After the Cubs lost their sixth straight game, manager Lou Piniella decided it was time to send a message to his team.
"We're not hitting at all," he said after a 7-2 loss on Sunday to the Texas Rangers. "And I haven't seen anyone ask for extra batting practice or anything. If I were a hitter I'd rather get to where I wanted to get and then back off a little bit as opposed to continuing to try to get where I wanted to get. The sooner you get there the better it is.
"Look, spring training wins or losses don't mean anything," Piniella continued, "but you don't want to get in the habit of getting ... beat everyday either. That I can tell you."
Chicago has lost eight of nine.
Reed Johnson, who went 0-for-4, said he understood his manager's frustration.
"I don't care what time of the year it is, it is frustrating for the players and frustrating for the manager as well," said Johnson, who is hitting .261 on the spring with no runs and three RBI. "If you look at September for us, and it was kind of similar feeling, where the attitude the division is clinched up and you are not playing with the normal intensity of the regular season. It's hard to flip the switch so we don't want to carry any bad habits into the start of the season."
Fifth-starter candidate Sean Marshall threw four scoreless innings against the Rangers' everyday lineup. The left-hander allowed two hits and struck out three, dropping his ERA to 1.00 in nine innings.
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"So far so good," Marshall said. "There is room for improvement with first pitch strikes, putting away hitters quicker and executing pitches early in at-bats."
Matt Harrison made the start for the Rangers, allowing two earned runs on three innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Harrison, acquired in the Mark Teixeria deal from Atlanta last July, has been working on a cutter in the last week and is struggling with his change-up.
"It's getting there but I stuff have things to work on, especially me changeup," he said. "I'm struggling a little bit with it right now. I have to get back to not babying it and throwing the pitch.
"I am working on a cutter right now, and I think it is really going to help."
Ian Kinsler had a two-run single in the fifth inning to tie the game for Texas, and Marlon Byrd drove in the winning run in the eighth inning.
Greg Golson hot a ninth-inning grand slam off reliever Kevin Hart.
Notes:@ Texas reserve infielder Joaquin Arias is expected to return to the squad after being with family after the death of his father. ... Cubs 1B Derek Lee continued his slow start, going 0-for-3. He has only three singles in 15 at-bats (.200) with no RBIs.
