During the recent 8 game losing streak, the following pitchers lost: Maddux Prior Williams Mitre Wood Maddux Prior Novoa Since the high water mark of June 11 when the Cubs were 6 games over .500, they have lost 18 times, 8 of which are accounted for above. The other losses can be attributed to Maddux x 2, Mitre x 2, Rusch x 2, Zambrano, Remmy, Koronka and Ohman. I don't see an inordinate number of losses coming from Wood/Prior fill ins. You are going to expect losses from bullpen guys like Ohman, Remmy, etc. Rusch and Mitre were slated to be #5/ML pen guys anyway, so I don't necessary consider them "fill ins". Blaming the Cubs poor play during that stretch on injuries to starting pitching doesn't persuade me. But how many of those games were lost because the bullpen had been used up because of a poor start the day before? You have to take into account the overall toll that the big guns being out took on the staff, not just who lost what games on what days.