Game 2 Recap: Astros 3, Cubs 2 in 10 Innings

Update--more on Soto...

From Wittenmyer's game story in the Sun-Times:

Soto, who said he felt ''discomfort'' on an awkward throw to second...is to be re-examined [Wednesday]. Manager Lou Piniella
suggested a possible return during the next series, which opens Friday
in Milwaukee. It wasn't considered serious enough to schedule an MRI.

Soto...downplayed the
injury. He said he has had similar discomfort before, as recently as
this spring.

 

W - Doug Brocail (1-0)
L - Neil Cotts (0-1)

Box score

In the early innings of Tuesday night's game, Pat Hughes and Ron Santo discussed the fact that the Cubs have not started a season 2-0 since Pat and Ron began working together in the WGN radio booth in 1996. Naturally, this had the effect of jinxing the team and thus, the outcome was inevitable.

Cub bats: There was very little thunder from the Cub offense Tuesday night. Derrek Lee had an RBI single and Alfonso Soriano, who whiffed in his first three at-bats against Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez, clubbed a titanic, game-tying, solo home run in the 8th inning against our old friend, LaTroy Hawkins. Problem was, Soriano's homer was one of only two hits the Cubs had in four innings against the Houston bullpen. Milton Bradley, still looking for his first Cub hit, rapped sharply into a double play when he batted with runners at first and second and none out in the sixth.

Cub pitching: Ryan Dempster left the game after the sixth inning, trailing 2-1. He fanned five, while giving up 6 hits and 3 walks. Angel Guzman pitched a terrific inning of relief. Neil Cotts bailed Aaron Heilman out of a ninth inning jam, but then allowed the first two men to reach base in the 10th and ultimately took the loss when Kevin Gregg gave up the game-winning hit to Jeff Keppinger with the bases loaded.

Noteworthy: Maybe even extremely noteworthy--Geo Soto left the game after the sixth inning because of "soreness in his right shoulder."

One other thing: Santo to Hughes, after Hughes offered an on-air plug for Cubs sponsor, Dairy Queen...

Whenever you say Dairy Queen, I think of that soft ice cream.

 

Tags: 
Game Recap
Submitted by Cubnut on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 11:36pm
Return to Homepage

Comments

Submitted by rokfish
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:26am

well shit soto sore shoulder dont think anyone saw this coming or picked him in robs cub contest.
did not see game did he get hit or make ackward throw?

i would guess marshall is going to pitch on friday given he pitched on sunday my guess would be marshall in the fourth inning on friday.

Submitted by Cubnut
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:47am

From the Muskat story:

Soto felt some discomfort when he threw to second in the third trying
to get Houston's Kaz Matsui, who was safe. The problem was not related
to Soto getting hit by a pitch on the left side by Houston's Wandy
Rodriguez in the second inning. 

http://tinyurl.com/d58vyf

Submitted by 10man
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:09am

that is the most vague term you could possibly use to describe a medical/physical condition. It could mean a tear and then again it could mean he ate a little too much.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:02am

that Muskat link says he'll sit out tomorrow and hopefully be back for the weekend.

Theriot or Fontenot are apparently the emergency catchers.

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:04am

Small sample size and all but if Fonty is always going to start against lefties, we are effed.

Submitted by SJS
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:38am

This just in,

Fuk in the 2 hole 0-4, K
TheRiot in the 2 hole 2-3, R, BB

Get it right from now on Lou!

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:11am

I agree wholeheartedly. As long as Theriot is hitting above .500, he should be the #2 hitter every day.

Good catch.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:59am

Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that last year Theriot hit 50 points higher, had a OBP 28 points higher, and struck out about half as much. Do teams typically have the hitter with the highest average on the team or the lowest bat second?

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:33pm

...or maybe it has something to do with the fact that Theriot hit into 13 more double plays and got caught stealing 8 more times than Fukudome.

I am not arguing that Fukudome sucks. I am just pointing out that making conclusions based on one game makes Tuffy Rhodes a better hitter than Babe Ruth.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:53pm

When you put the ball in play you will hit into more double plays. When you are on base more and run more you will get caught stealing more. I would like to see Fukudome's numbers in both those categories increase because it would mean he is doing something other than flailing at strike three.

