Chicago — Things can't get much worse for the reeling Braves, who placed Tom Glavine on the disabled list with an elbow injury after their 10-5 loss against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Their fourth consecutive loss was part of an agonizing day for the Braves, who waited for news from John Smoltz's career-threatening shoulder surgery in the afternoon at Birmingham, then learned late Tuesday that Glavine would return to Atlanta for an MRI exam of his aching pitching elbow.

"It's just not getting any better," said the 42-year-old left-hander, who has pitched with elbow soreness since the first week of May, something that he and team officials had not revealed until after Tuesday's game.

"Previously it was mostly in-between starts, and then a little bit as the game would go on, I'd get a little bit stiff. But the last two games it's been pretty much every pitch I've thrown. It's not getting any better."

Glavine (2-3) was charged with six hits, four runs and four walks and said he tried in vain to find a comfortable arm slot -- which had had been able to do for a few weeks, until these past two painful starts.

The 300-game winner was asked if he was concerned this injury could be serious.

"Yeah, I mean it concerns me obviously, because it hurts and it's not getting any better," said Glavine, who returns to the DL for the second time in two months, after never being on the DL in his previous 21 major-league seasons.

Manager Bobby Cox, whose Braves have lost 15 of their past 18 road games, looked utterly exhausted afterward as he described another loss and another key injury. He said the Braves would meet Wednesday to discuss who replaces Glavine.

"We lost [Mike] Hampton and John [Smoltz] out of the starting rotation, and now Glavine," Cox said. "We lost [setup man Peter] Moylan in the 'pen, and [closer Rafael] Soriano is day-to-day. It's been a little hectic."

That's like saying there is a little beer consumed at Wrigley Field.

"It's like pouring salt in an open wound," Glavine said of the team's latest potentially devastating injury -- his injury.

Glavine was staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Greg Norton hit a towering three-run homer that got a lift from a wind that blew out all night.

The lead didn't survive even three innings, the Cubs peppering Glavine for two runs in the second inning getting a leadoff homer from Derrek Lee in a two-run third inning to give them a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Chicago (41-24) has the best record in the major leagues and has won 16 of its past 18 at Wrigley Field, including nine in a row.

The Braves trimmed the lead to 6-5 with a two-out rally in the eighth inning that included consecutive RBI singles by Brian McCann and Omar Infante.

But after Gregor Blanco struck out with two runners on to end the Braves' eighth, recently combustible Braves reliever Manny Acosta was charged with four runs in the bottom of the eighth including a three-run homer by Geovany Soto.

All the Cubs' runs in the inning were unearned after Acosta's fielding error.

The Braves have dropped 15 of 18 road games and have the worst road record (7-22) in the major leagues.

Glavine is 2-5 in 15 starts since late September, when he was finishing his fifth season with the Mets. The joyful return to the Braves hasn't worked out as he and the team planned, to say the least.

He had hoped to be a rock the Braves could count on, and Glavine pitched in pain lately because he knew they needed some stability with his pal Smoltz out for the season.

"That's part of the reason why I've been trying to fight through it," he said. "With everything we've got going on, and Smoltz going down, I hoped [the elbow] would get better. But it hasn't."

If Glavine can't make his next start, the Braves might consider bringing up prospect Charlie Morton from Class AAA Richmond. They could turn to Jeff Bennett or Buddy Carlyle out of the bullpen, or possibly call on right-hander Brian Lawrence, who was just signed from an independent league Monday.

The Braves were swept in a three-game weekend series in Atlanta to drop them to 6-1/2 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies.

Now they're also 3-1/2 games behind Florida after Tuesday's loss, the 12th in 18 games since a 21-12 run that had raised hopes of a resurgence in Atlanta. Those hopes have been doused.