CHICAGO _ Adam Conley, standing atop a hot and humid mound on an evening when the Windy City didn't live up to its nickname, labored Monday, his July-long effectiveness seemingly gone with the flip of a calendar.
Four innings, five hits, six walks and a hit batsman, just for good measure. Ninety-seven pitches, only 50 of them strikes. Mercy came in the form of a pinch-hitter in the top of the fifth inning of a 5-0 Marlins' loss to the Cubs at a packed and loud Wrigley Field.
Conley limited the bottom-line damage to just two runs, but on a night when Miami couldn't piece anything together against Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks, two runs was too much to overcome. It was Conley's shortest outing since a one-inning season debut in early April.
Hendricks was as effective as Conley was erratic. He scattered seven hits and three walks in the shutout, and the Marlins did him a couple of favors running into outs on the bases.
In the fourth, Derek Dietrich got thrown out at third trying to stretch a double to right-center into a triple. In the fifth, Dee Gordon singled with one out but got thrown out trying to steal second.
Given Hendricks' success, the night was all but over almost as soon as it began. Addison Russell belted a two-run single to right field in the first inning to score Dexter Fowler and Anthony Rizzo.
The Cubs' insurance runs _ one of them thanks to Hendricks _ came in the fifth and six. With two runners in scoring position and the Marlins infield drawn in, Hendricks shot a single past a diving Martin Prado at third.
To his credit, Conley did escape a couple of jams. The first three innings ended on strikeouts with multiple men on base.
Ichiro Suzuki lined out to third base during a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh inning. Kris Bryant doubled Adeiny Hechavarria off first base on the play. Ichiro, 0 for 8 in his past four games, remains at 2,998 career major league hits.
Manager Don Mattingly, who acknowledged before the game that he felt some pressure to play Ichiro during the Marlins' most recent homestand so he could have a shot at reaching the 3,000-hit plateau at home, wasn't sure when Ichiro would next start a game.
"It's going to happen. It's just a matter of where and when," Mattingly said. "We always go back to the context of winning. I don't think [Ichiro] wants me to just get this done and sacrifice the team when you got somebody else who is going good."