I don't think anyone is making conclusions based off of two games. I think they were just pointing out that our most recent two data points seem to confirm and reinforce the 162 we have from last season.

I want to see Fukudome do well, because it will mean the team will perform better, but right now he looks lost and Theriot looks hot. So I would rather they switched spots in the order until Fukudome gets it going. If he is performing well, I don't really care where he hits.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 2:43pm

You're the one who brought OBP into it. The value behind OBP is that you you're not making outs. But when you look at everything over the seasons, Theriot functionally, due to team leading ability to GIDP and get caught stealing, made outs at a higher clip than Fukudome.

Just because Fukudome sucks, doesn't mean that Theriot should be batting in the most important spot in the order. It would make a lot more sense, at least against righties to have The Fontenaught bat second. Theriot should be down at the bottom where he won't deprive the 3-5 hitters of RBI opportunities, and he can be sacrificed to second when he gets on. If it were up to me, Fukudome would be in Daytona.

Submitted by SJS
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 3:46pm

Well said WI, as with all my man-love for TheRiot, my comments were tongue-in-cheek, not to mention that with one game for each in the two hole the sample size is so small that I hoped that people would understand the obvious attempt at sorry humor.

However, I believe that until Fuk can learn to hit MLB pitching, he should hit 8th if he will be in lineup (where I said before that he would probably see an increased number of off-speed pitches, which is what he saw a lot of in Japan- where he was a good hitter). We all want Fuk to succeed (some because he's a Cub, and others because they want him to be traded), and I would like to think that everyone would want TheRiot to succeed as well. I (and thankfully a few others) tend to believe that the more Lou gives Fuk a rediculous opportunity that over time it will cost us games. I think that Game 1 and 2 proved that FUk in the 2 hole did us no favors.

Submitted by RI Mike
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:07am

Soriano cannot continue to lead off.

Most of his at-bats were horrible last night.

To lead off the game, he worked a 3-0 count for a strikeout, swinging at ball four several times.

And another solo shot. Give me a break. Turns out not too many runners are on base when he leads off an inning, and our 8 and 9 hitters aren't often on base either. If Lou is half as good as he (and most others) think he is, he would deal with this. If he doesn't, he gets what he deserves, but we deserve better.

I'm already completely frustrated, having watched this time after time after time.

Submitted by Thisistheyear
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 9:56am

Couldn't agree more. He's just not suited to be leadoff hitter. The sooner he moves down in the order the sooner the Cubs starting producing more runs.

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:26am

Yeah, I guess I'd agree also. That would allow/force Lou to move Lee down to 6 or 7 in the order, which could be really beneficial also.

Submitted by Bigz
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:17pm

this horse is dead

Submitted by Ryno
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:10am

Rob G:
Theriot or Fontenot are apparently the emergency catchers.

Please no...

Submitted by John Beasley
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:21am

Just make it Fuku ... wouldn't want Riot or Fonte to get seriously hurt.

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 8:27am

I know it was discussed in parachat, but I really think Lou was mainly responsible for this loss. Bringing Cotts in to face the heart of the Astros order was dangerous in itself, I felt very fortunate to leave that inning. But I really don't understand the decision to leave him in for the 10th. And then going with Gregg at the end? Marmol's stuff was easily best suited to get us out of the jam.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 9:34am

Agreed. But maybe Marmol didn't get enough work this spring to go back-to-back games yet or something. Extra inning games in the first week have to be tough on the bullpen.

In other news, Gregg has been less than impressive so far.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:28am

baseball was discussed in parachat?

Did I miss something?

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:31am

only briefly, I think between the boy porking his grandma and the ugly single lady at the grocery store

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 11:49am

I don't usually just say, LOL, but, LOL

Submitted by Jackstraw
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:10pm

Wow, the stuff you miss by not being in Parachat. Sounds like White Sox fan talk to me.

If I remember correctly, the winning run scored on ...infield single, seeing-eye ground ball single, fly out, and broken bat single. Like most one-run victories, more luck than anything else. It seems to me that if you want to blame Lou or Gregg for that, you're going to have a long season. Cubs lost. They're going to lose another 70 or so this season. Move along and get 'em today.

