost to the Mariners 8-1 and topped their didn't-show-up play of Saturday, when they had only two hits and three baserunners. This time, three times the Cubs got the first two men on base in an inning -- nobody out -- and failed to score any of them. The only run last night was Tyler Colvin's ninth home run of the season. Colvin's nine homers ranks third on the team behind Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano, even though Colvin has over 100 fewer at-bats than either of those veterans.
Colvin is about the only real bright spot for the 2010 Cubs. I guess I could find some others, but from this vantage point it looks like the Cubs shouldn't even have bothered going to Seattle except for the frequent flyer miles. They have scored one run in 18 innings, drew no walks last night (no surprise there, as Cliff Lee has walked only four batters all season), and basically looked like they'd rather be just about anywhere else. Colvin's HR was only the third all year off Lee (Adrian Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer are the others; that puts the Cubs rookie in pretty good company).
Give Lee and the Mariners pitching staff some credit. That was Lee's fourth CG of the season, which leads the American League, and Seattle's pitchers have been unbelievable during their current six-game winning streak -- allowing only three runs total during the six games, and Colvin's HR is the only one allowed during those six games.
There's not a whole lot left to say. The Cubs must play 91 more games this season. I love baseball and I love the Cubs, but there hasn't been much evidence of either showing up during Cubs games in recent weeks. They'll try it again this afternoon against King Felix Hernandez -- right, it doesn't get any easier. The game preview will be up at 12:30 pm CDT (2:40 pm CDT game time).