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.

May 22, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano (12) reacts after striking out to end the sixth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately for Samardzija and Cubs fans, the visitor’s offense could do nothing against Liriano. Their best chance came with the bases loaded and nobody out in the third. After Cody Ransom singled and Darwin Barney was walked, Samardzija tried to give the Pirates an out with a sac bunt. Instead, Liriano made a throwing error and everybody was safe. The top of the order failed to even tie the ballgame, ending with a strikeout by Starlin Castro and a fly out by Anthony Rizzo. The Cubs did not make the home team pay on a one out error in the fourth and then it was pretty much smooth sailing for the Pirates starter the rest of the night.

Lead off man Julio Borbon tried to get some small ball action going with a bunt single in the eighth, but Castro could not get him moving around the bases, let alone plate him. Borbon then stole second to get himself into scoring position, but then Rizzo struck out to end the frame. Despite all the struggles, the Cubs threatened one last time in the ninth. Alfonso Soriano reached on a wild pitch despite striking out and was replaced at first due to a Nate Schierholtz fielder’s choice ground out. Welington Castillo singled to bump the tying run to second base, but both Ryan Sweeney and Barney popped out to end the game.

The Cubs went 0 for 6 with RISP, the main reason why they put up 0 runs at PNC Park on Wednesday night. It also does not help that the two through five hitters in the Cubs order went a combined 0 for 15. In fact Soriano and Rizzo both struck out three times each. Throw in an 0 for 3 night for Barney, who went a perfect 4 for 4 in the opener, and that is a lot of 0 for this and 0’s in general. 0 well, Cubs lose.

The Good

Travis Wood and Jeff Samardzija picked up wins in the series, with The Shark’s W his first since Opening Day. For Samardzija in particular, it was great to see an excellent bounce back effort after getting smoked in Washington the weekend prior. The young Cubs righty went eight innings with seven strike outs and hit a home run himself for an added bonus. Wood had set the bar high in game one, limiting the Rockies to just two hits over seven innings with no runs allowed.

May 15, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney (15) makes the out on Colorado Rockies second baseman Josh Rutledge (14) during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

It takes more than just good pitching to win a game; you need to score runs. The Cubs certainly did that and did so behind a barrage of extra base hits; 16 over the three games to be exact. That accounted for more than half of the base hits, as the Cubs finished with 30, and eight of those came in game one alone.

The Better

RISP. The stat that has aptly summarized the Cubs offensive short comings so far this season perfectly reflected the results in this three game set. The North Siders were 6 for 18 in the opener on their way to nine runs scored and behind Samardzija on Wednesday the offense went .550 with RISP (3 for 6). With the way this rotation has been pitching and veteran Kevin Gregg being solid so far, all the Cubs really need is some timely hitting with runners in scoring position to really start turning some heads. Even if the bullpen around Gregg and James Russell is a crapshoot, the long outings by the starters limits bullpen implosions. While the Cubs will likely not become contenders by the end of June, things are certainly looking up for the boys in blue pinstripes.

The Ugly

As mentioned above, the RISP stat perfectly reflected the win loss results for the Cubs in this series. An ugly 2 for 12 line in the middle contest, combined with the worst start of his Cub season by Carlos Villanueva, led to the lone loss of the series. The mustached righty was tagged for seven runs over 12 hits in just five innings of work, although even grinding it out through five frames should be a credit to Villanueva’s professionalism. There would be no Carlos Zambrano like early clubhouse departure while muttering of retirement from the former Blue Jay on this night.