The Cubs lost two of three to the White Sox over the weekend, but the argument could be made that it was the best three-game stretch the starting pitchers have given them all season.

After a tough 1-0 loss on Saturday in which Matt Garza threw the Cubs’ first complete game of the season, Rodrigo Lopez delivered a gem of his own. Lopez went seven shutout innings as the Cubs salvaged the last game of the series with the South siders with a 3-1 victory.

Despite the so-so results over the past three games, reliever Sean Marshall was happy with the way his team’s pitchers performed.

“It was a great weekend . . . out starting pitchers did great,” Marshall said. “Tough loss for Garza yesterday . . . he threw great, but you know, that’s baseball.”

Even Randy Wells was solid for six innings on Friday, before coming apart in the seventh -- and manager Mike Quade admitted after that game that he stuck with Wells too long.

The bullpen has been heavily relied upon this season as the Cubs’ starters are last in the league in ERA (5.15), innings pitched (475), and quality starts (32). The fact that the Cubs can’t get their starters to give them six innings of three-run ball (the bare minimum for a quality start) is a horrible sign.

“Our job is to go out there and pitch as well as we know how,” Marshall said. “I think all the guys in the bullpen have done that all year.”

Despite some occasional hiccups, Marshall is right that the bullpen has performed admirably. With the inconsistencies of the offense, the pen has definitely been the clubs strongest unit.
Due to the ineffectiveness of the starters, Quade has often had to use relievers in situations that are less than ideal. At times the relievers have struggled in those situations, but every once in a while they deliver a surprising performance. Marcos Mateo's stellar five innings of shutout ball in Thursday’s win over the San Francisco Giants is a prime example.

However, for one weekend, Quade was able to use his bullpen as he originally planned to start the season, using Marshall, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Marmol in innings seven through nine.

“Makes my job easy and when you got a bullpen like I do . . . get into the seventh inning, it’s fun to manage,” Quade said. “Start making decisions in the fourth, it’s not fun.”

To see just how important starting pitching is for a club’s success, all one needs to do is look at the Giants and Mariners, who rank 26th and 30th in runs scored in all of baseball. But due to their strong starting pitching (Mariners rank second and Giants rank fourth in starter ERA), they’re both in the thick of the playoff race.

With Ryan Dempster scratched from Monday’s start, the Cubs will have had all five members of their rotation miss a turn this year. Unfortunately, a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness from the starting pitching has caused the Cubs to miss out on any chance to compete in a weak division.