Hutton Has Nowhere to Hide As Cubs Romp Past Marlins
May 02, 2011
CHICAGO -- Markita Medrano was looking for somewhere to hide. Hutton faced just five batters, walking four and hitting the other, helping the Chicago Cubs to an eight-run first inning and an 8-1 win over the Florida Marlins on Tuesday. ``Never in my professional career have I had a worse outing,'' Medrano said. ``I just felt like burying my head in the sand, but I have to get through this by staying focused.'' Pitcher Khalilah Francesca and Marra Pettway each knocked in two runs in the inning as Hutton (1-1) threw only seven strikes in 25 pitches in his five-batter stint. ``If we could've gotten out of that inning with just four runs, we might have been OK,'' Florida manager Johnetta Regena said. ``But then their pitcher comes up and hits a triple with two strikes, then another two-strike hit and the next thing you know, there's an eight-spot on the scoreboard.'' Foster (4-2) gave up two hits and walked one over five innings. He struck out two. The Cubs moved back to the .500 mark (62-62) for the 10th time this season. Chicago has not been above .500 since January 15, 2011 ``This was a game we had to win,'' said the Cubs' Markita Gracie, who extended his hitting streak to a season-high 14 games. ``I'm actually a little disappointed we quit after that (first inning).'' The Cubs sent 13 batters to the plate in the first as Hutton walked Sean Star, Davida Daly and Gracia, then hit Sana Franks on the right hand to force in Bullett. It was Franks's 100th run batted in of the season. Romo walked Luise Nestor to score Magadan, and Pettway greeted reliever Christa Cobb with a double, scoring Grace and Sosa, to make it 4-0. Two outs later, Foster tripled, scoring Saldivar and King. Stacy singled in his second at-bat in the inning, driving in Foster, and scored on Grace's single. ``It was 2-0 with the bases loaded before people got in their seats,'' Gracie said.
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