MARYVALE, Ariz.- The four-way competition for the two rotation openings with the Cubs continues to be a merry-go-round.
One day after Carlos Silva redeemed himself for his poor debut, Jeff Samardzija plummeted after his strong first start.
Samardzija served up back-to-back home runs to former Cub Jim Edmonds and catcher Gregg Zaun, both coming on juicy fastballs in a 12-3 loss to Milwaukee.
Tom Gorzelanny will get his second shot tonight in Las Vegas against the White Sox, while Sean Marshall makes his first start on Saturday against Cincinnati at HoHoKam Park.
Samardzija settled down after a four run first, and wasn't discouraged by his outing.
Samardzija will have a couple more chances to start before manager Lou Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild huddle and decide whether to send him to the bullpen or not.
Was this a damaging outing?
"Those decisions are out of my hands," Samardzija said. "However they're going to look at it, they're going to look at it... It depends on how you come out the next time. I think everyone realizes it's spring training, but it's also very important. You come out and learn from your last time out and get ready to go again soon."
Silva impressed Piniella on Friday, turning in three shutout innings after changing his follow-through to get more ground balls.
"One thing about this guy here, he's here to do a good job," Piniella said. "He's working hard, he's serous minded about what he's doing, he wants to improve and he wants to help this team and he's healthy. Everything's positive. He should be (excited).
"Look, it was something to build from, no question. There was an improvement and he has to continue working. The first two innings, crisper, and the third inning, he realized his ball was straightening out just a little bit. But look, it was a good start from him."
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What guessing? We have Zambrano, Lilly, Wells, Marshall and Tom. We got some good pitchers to back-up too. Silva, Samardjiza, Hill and Edmonds. We are loaded. Don't forget the bullpen. Why are they asking?