Kevin Gregg: Public Enemy No. 1

The first thing that Randy Wells might want to do today is seek Carlos Zambrano out for guidance. Whether this advice be about punching teammates in the face or taking out aggression on innocent Gatorade machines in the dugout, Wells needs to ask how to properly express the way he feels about Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg.

Wells took a no-hitter into the seventh where Chipper Jones crashed the party. Upon leaving the game, Wells, while disappointed, had to take solace in the fact that he would at least get the victory. Enter Marmol, then Gregg to completely screw the pooch on that one.

Marmol gave up an earned run in the 8th and Gregg allowed a bottom of the ninth two-run blast from Jeff Francoeur to tie the ballgame. The Cubs eventually lost the game in the 12th when Chipper produced a walk-off single.

Let's put aside the fact that Gregg is still closing out games for the Cubs even though he's sporting an ERA above five while Marmol has shined in the past month with a 1.38 ERA. Neither late inning option has provided squeaky clean results this season. The pulse with Cubs faithful is starting to sound like life support may be needed if the closer conundrum in Chicago isn't addressed.

Speaking of Cubs faithful, and not that I took any pleasure in watching a great performance from Wells get torn apart, I did, however, rather enjoy some of the responses I saw on twitter last night.

Aisle424 made me laugh a few times with tweets like "#newandinterestingwaystograbdefeatfromthejawsofvictory" and with the way he signed off for the night, "If anyone needs me, I'll be curled up in a fetal position for awhile."

Some were as simple as BigLeagueStew's tweet of "Damn you, Kevin Gregg!"

Most tweets contained too many expletives to post here, and TheMontyShow even proved that Cubs fans have no faith in Kevin Gregg by predicting the eventual home run that tied the game, "Am I the only Cub fan nervous every time Kevin Gregg comes in the game???? 5-3 BTM 9, 1 out.".

Needless to say, it's a rough time in Wrigleyville right now. We'll have to wait and see if bullpen roles change anytime soon.

In other closer news:

- Royals closer Joakim Soria was activated from the disabled list now that he seems to have recovered from a strained rotator cuff. It's time to get him off of your fantasy DL and back into the lineup.

- Ryan Madson got the save last night for the Phillies, his second of the season. Instead of this being the beginning of Brad Lidge losing control of his handle on his ninth inning role, Madson throwing was just a case of Lidge getting a well deserved scheduled night off.

- Injured Astros closer Jose Valverde joined the team recently to finish up his rehab. He threw a 25-pitch bullpen session before Monday nights game and felt fine. He's going to test mobility this week before pitching to hitters this weekend. The question for the Astros is what to do with LaTroy Hawkins when Valverde returns. Hawkins has five saves and a 1.42 ERA while filling in for Valverde and could slide back into his set-up role or could become trade bait.