TCR Game 1 Roundtable

The Cubs first playoff game in four years ended just about as well as their last one. Your TCR writers had a little running dialogue during and after the game. -------------- Rob G: The Cubs leadoff the third with a double by Z and promptly ended the inning with Z still standing on second. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is losing to the Braves in 1998 and 5 is the ball getting through Leon's Durham glove in 1984 how disappointing was that inning? Or as Cubs fans were we conditioned enough to fully expect that exact outcome. Cubnut: I was completely unphased by it. I figured Zambrano stranding Young in the first inning was a momentum boost for us. Now we're just back to even. Plus yes, we are conditioned to expect failure. Rob G: Judging by the home plate umps O'Hare size strike zone and the current groundball ratio of about 18:1 between the two pitchers, anyone else think this game will still be scoreless in the 10th? 11th? 21st? And how many pitches should Z go so he's good enough to go for Game 4 on three days rest? Cubnut: Before answering your question, Rob, I'm going to take a moment to register my upset at Drew's bomb: Crap! Regarding the pitch count question, 100 seems like a nice number, don't you think? We're at 52 pitches through four innings, so I would say we're on a nice pace. I'm more concerned that Zambrano might be the only guy in our lineup who can hit Webb, and if we put in a reliever, we'll lose Z's bat! (After Theriot reaches 2nd on an error in the top of the 5th) Rob G: Man on 2nd again, no outs and Lou lets Z hit away and he promptly lines out to lil' Drew. Why oh why? Cubnut: Okay, okay. I'm going to say if we don't get Theriot in from second, it's officially a bummer. Can you see that Soriano adjusts his stroke in any way given the game situation? Rob G: Sure I've seen Soriano adjust his swing from "try to hit it out" to "try to hit out of the stadium", but that's about it. Cubnut: I feel like Chicago sports fans are unduly hard on network announcers...but boy, is Ron Darling awful! So far, I have followed this game on MLB Gameday, WGN Radio, ESPN Radio and WTBS. In order of preference, I would rank the presentations thusly: First-WGN; Second-ESPN Radio (I think Buck Martinez is quite good); Third-MLB Gameday (which is silent); Fourth-Dick Stockton and Ron Darling. Transmission: Ok, I'll jump in. The one observant thing that Stockton and Darling have pointed out on the broadcast is that for as dominant as Z and Webb have looked at times, and as nice as their box scores are, they've had precious few 1-2-3 half-innings. They're working for their dominance, if that makes any sense. Right now, I'm not liking our chances to win on the road when down 1 against Webb and this bullpen. Rob G: Whenever I hear Dick Stockton's voice I fully expect to be watching the NCAA tournament so I'm a little disillusioned by the whole thing. But after listening in on most of the 3 games today and the the tiebreaker game Monday I think TBS made a conscious effort to try and put their viewers asleep. Those Nielsen ratings still register if you fall asleep and can't flip the channel. Are there magnets in the DBacks gloves or something? Christian: I'm a little behind, watching it on Tivo, (just saw Drew's homer). My main thought about the first few innings is how it's exactly what we expect (and fear) from Webb and Zambrano. Cubs hitters pounding the ball into the ground, and Z going 3-0 on every batter. 4th - Now it's 1-0, and I'm worried that that run might hold up! (Lee singles to leadoff the sixth and advances to second after Aramis strikes out) Cubnut: So far our two best offensive plays are the Throwing Error and the Wild Pitch. I'd like to see us try the Catcher's Interference. (With the bases loaded in the 6th) Transmission: Who among you take down Theriot for Ward to pinch hit, here? Bring in Cedeno for the rest of the game, but this might be our only good shot at the D-backs today. Cubnut: Santo says Theriot is due. It would be cruel of Theriot to let Ronny down. Transmission: This crew is horrid. And OK, leaving Theriot in wasn't TOO bad, heh. Cubnut: Fabulous! Game tied and our best hitter is coming up! Rob G: I wouldn't have taken out Theriot but I would have Ward sit on lil' Drew who's putting on a show tonight. Home run, robbed Z on a hit with a RISP, and then kept Theriot's bouncer in the infield to save a run. Shouldn't Drew be staring at strike 3 in a crucial situation like his big brother? Cubnut: Santo just mentioned that Webb has given up just 12 homers in 236 