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.

May 15, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) scores on a home run during the second inning against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

After his worst start of the season last time out, Jeff Samardzija bounced back with an effort that exceeded the definition of a quality start. The Cubs ace made quick work of the first and a David DeJesus lead off homer in the bottom half gave The Shark a quick 1-0 lead. The Rockies tied it up in the second with the help of a one out walk, but the former Notre Dame wide out then proceeded to keep the visitors off of the scoreboard through the fifth inning. During that stretch the righty racked up four strikeouts, and when the Rockies hitters weren’t swinging and missing, they had to settle for ground ball outs most of the time, with The Shark inducing four of those as well.

Samardzija’s only other mistake was a solo shot he allowed in the sixth. On the mound he would finish with eight innings pitched while allowing five hits with seven total strikeouts. But number 29 did some heavy lifting on the offensive side of the game as well. In fact it was his two run homer in the second that broke a 1-1 tie, with Darwin Barney along for the ride after he doubled. This was all with two outs after a strike em out throw em out situation where Luis Valbuena apparently stopped running because he thought it was ball four to batter Dioner Navarro.

The Shark’s line up mates padded a 3-2 to lead to a comfortable 6-2 margin in the bottom of the seventh. The insurance runs were compliments of back to back RBI singles by infield cornerstones Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo before Alfonso Soriano tallied the final Cubs run with a ground out RBI. The bullpen took care of the final three outs in the game despite allowing an unearned run to make it 6-3. James Russell did his job by striking out Carlos Gonzalez, who burned the Cubs with two homers on Tuesday night. Veteran Kevin Gregg was then called in despite the non save situation and it was his own defensive error that lead to the run. However the veteran righty would get the help of his center fielder DeJesus on a line out to center to end the game and keep intact his 0.00 ERA.

The Cubs picked up their second straight series win in a row and did so against a plus .500 team. The North Siders are just six games under .500 at 17-23 despite the rocky start to the 2013 season they have endured. After the off day on Thursday, the Cubs will look to make it three series wins in a row and maybe even put together a win streak of more than three with a sweep of a Mets team that comes into town with just as many losses and less total wins on the season.