"Once Cecil Cooper mercifully called on his bullpen Wednesday afternoon, Brandon Backe stuck around the Wrigley Field mound an extra few seconds to hand his manager more than the ball.
Backe also gave Cooper an apology after the Chicago Cubs routed the Astros 11-4.
“It was time for me to come out,” Backe said after giving up a career-high 11 runs on nine hits and six walks over 31/3 innings. “I literally just apologized to (Cooper) for not being able to get into the fifth or sixth inning. That was all that was said.
“Really, that’s all there was to it. It’s just an unfortunate day for me and an unfortunate day for the Astros. Tim Byrdak really gets a big thumbs up for what he did.”
Realizing the bullpen was short as Geoff Geary nursed a groin injury, Backe tried to settle in and throw at least five innings.
Unfortunately for him, the contest soured on him quickly. His 11 earned runs allowed were one shy of the franchise high Jose Lima set on April 27, 2000.
On the positive side, Byrdak threw 32/3 scoreless innings to save the bullpen.
Against the last 13 batters he faced, Backe gave up six hits, five walks, nine runs, two doubles, a grand slam and a three-run homer. His previous career high for runs allowed was eight, and he gave up that many in the third.
Want to get away?
“He had 100 pitches,” Cooper said of Backe, who actually threw 99, 56 of them for strikes. “That’s hard to leave him in longer. After the second inning, we just said, ‘We need you to stay in as long as you can go.’ He got to (99) pitches, and that’s all you can do. He did the best he could under the circumstances.”
The Cubs won the three-game series 2-1. Backe was the first Astros pitcher to allow 11 runs since Jason Jennings did in two-thirds of an inning on July 29, 2007.
Trailing 1-0 in the third, the Astros mounted a two-out, four-run rally against Jason Marquis. Kaz Matsui hit a double to right-center field to start it. Hunter Pence followed with a walk. Lance Berkman tied the score at 1 with an RBI single through the right side, snapping his 0-for-13 streak.
Carlos Lee broke the tie with a three-run homer to left field, giving the Astros a 4-1 lead.
Ryan Theriot got Chicago started in the bottom of the third with a one-out single. One out later, Backe walked Aramis Ramirez and Jim Edmonds to load the bases.
Then Mark DeRosa deposited a 1-1 curveball from Backe over the center- field wall, giving the Cubs a 5-4 lead with his second grand of the season and fourth of his career.
Couldn’t recover
“You just can’t do that,” Backe said. “Close pitches just missed and put me in a bad situation to ultimately give up the big hit after that. The walks got me to the situation where I couldn’t make a mistake, and I did.”
Kosuke Fukudome followed with a double to right. Backe intentionally walked Geovany Soto to face Marquis, who ripped an RBI double off the right-field wall. Alfonso Soriano sent Backe’s next pitch over the wall in left for a three-run homer (his team-leading 21st) to cap the eight-run rally. "
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Backe falters as Cubs whip Astros
Backe falters as Cubs whip Astros
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