innings, which is damn impressive on two counts: one, that equates to one homer allowed every 20 innings or so; two, I had no idea Santo could read a stat sheet. Cubnut: I would like to delete the word "damn" from my previous comment. Transmission: You would like to delete the word damn? Why the hell would you want to do that? Cubnut: Why have Marmol warming now with Z under 80 pitches, just having batted in the top of the inning and pitching quite well? Rob G: I guess Lou won't be shy about the hook with Z set to go in Game 4. Maybe Derrek should think about running instead of sulking about his strikeout next time. Cubnut: I think we lead the league in batter's box tantrums. Transmission: Marmol in. Good call here, IMO. Save Z a bit for coming back on short rest, it's (presumably) hot in AZ, Z gets cramps a lot, and it's not like we're running a greater risk of Marmol screwing up than we are with Z losing some steam. Rob G: I agree good call too. (As Reynolds homers to left). Dumbest. Move. Ever. Transmission: Nevermind. Christian: Who the f*ck is Mark Reynolds??? Cubnut: Brandon Lyon warming up in the Arizona bullpen. Lyon is the guy Ramirez tagged for a three-run homer when we beat Webb back in July. Christian: By the way, it's pretty weird to be sitting here feeling both that Lou left Z in too long (why let him bat with the bases loaded when you're going to pull him an inning later?) and also pulled him too quickly (why pull him after 85 pitches?) Cubnut: Hate to say it, but this shapes up beautifully for Arizona. Webb comes out with the lead and having thrown only 89 pitches. They could easily bring him back on Sunday if the situation calls for it. Rob G: 2 warning track shots off Lyon. This reminds me of something....can't quite put my finger on it....oh yeah the 2007 Cubs regular season. Cubnut: Santo & Hughes just pointed out the Cubs are 1-for-10 with RISP. I believe we've all seen that movie before also. Cubnut: During this break in the action, I wanted to mention that my 11-year predicted the Cubs will take this series 3-1, beat the Phillies 4-3 in the NLCS, then beat the Yanks in the Series, 4-1. I am hoping this balances my buzz-killing prediction that the Cubs would get knocked out in the first round. Christian: And that's it, as the Cubs find themselves unable to take advantage of Webb's uncharacteristic wildness. The Diamondbacks win a game they had to win; from now on the pitching matchups favor the Cubs pretty clearly. Much will be written about Piniella's decision to not only pull Z after 85 pitches (I suppose this means he's a lock to pitch game 4), but to bring in Marmol in that high-leverage situation. I suffered through too much Dusty Baker to get too upset about taking Z out there, though, and the only way for Marmol to prove he can pitch in tough situations is to pitch in tough situations. Rob G: At the time it didn't seem too terrible of an idea with Z going on short rest for Game 4. But then again if you win Game 1 you might not need Game 4 and if you lose Game 1 you might not get to Game 4? I think he should have stayed in for another inning myself, of course I also think Marmol should have tried to get some hitters out. The other move that bugged me was Lou letting Z hit with Theriot on second and 0 outs after Z's his first at-bat double. I thought it was foolish at the time and it seemed more so after he lined out and then Soriano flied to center which would have scored a hypothetical run from third if Z laid down a successful bunt. For all the love of Z's hitting, he's still no better than a .250 hitter and we know the Dbacks play a lot of close games. So bad Lou! Bad Lou! Go sit in the corner and think about what you did wrong. Cubnut: Bummer to lose any playoff game. (I say that like we have a lot of experience at this.) But Webb is a stud, we knew it going in and we just need to beat Doug Davis Thursday night. And if we can't do that, we don't deserve to advance. On the plus side, Good Carlos is back--hope that he chooses to stick around for however long our post-season lasts--and the top of our lineup can't possibly be as impotent the rest of the way as it was tonight. If we come home tied 1-1, I don't see us having to return to the BOB. Oops, I mean The Chase. Transmission: Yeah, having had a night to sleep on it, I'm not too bummed about the lost. We knew that at some point, we'd have to steal a game in AZ, and it never was most likely that we'd steal that game against Webb. Davis, tonight, is the guy to steal it from. About as close to "must win" as you can get without it actually being "must win."