Tough road trip follows Cubs' three-game home sweep
The fun might be over for the Chicago Cubs, or at least what passed for fun.
After sweeping San Diego at home this week, the Cubs head out Friday to begin a 10-game road trip to San Francisco, Milwaukee and Minnesota.
Actually, the road is more long and winding than that. The Cubs are in the midst of a stretch of 16 of 19 games away from Wrigley Field. Before coming home Memorial Day to face the Padres, the last-place team in the National League West, the Cubs were on a six-game road trip, during which they lost all of those games as part of their 12-game losing streak.
"We've got to play no matter where we go," said left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who has seven home runs for the season, all coming in May. "It's different time (zones), but we've got to keep playing like we played those three games here (against San Diego). Play through it, and keep winning some games."
The three-game winning streak is the Cubs' longest of the season, and even with that, their record is a poor 18-32.
We had a tough moment, but we didn't give up," Soriano said. "We're working hard. Those things happen. That's part of the game. We didn't want to lose 12 in a row, but it happened. I hope now we turn it around and win some more games."
The Cubs hope the sweep gives them some momentum heading back on the road. They'll need it because when they return home, they have interleague games with the Tigers and Red Sox awaiting them.
"When you come home and you win all of them, just for three days ... it's huge," manager Dale Sveum said. "It's one of the tougher road trips we're going to be on all year, when you've got to go all the way out west and all the way back the Midwest to Milwaukee and Minnesota."
