May 12, 2013; Washington, D.C., USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Scott Feldman (46) pitches in the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Darwin Barney cashed in a RISP with a sac fly in the top of the second to get the Cubs off to a good start offensively. Feldman continued the hot hitting by Cubs pitchers with a 3-2 count homer of his own, putting the visitors up 3-0 at the time. Relievers James Russell and Hector Rondon were able to hold down the home team for a while, allowing the Cubs to creep closer to 5-4 thanks to a Luis Valbuena RBI single after Ryan Sweeney had doubled.

Unfortunately Rondon served up a two run jack to Brandon Phillips in the bottom of the eighth and with Reds closer Aroldis Chapman coming in for the save, the Cubs night was pretty much over despite getting two on base in the form of Scott Hairston single and a Starlin Castro walk.

The Cubs have now dropped five games in a row and have quickly fallen back behind the Brewers to have last place in the NL Central all to themselves. The North Siders will send Travis Wood to the mound against his former mates in a bid to snap the skid.

May 23, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (36) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

This winter, when the Cubs announced the signing of right-hander Edwin Jackson, the Cubs faithful were excited. They looked at him as a dependable arm that could provide much-needed stability this season, after Double-A starters were regularly called up for spot starts in 2012. However, ten starts into his Cubs contract, Jackson has been anything but dependable, as Chicago dropped yet another one of his starts Thursday night at Pittsburgh, falling 4-2 to the Pirates.

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen seems to be heating up of late, as he went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and a stolen base in the winning effort that moved his squad to 29-18 on the season. With the win, Pittsburgh continued their dominant month of May, in which they have posted a 14-6 record. The main question that is in the front of everyone’s mind, though, is whether or not this team can play at a high-level for six straight months. In the past two seasons, the team has fallen off in July, and is yet to post a winning season in the last two decades.

The Bucs hit Jackson early and often. Oft-touted Starling Marte got things started in the bottom of the first with an infield single that Castro knocked down, before stealing second. McCutchen then promptly followed with an RBI single, before himself swiping second with Garrett Jones at the plate. Second baseman Neil Walker drew a base-on-balls, setting the table for Michael McKenry‘s RBI single to make it a 2-0 game.

After retiring the first two batters in the second, Jackson hit another roadblock, in the form of the top of the Pittsburgh order. Marte reached base on his second infield single of the afternoon and came around to score on an RBI triple by Travis Snider, who then scored on another RBI single by McCutchen.

A torrential downpour limited Jackson (1-7) to just three innings of work, but in that limited time, he allowed four earned runs on six hits and one walk, while also notching six strikeouts. With Thursday’s performance in the books, Jackson’s earned run average on the season is at 6.11, and is near seven in the starts he has made that the Cubs lost.

After the game, Cubs manager Dale Sveum posed questions about his right-hander’s conviction.

“”It seems to be just not coming out with a lot of conviction early in the game,” Sveum said. “Those are questions and answers, you wish you knew what happened in those situations and why the same guy doesn’t come out all the time.”

Cubs leadoff man David DeJesus doubled to open the Cubs fourth against Pirates starter Jeanmar Gomez. He  then moved up on Starlin Castro‘s single and scored when Rizzo hit into a fielder’s choice. Pinch-hitter  and semi-recent pickup Ryan Sweeney added a two-out, RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to account for the only other run the Cubs offense could muster.

“He obviously wasn’t real sharp,” Sveum said after the game. “He didn’t come out with a whole lot of velocity at the beginning either. McCutchen took advantage of a hanging slider and another fastball as well. There wasn’t a whole lot of life coming out of that arm today.”

UP NEXT: Chicago opens a series against Cincinnati at the Great American Ballpark tonight at 6:10 p.m. Scott Feldman (4-3, 2.19) looks to continue his hot start, and will be opposed by veteran Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 3.28).

May 22, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) throws a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Same story, different day.

That’s probably the best way to describe Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija’s latest outing. He was absolutely dominant, throwing seven innings of one-run, three-hit ball, only to be saddled with a loss because the Chicago bats couldn’t have hit beach balls, let alone the pitches coming from rejuvenated left-hander Francisco Liriano.

A Garrett Jones first-inning RBI single was the difference in the game, as neither pitcher allowed a run after that point. And as Cubs fans have become increasingly immune to, another quality start was wasted. Wednesday’s loss marks the 17th time the team has lost a quality start, in which Chicago pitchers have a minuscule 1.98 earned run average. There are just four teams in the entire National League with more quality starts than the Cubs: St. Louis, Philadelphia, the Diamondbacks and the Nationals.

After the game, the Cubs right-hander had this to say about the situations he’s found himself in this year.

“You take it with a grain of salt,” Samardzija said. “You’re going out to do your job, regardless of what the outcome is. Every fifth day, you’re going to get a start and know what to expect. You can only control what you can control. You want to go out and keep doing what you’re doing, and if it’s going well, keep going, and if not, make a couple adjustments to get back to where you need to be. It’s just the way this game goes sometimes. You can get a win and give up five runs sometimes.”

The team dropped to 6-12 in one-run ballgames this year. The offense yet again failed to deliver, and perhaps no situation more accurately depicts the team’s struggles this year than the third inning, when Chicago loaded the bases with no outs, yet failed to score. Despite all three hitters being ahead in their respective counts, Julio Borbon hit into a force out, Starlin Castro struck out swinging and Anthony Rizzo flied out to right field, ending any chances of the Cubs tying the game. The Cubs entered yesterday’s contest batting .218 with runners in scoring position, and went on to go 0-for-6 for the game.

“It’s the same song and dance — we get people on and can’t get them in,” Sveum said during his post game news conference.