Harden (0-1, 0.73 ERA) was acquired in a July 8 trade with the Oakland Athletics and has allowed just one run in 10 1-3 innings in his first two starts with the Cubs (60-43). However, Chicago blew the right-hander's 7-0 lead against San Francisco on July 12 before winning 8-7 in 11 innings, and gave him no run support Monday in Arizona.

Harden went seven innings against the Diamondbacks, allowing only a solo home run, but was saddled with the 2-0 loss.

"He was lights out," teammate Derrek Lee said. "It's a shame we can't win that game for him. You can't get much better than that."

Of course, the Cubs, who lead the NL with 538 runs, have been struggling to score for most of their pitchers lately. Friday's 3-2 loss to the Marlins (54-49) dropped them to 3-5 since the All-Star break, and they have managed only six total runs in those defeats.

"That's baseball," Harden told Oakland's official team Web site after Monday's defeat. "The way these guys can hit the ball, they'll come back and get a lot more runs."

Harden made his only previous start against Florida on June 20, allowing one run in 5 2-3 innings of Oakland's 7-6, 11-inning win.

The Cubs got a look at another new pitcher on Friday as Jeff Samardzija, the former Notre Dame football star, made his major league debut after being called up from Triple-A Iowa before the game. Samardzija took the roster spot of closer Kerry Wood, who was placed on the disabled list Thursday with a blister on his right index finger.

The 23-year-old right-hander was impressive at times during his two innings, striking out two and hitting 99 mph with his fastball. However, he also showed his youth, allowing a run in the seventh inning to blow a 2-1 lead before throwing a scoreless eighth.

"I felt really good coming out for that second inning. My mechanics came together a little more," Samardzija said. "My whole goal here was to go out and throw well and give confidence to the coaches that they can throw me out there in any situation."

Jeremy Hermida led off the ninth with the go-ahead homer for the Marlins, who won for the fourth time in seven games.

"To quiet those fans takes a lot," Hermida said. "It's a fun place to play all around. Real passionate fans and they back their players better than any fans around. It was fun to go out there and do something like that and quiet them down."

Jorge Cantu went 1-for-4 with an RBI double, and is 6-for-11 (.545) over his last three games.

Florida will hand the ball to Chris Volstad (2-1, 2.16), who is making his fourth major league appearance and third start. The 21-year-old right-hander, a 2005 first-round pick, gave up three runs in six innings of Monday's 4-0 loss to Atlanta, 10 days after lasting 8 2-3 innings in a win at Dodger Stadium.

"I like the way he handles himself, every day," manager Fredi Gonzalez told the Marlins' site. "He's composed on the mound."