Frustration Boils Over at Not-So-Friendly Confines

The headache continued for the Cubs Friday when starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett fought in the dugout and back in the clubhouse, meanwhile the Cubs fell 8-5 to the Atlanta Braves

The month of June began with a bang for the Chicago Cubs, only it was Carlos Zambrano's fist hitting Michael Barrett's face in the dugout Friday afternoon as opposed to a victory.

Losing their fifth consecutive game and ninth in their last 11 games, has the whole team in shambles. After a horrid fifth inning in which the Braves tallied five runs, Zambrano lost it. Confronting Barrett he pointed to his head as if saying, "play smart" after Barrett committed his seventh pass ball and fifth error of the year on the same play. The pass ball allowed runners to move up from second to third and the throwing error enabled the runner to score from third. Barrett responded by pointed to what seemed to be the scoreboard, and then Zambrano returned with a shot to Barrett's face as they both began to push back and forth.

Head coach Lou Pinella confirmed that the fight continued back in the clubhouse before Pinella sent both players home for the day. Barrett headed to the hospital first due to having an injured lip, but there is no word on the exact injury yet.

It seems that the Cubs simply can't get out of their own way. Zambrano was tagged for seven runs, six earned, 13 hits (a career-high) and no strikeouts (first time he hasn't recorded a strikeout after starting a game). On top of that, the Cubs gave up a total of 20 hits to the Braves, while committing two bone head errors including a ball lost in the sun to start the game by shortstop Ryan Theriot. It was yet another day filled with very few positives and many negatives from the starting pitching to the fielding.

In the post-game press conference, Pinella finally lost it at the end when asked how frustrating everything is becoming by stating he needs his players to start playing like major leaguers that can catch and run the bases or else they (Cubs organization) will bring in players that can.

In response to Pinella, I've got a few solutions to your problems. First, move Soriano to second or fifth in the line-up, second, trade Jacque Jones and bring up Felix Pie ASAP, and finally, put Ryan Theriot as the lead-off man for good.

Until these things are taken care of the Cubs will continue to struggle offensively and the frustration will heighten until Pinella as a real explosion on the field. However, at the same time you can't blame Pinella for much, the Cubs' players have been playing like complete garbage over the past two weeks and have dropped to a pathetic 22-30 overall, while falling to a dismal 10-15 at Wrigley Field.

I guess $300 million just doesn't by what it use to.