May 2008
Sweep
After a beautiful day for baseball on Monday, Chicago
weather did what it does best, and brought out 40 degree temperatures and winds
blowing straight in for Tuesday and Wednesday nights’ games vs. the
Dodgers. The Cubs managed 8 runs total
in the 3-game series, but it was enough to sweep it as the Dodgers only managed
3. I know the NL West has become this
year’s NL Central, but a sweep is still a sweep.
Overall, the Cubs gave up 23 hits in the 3 game series, and
allowed another 13 men to reach via the walk, but the important thing is that
only 3 of those guys crossed home plate.
All 3 starters pitched great, Dempster and Gallagher each allowed only 1
earned run in 7, while Zambrano did the same over 8 IP. The pen combined on 6 scoreless innings, but was
a bit shaky in doing so. On separate
occasions Marmol and Howry loaded the bags with 1 out, only to narrowly, but dramatically work their way
out of the self-created jams.
In Wednesday night’s game, the 10th inning
game-winning rally was started by Mike Fontenot’s 1-out double off Chan-Ho
Park, who yes, is still pitching in the major leagues, earning that $60 million
dollar contract. Part of the reason
Fontenot was able to come through in that spot because he had started the game
the night before, and wasn’t “ice cold” coming off
the bench. Another part of the reason
Fontenot was able to come through was because Chan Ho Park was pitching.
Much like Tribune Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan, I’m
getting sick of all the talk about Soriano.
Yes, I’m sick of his act in LF, and his inability to run anymore, but
instead of worrying about what he’s not, I think it’s time to start focusing on
what he does bring to the table. Even
though he is in a “mini-slump” at the plate, he came through with the game
winning hit last night, and he is only 1 grooved fastball away from starting up
another hot streak.
On a different note, Jim Edmonds sucks. I could say it more elegantly but I don’t think
he deserves the time it would take for me to figure out how to do that. Some say he is still a Cardinal sabotaging
the Cubs from the inside, and I don’t doubt it.
Outside of the one outstanding catch he made in Houston, (See
Final Paragraph), I don’t think he has contributed one positive thing of
any value to this team. The experiment
failed Mr. Hendry, it’s time to let Jimmy go.
One alternative that has floated around rumor mills is Kenny
Lofton. While I think bringing back
Kenny would not be such a bad idea, the reason he isn’t playing for a major
league team right now is money. He was
offered contracts, but not to his liking, so he continues to sit out. The reason we took a flier on Edmonds is
because it was for the league minimum.
Kenny wants a bit more than that, and I think a platoon of Reed Johnson
and Kosuke Fukudome in center will work out just fine.
Note: This picture doesn’t have anything to do with the post, but it looks pretty cool.
View from the Bleachers
It was a beautiful Memorial Day in Chicago, and I could think of no better place to be than the bleachers in Wrigley Field. I took my seat in left and one thing I immediately noticed was Soriano’s interactions with the fans. To a casual fan, it would appear that he was having some fun, waving to the fans, turning to them after each out and waving how many outs there were on his fingers. To me, however, all I could think of was incident Sunday in Pittsburgh, where he lost the game-ending fly ball in the sun and allowed the tying run to score. I had to fight every urge to tell him to turn around and watch the F-ing game which he is being paid $136 million to play. Soriano is a great hitter, but an outfielder he most certainly is not, especially with only 1.5 legs to run on.
As for the rest of the team, Ryan Dempster is pitching out of his mind. The confidence that Lou has in him to let him pitch his way out of 2 tough jams is apparent, as he had nobody warming up in the bullpen in the 6th or the 7th. KWood didn’t hit anybody and therefore was able to get the save. Thanks to the excellent pitching, the Cubs only needed 1 swing to win the game, DLee’s HR in the first.
Stifled Again
The Cubbies let another early lead slip away Wednesday night, again thanks to one big inning. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Cubs took leads in the early innings off HRs by Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee, and each time the Astros put up 4 runs in an inning and the Cubs failed to score again. The 4-run threshold is holding firm, reach it and win, fall short and lose. It’s pretty much that simple.
Sean Gallagher came off his first major league win a little shaky, as it was the first road start of his career. He allowed 5 runs on 8 hits with with 1 walk in 4.2 innings, but most came in the deciding 3rd. Gallagher allowed 3 straight singles to start the inning, and after striking out Lance Berkman for the 2nd time in the game, gave up a big fly to Carlos “The Cub Killer” Lee, putting the Astros up for good. The Cubs only managed 2 hits the rest of the way, falling 5-3.
With Soriano rested we got our first glimpse of Fukudome in the 2-hole and Micah Hoffpauir in the outfield. The 1st inning was what all Cub fans wanted to see, Kosuke drawing a walk and scoring on the Lee homer, and Hoffpauir knocking a double, his first ML hit, and scoring on the Soto base knock. This might cause Piniella to move around the lineup, but as we all know, he doesn’t like to talk about that.
Losing 2 of 3 to a hot Houston team isn’t the end of the world, but coming off an incredible homestand and a victory in game 1 of the series, the Cubs definitely wanted to carry that momentum through the rest of the series and on to Pittsburgh on Friday. Yes, it’s the Pirates, but road games haven’t proved easy for the Cubs this year (see Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis).
Even after dropping 2 of 3, the Cubs are still 9 games over .500 with a 1.5 game lead in the Central, and there is a lot of baseball to be played. Off day tomorrow and then off to Pittsburgh for 3 before a 7-game homestand against the Dodgers and Rockies.
Note the guy in the green polo. Great effort to make the catch right there.
