原文轉自官網 CHICAGO -- Rich Harden was in a good groove in the first inning on Wednesday when he struck out the side, needing only 13 pitches to retire the Colorado Rockies. But Garrett Atkins saw that many pitches plus one in his at-bat to open the second, and Harden switched from being a pitcher to just throwing, and got into trouble. Former Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis slapped a two-run single to center to help himself and lead the Rockies to a 5-2 victory over Harden and the Cubs, splitting the brief two-game series. Harden (0-1), who struck out 10 in six innings in his first start against Milwaukee, fanned eight in three innings against the Rockies. But he reached his pitch count limit early, and was pulled after throwing 92. "His stuff was good," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said, "but the results really weren't." Atkins' at-bat was the turning point. "That might have been the moment I started losing purpose there," Harden said. "[It was] 3-2 [count], I'm coming at him and giving him everything I've got. I threw a lot of pitches and after that point, I think I was rushing a little bit and getting on the mound and just throwing instead of slowing things down and stepping off and throwing with a purpose." Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild went to the mound after Harden had loaded the bases in the second by walking Chris Ianetta, which helped set up Marquis' hit. Rothschild tried to get the right-hander on track again in the third after he gave up a one-out homer to Seth Smith and a double to Todd Helton. For the game, Harden walked four and gave up five hits. "I was feeling really good today and it was one of those days when maybe I was feeling too good," Harden said. "I got behind some hitters. The second inning was an ugly one." It included a questionable call when Troy Tulowitzki was ruled safe on an infield hit in the second. That was minor. "I've caught him on days when he's all over the place and he comes right back and something clicks," Cubs catcher Geovany Soto said. "I know once he goes out of sync, he's trying the best he can to calm down and get back in sync. Unfortunately, today we couldn't do that. I'm sure that every time he pitches, he wants to be an ace out there." Going from being a pitcher to a thrower, unfortunately, is not new to Harden. "It's something I've always kind of fought," the right-hander said. "When I do feel good,I rear back and start throwing instead of throwing every pitch with a purpose behind it and pitching." Marquis (2-0) did his homework regarding his former teammates. The right-hander, whom the Cubs dealt to the Rockies on Jan. 6 for reliever Luis Vizcaino, gave up one run on five hits over seven innings for the win. "I had a game plan," Marquis said. "Every team I play on, I try to pay attention to my own hitters, because you never know when you're going to face them. So I had an idea definitely of what I wanted to do, and I executed to the best of my ability today. "I feel like they know me as well as I know them," he said. "That's what makes it fun -- the battle, the guessing game.' Micah Hoffpauir delivered a pinch-hit RBI double with two outs in the fifth, and the Cubs tried to rally in the ninth. Derrek Lee led off with a home run against Huston Street, who then walked Mike Fontenot and gave up a single to Reed Johnson before he was lifted for Jason Grilli.The ball got away from Ianetta briefly during Soto's at-bat, and Fontenot tried to scamper to third but was thrown out. Soto then grounded into a game-ending double play. "We had a chance there in the ninth inning, and [there was] not good baserunning by Fontenot, getting thrown out at third," Piniella said. "His run doesn't really mean anything when you're down by three. "You have to be almost sure you can make the play standing up," Piniella said. "You've got an inning going, you've got the tying run at-bat and the momentum just turns totally around." Fontenot said he thought the ball had skipped far enough away from Ianetta for him to go. "I was trying to be aggressive," he said. "You can't be too aggressive there. I should've stayed at second on that play." He didn't avoid Piniella when he got back in the dugout. "I was mad at myself when it happened," Fontenot said. "If that ball had been a foot further, I would've been safe. I just go into the dugout [mad] at myself." Harden would understand. --

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