Mike Quade in a more lucid moment.

And really, he has only himself to blame. In what part of the space-time continuum is Casey Coleman followed by Justin Berg followed by James Russell a recipe for winning? If I were the ump, I would have called the game right then.

CHICAGO — The Cubs have played in conditions worse than Wednesday night at different points this season, so when crew chief Dale Scott decided to stop play in the seventh inning with the Mets leading, 7-4, Mike Quade was upset.

“[Scott] said he had a forecast and was concerned about the rain that was coming, and I was, too, because I knew it wasn’t going to stop,” Quade said after the game was called following a 41-minute rain delay.

“I just wanted to keep playing,” Quade said. “If we get that final out [in the seventh], stranger things have happened. It’s wet out there, and you put an inning together and who knows? Maybe you get even or find a way to get a lead.”

This makes me laugh, as it was obvious from the first inning that Quade was counting on rain shortening the game.  Len and Bob even commented several times that the only reason Quade yanked Coleman so quickly was because he was counting on rain. So the fact that Quade was expecting a rain-shortened game and then got upset when the game was, in fact, shortened, is amusing to me.
Not only that, when Quade went out to argue with the umps, there was actually thunder and lightning at Wrigley.

Quade is losing it.

With Randy Wells set to return from the DL on Saturday, let’s hope we’ve seen the last of Casey Coleman for a while, though, as I’ve said, I question Quade’s ability to make good decisions at this point.

In 8 starts, Coleman (2-4) has a 7.32 ERA and a feverish WHIP (walks plus hits per 1 inning pitched) of 2.05. He retired the first two batters of the game, but gave up a walk and 2 hits in the first.

“The first inning with (Carlos) Beltran after two quick outs, I told myself it’s great timing, just throw strikes,” Coleman said. “Instead of just doing it, I thought too much about it.”

Things got no better after Quade pulled Coleman. Justin Berg threw 12 straight balls, walking three batters. Quade yanked him in favor of James Russell, who started Sunday at Boston. Russell at least settled things down by tossing 3â…” innings and giving up 3 hits and a run.

“We’re inconsistent as a son of a gun,” Quade said of his pitching,”

Actually, no. You don’t get a WHIP over 2.00 (I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen this) by being inconsistent. You get it by being consistently, interminably, redundantly terrible.  Even my 8-year old was screaming at the Coleman-Berg-Russell triple combo. Maybe he could manage the team next year.

Alas, there is good news on the horizon. Geo is on his way back:

Geovany Soto caught three innings of an extended-spring training game Wednesday, getting 5 at-bats. He’ll head to Class AA Tennessee on Thursday to finish his stint on the disabled list.

Soto will catch 5-6 innings Thursday, according to general manager Jim Hendry. On Friday, he’ll go most of the game. If that goes well, he’ll be in Chicago and presumably ready for Saturday’s game against the Pirates.

Thank heaven for small miracles.

Cubs are (tentatively) back at it today at 1:20 for the rubber-game with the Mets, although it is, once again, rainy and icky here in Chicagoland.  We’ll keep one eye on the skies and the other on Bruce Miles’ twitter account and let you know if there’s a change in the schedule.

Finally, a very happy birthday today to flyball!