Well it wasn't the dry heat that stymied the Cubs' bats last night (Chase Field features a retractable roof), nor was it the allure of a mysterious "pumpkin"-bearing train a la Minute Maid Park, to quote Mr. Piniella.
Chalk this one up to the Rich Harden factor.
The Cubs' recent acquisition was given a no-decision despite a stellar performance yet again, this time at the hand of the 1st Place Diamondbacks. Harden has been given his share of disappointments thus far (see Marmol, Carlos), but if there's one thing Cubs fans have learned from the first two showings of the Rich Harden Experience, it's that the show goes on no matter what.
Harden was baffling through seven innings, using his patented mid-80s changeup to rack up a total of 10 Ks with only two walks. His mix of breaking balls and sneaky high 90s fastballs was enough to hold the Diamondbacks hitless through five. However, with no outs in the 6th, late-May call up Alex Romero drove a 1-2 pitch into the right field bleachers to break up the no-hitter.
Despite the gaudy statistics, Harden had control issues at times, even throwing a pitch to the backstop with Chad Tracy on first and the struggling Chris Young at the plate. In fact, five of his ten strikeouts came with full counts.
The Cubs continued their offensive slump into the 8th and 9th innings, and were unable to muster a run despite having men on with no outs in both frames. Side note: Derrek Lee grounded into his Major League-leading 20th double play to record the first and second outs of the 9th inning.
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