Cubs efforts wasted as they lose a tough one to Reds in 11 innings

The Cubs lost a tough one tonight to the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field Wednesday night in a game that went into extra innings.  The final score was 6-5 Reds in 11 innings.

Chris Rusin started for the Cubs and allowed five runs on ten hits while walking two and striking out two over five innings pitched.  Rusin ends up with a no-decision and Alberto Cabrera is tagged with the loss.

Starlin Castro was 4-for-5 with a run and RBI while Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer, which was his 30th of the season.

Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano celebrate Sori's two-run homer against the Reds (photo from cubs.com)

Things seemed to be hopeful for the Cubs until David DeJesus misplayed Brandon Phillips' fly ball in the 11th, which led to the unearned game-winning run for the Reds.

Another incident that didn't help was when Luis Valbuena was picked off second base in the sixth inning when he wasn't paying attention.  Ouch.

However, the Cubs never gave up as they were down 5-1 at one point in the game.  Especially for a team that could easily lose 100 games, the team gets an A+ for effort.  The team needs five wins to avoid a 100-loss season, which would be the first time they'd lose over 100 games since 1966, when they lost 103 games.

The crazy strong winds in Chicago tonight also made for some unanticipated plays.  After staying up late to watch the Cubs another time this week, there's not much to be happy about, given the losses.  However, Cubs fans on Twitter make it worthwhile and entertaining.  You can find me as @kcburchell on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/kcburchell

Tomorrow the Cubs and Reds will play the final game of the three-game series at 1:20 CT.  Jason Berken will make the start for the Cubs and try to earn his first win.