Cubs have Sun-day blues vs. Bucs

EXCUSES! EXCUSES! EXCUSES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

PITTSBURGH -- Alfonso Soriano lost the Cubs' chance to finally win a road series in the sun.

For the second straight game, Jason Bay was Pittsburgh's hero. On Saturday, he hit a walk-off RBI single in the 14th inning, and on Sunday, he delivered another in the 11th to lift the Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the Cubs. It was the fourth extra-inning game between these two teams this season.

There never should've been an 11th inning. The Cubs had a 5-4 lead going into the Pirates' ninth, and Carlos Marmol, subbing for closer Kerry Wood, got Chris Gomez to pop out, walked Freddy Sanchez, and then struck out Luis Rivas, who had hit two home runs in the game. Nate McLouth lofted a ball to left, which Soriano camped under, but lost in the sun. The ball dropped, and McLouth was credited with a double. Pinch-runner Brian Bixler scored from first to tie the game at 5.

"That's going to happen in a game," Marmol said. "We're not perfect. You don't see him do that very often in the ninth inning. It's just going to happen."

Lou Piniella, who opted not to talk after Saturday's game, did meet with the media on Sunday for less than 30 seconds.

"Tough loss, but let's just regroup at home, forget about what happened and go about our business," Piniella said. "That's all I have to say about the last two days. Too many mistakes, and you're going to get beat, especially on the road in close games. Outside of that, let's go get the Dodgers on Monday and go from there."

What was Soriano's take on the ball?

"It was very tough," Soriano said. "I tried at the last moment to catch the ball, but it was in the sun. When it came off the bat, I saw it very clear. At the last moment, it was in the sun, and it was tough to catch it because I never saw it.

"It hit me on the glove, but I didn't see the ball," Soriano said.

There wasn't anything he could do differently, Soriano said.

"That surprised me at the last moment with the ball going down," he said. "I never thought that ball would get lost in the sun.

"Everybody knows if it's not in the sun, it's a routine fly ball," Soriano said. "They know I didn't do it on purpose. It's very tough when you can't see the ball."