Submitted by Ryno
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:29am

Agreed that was silly, but scoring some more runs against Wandy would have been cool, too.

Submitted by Bigz
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:18pm

I think Lou is a bit nervous with Marmol and wildness in that situation where Gregg can throw strikes.

Submitted by Jackstraw
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 2:06pm

Agree totally.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:27am

just sayin....

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:29am

http://taoofstieb.blogspot.com/2009/04/thats-just-...

and

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/p...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 10:34am

http://tedlillyfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/04/ted-li...

Submitted by hellfrozeover
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:37pm

I have to disagree that Gregg is less than impressive. His run given up on Monday night was due to Milton Bradley dropping a fairly routine fly ball, and the hit that scored the game winner last night was a little squib of a ground ball that was hit perfectly in between SS and 3B.

Bigger blame I think has to go to the offense for not taking advantage of a good scoring situation with 2 on and nobody out. Or just in general having trouble with a soft-tossing lefty.

Gotta love Latroy though.

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:59pm

correct me if i'm wrong here but wasn't tejadas single on monday night off gregg a seeing-eye roller?

also it wasn't just a perfectly placed ground ball that won the game last night, it was a busted bad roller that in a different spot could have been an inning ending dp.

having said that, i don't like htat he got three outs on monday sans a k.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:35pm

The hit that won the game wasn't a rope, but a hit's a hit. I know it's a small sample size, but Gregg just seems a bit too hittable.

Bradley's miss was hardly a "routine fly ball" - more like a hard, sinking line drive. As for last night, Keppinger's single might not have been a great hit, but Michaels' fly to CF to advance Pudge to third was a 400+ foot blast that would have been out in a lot of ballparks.

I didn't say he's going to suck all year, but after 2 games I've seen him give up multiple runs (fine, 1 was inherited) and get hit pretty hard while striking out nobody.

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:51pm

In reality, our sample size is 2 games. If we can't bitch about something/somebody because it's only been two games, then you may as well take everything subjective off the table until May.

Submitted by Ryno
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:59pm

It's a very Cub fan-like thing to do to freak out over a pitcher like Gregg after two games. He's a great closer. Chill.

I have a feeling the people worked up over this are the people who felt Marmol should have been the closer.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 2:19pm

Lou isn't renowned for his patience and understanding.

A third spotty outing from Gregg will earn him in the seat formerly reserved for Stevie Ire.

Actually, I wonder what his name will be once Lou forgets it? My early money is on Kenny Craig.

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 2:21pm

don't be too sure...he let soriano keep leading off when the guy had to windmill his legs just to run at his top speed without putting pressure on his bum leg...amongst other things.

guy isn't as cut and dry as his reputation seems to make him.

Submitted by jacos
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 3:51pm

I say Eric Gregg.

His older, deader, blacker brother.

Submitted by hellfrozeover
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 12:39pm

As an addendum - I'm not necessarily saying Gregg is the second coming, just that these 2 games aren't a fair indicator of his stuff/skills.

Submitted by Ryno
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:43pm

Sorry, ot, how do you get quality start in tcr fantasy ball?

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 1:47pm

a quality start is pretty universal as 6 IP and 3 or less ER

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 2:34pm

unless you're Jason Marquis. I have no idea what that means, BTW. It just came out. Like a parafart.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 2:45pm

Isn't there another quality start based on # of innings regardless of how many runs you give up?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 3:05pm

quality start should be 6 or more innings and a 4.50 ERA or less for the game...

so 8 IP and 4 ER would get you one as well, but usually 6 or more innings and 3 or less runs gets it done...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 3:12pm

http://cubs.scout.com/2/854802.html

some had a cup of coffee and didn't technically skip a level, but close enough...

B. Guyer, D. McDaniel, J. Leverton, D. Cales, R. Searle, L. Sommer, S. Castro, J. Jackson and C. Coleman (the last two did spend some time in Daytona last year)

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 3:46pm

HR tonight would tie him with Billy Williams as only Cubs to homer in first three games of season.

http://muskat.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/04/what_to...

McGwire and McCovey only players to do it for the first four games.

X
You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address.
The password field is case sensitive.
Loading