Chris Volstad is back to old ways as Cubs lose 10-3 to Braves

The Cubs lost 10-3 to the Atlanta Braves tonight.  I guess 5 wins in a row was being too hopeful.  Oh well, tomorrow's a new day!

Chris Volstad was called up from Triple-A Iowa to start for the Cubs and gave up six runs on seven hits with two walks over 4-1/3 innings.  In a corresponding move, Casey Coleman was optioned to Triple-A Iowa today, which also happens to be his birthday.

Chris Volstad couldn't lead the Cubs to a win Tuesday and now has a winless streak of 20 games (photo from cubs.com)

Volstad was back to his fifth inning troubles, when he gave up five runs.  He wasn't better than Randy Wells or Casey Coleman, who were both sent down to Iowa within the past week.  Volstad fell to 0-7 with the Cubs with a 7.94 ERA.

Ryan Dempster will have his second bullpen session in three days on Wednesday at Turner Field, and will be re-evaluated Thursday to determine the next step.  Most likely, the Cubs will still have to cover Dempster's spot in the rotation one more time on Sunday against the New York Mets.  We'll see who Dale Sveum decides to go with for the start.

On a side note, Wells made his first start tonight since going back to Iowa and allowed one run on three hits and struck out four and walked two batters over five innings pitched.  Wells earned the win tonight against the Nashville Sounds.

Randy Wells earned the win in his first start since going down to Triple-A Iowa (photo from Iowa Cubs)

On a side note, Anthony Rizzo recorded the game-winning RBI in three of his first five games and became the first Cubs player in franchise history to accomplish this since the RBI was made an official stat in 1920.  Of his five RBIs, four have given the Cubs the lead, and the other has tied the game. 

Tomorrow the Cubs and Braves will play game two of the four game series at 6:10pm CT.  Paul Maholm will start for the Cubs and try for his sixth win of the season.  In his last start, he was excellent as he gave up just four hits over 8-1/3 innings.