The HR That Was, Then Wasn’t, And Then Was Again
Geovany Soto hit a deep drive that landed just to the right of the yellow line in Houston on Monday night, which should have been a HR, but the umps let play go on. Luckily, Michael Bourn made a half-hearted jump into the centerfield wall, and let the ball roll aimlessly into the outfield, which allowed Soto to follow Ramirez and Fukudome all the way around the bases for what will most likely be his one and only inside-the-park HR. That gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead which they never looked back from, beating the Astros 7-2.
Soto’s HR
The Cubs were able to win tonight partly due to the Soto HR, but also due to bringing home the insurance runs. Up 3-2 in the 7th, Derrek Lee drove home Ryan Theriot to make it 4-2, and in the 8th, Theriot returned the favor, driving in Mark DeRosa to make it 5-2. Those runs were critical, as the Astros put men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out in the bottom half of the frame. If they were only down by 1, the scenario may have played out differently, as a fly ball would have tied the game. Instead, they needed 3 runs, and ended up getting none. Of course, they might not have scored any as Carlos Marmol was on the bump and set the 3-4-5 hitters, some of the hottest hitters in baseball, down in order. Aramis Ramirez destroyed a hanging curveball in the 9th to add to the insurance tally, and giving us the final score of 7-2.
Another key factor in this game that could affect the Cubs going forward in this series was Ted Lilly and the bullpen cooling off two of the hottest hitters in baseball, Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence. These two had hitting streaks of 17 and 16 games, respectively, going into Monday night’s ballgame, and ended up a combined 0-8 with 4 Ks (3 by Berkman). Cooling down those two bats can only help the Cubs going forward.
And now, it pains me to discuss it, but what a ridiculous catch by Jim Edmonds. In his earlier days, he would have had a better beat on that ball and been able to position himself for an unneccesary dive to make the catch look more dramatic. Now, he was able to get under it and make an unbelieveable catch while running up that stupid hill in centerfield. I can’t yet say that I’m glad he is a Cub, but I was for that one play.
Edmonds’ Catch
Magic #4
The Cubbies won again on Sunday, primarily because they were able to score 4 runs. The Cubs are 23-2 in games in which they score 4 or more runs this year, and the offense doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
In a game in which the Cubs scrounged out only 4 hits, including a leadoff single from Soriano wiped out by a DP, they still managed to win thanks to patience at the plate and some good defense. Jason Marquis pitched surprisingly well, especially after it looked like he was in for another rough outing, giving up a 2-run HR to .199 hitter Adam LaRoche in the 1st inning. I hope Marquis pitches well enough to be traded, because either Sean Marshall, Kevin Hart, or hopefully Rich Hill will be ready to take his spot in July. That way the inevitable 2nd half “Marquis Meltdown” can be avoided.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Cubs need to find more playing time for Ronny Cedeno, who is hitting .324 with 19 RBIs in just 68 at bats. DeRosa and Theriot make up a solid double play combination, and he clearly isnt ready to play center, so there isnt really a spot in the starting lineup for him right now. Against lefties Fukudome could take a day off every once in a while, DeRosa can play RF, and that would let Ronny get some at bats at 2B. He can also be used to spell Riot at short as he did on Sunday. Either way, he is 2nd on the team in batting avg. right now and doing it mostly off the bench, making it even more impressive.
The bullpen is looking good as well. In 3 innings yesterday, Howry, Marmol and Wood faced only 12 batters, walking 2 and giving up 1 hit while striking out 5. Marmol struck out the side using some nasty sliders, and was most impressive coming back from a 2-0 count to get LaRoche. Wuertz, Eyre, Lieber and Fox are all good to have, but its the 3 guys who pitched yesterday that will be the key to the Cubs success in close games.
Soriano is Back / Gallagher’s Emergence
It took about a month and a half, just like last year, but Soriano is hitting like we’ve expected him to. 2 more HRs today gives him 4 in the last 4 games, 3 leading off the first inning. I think everyone who said we needed to leave him out of the lineup because when he returned from the DL is rethinking that. Sure he was cold originally, but who wouldnt be? He clearly needs time to heat up and he won’t get that sitting on the bench.
It’s also clear that his quad / hammy / legs aren’t right. Watching him rounding 3rd trying to score against Arizona was painful for everyone, including Soriano is my guess. He will never be the player we signed him to be in terms of stealing the bases, but you aren’t gonna find many better hitters out there.
I’ve always been a Sean Gallagher fan, and I’m happier now than ever that he wasn’t included in the Brian Roberts trade. Yeah, Roberts would be great, but where would we be without Gallagher giving us 6 strong innings today. Lieber was ineffective starting and we needed Marshall and Hart out of the bullpen, so Gallagher was the guy and he came through. I think he’ll be a great starter down the road.
Freefalling
Something is going on with the bats. Anytime you don’t score any runs in The Great American Hitters Park its clear something is up. I know Volquez was good, and we have about 5 more months til Baker wears out his arm, but 0 runs in Cinci is unacceptable.
I’ve learned not to question Lou Piniella, but I’m not sure what’s going on with a double switch in the 3rd inning. Is Theriot hurt? Did he need a day off? He was 1-1 at that point so I’m still a bit puzzled.
Gallagher needs to get a chance to start, if Marshall isn’t ready. He has the stuff and at this point the 4th and 5th spots are a mess, so why not go with someone new?
The division is extremely weak this year, and losing 2 of 3 to the Reds is not how you go about winning it. We were beat by Corey Patterson, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Dusty Baker. That means it’s time for a(nother) premeditated Lou tirade to get things going soon. I wouldn’t want to be that umpire.
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