Saturday Game Preview: Pirates (15-20) at Cubs (15-21)

Cubs try to even up their series with the Bucs after losing the first four matchups of the season series. It's the first time the Cubs have dropped their first four games against Pittsburgh since...well, I refuse to look it up because it would depress the crap out of me.

The lefty Paul Maholm (2-3, 4.91) starts this afternoon against Ryan Dempster (2-3, 3.44). This was the pitching matchup back on 5/4 at PNC when the Cubs clung to a 2-1 lead with two out in home 6th. Dempster then told Lou Piniella that he had enough left in the tank to retire Ryan Church with the tying run aboard, at which point Church crushed a pitch into the rightfield bleachers, and all of everybody's premonitions about how Lou should have yanked Dempster in favor of Sean Marshall were proven right.

Cubbie memories—there's nothin' like 'em.

Saturday's starting lineups:

Pirates:
Iwamura 4, LaRoche 5, McCutchen 8, Jones 9, Church 7, Doumit 2, Clement 3, Cedeño 6, Maholm 1

Cubs:
Theriot 4, Byrd 8, Lee 3, Ramirez 5, Soto 2, Soriano 7, Nady 9, Castro 6, Dempster 1

With all of the attention on the struggles of Lee and Ramirez, I don't think Xavier Nady has gotten due notice for how much of a non-factor he has been. For the record, he has started in 11 games and in those games, he's hitting .222/.310/.361. In the 13 games he has come in off the bench, he's 0-for-10 with a couple walks.

It was understood he was coming into the season at less than 100% physically and it's not like he has been in the lineup on any sort of regular basis, but still, on a team that is playing so poorly, every contribution is important and so far, 'X' hasn't contributed anything.

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Game Previews
Submitted by Cubnut on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 11:34am
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Comments

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 12:17pm

the horror

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 12:22pm

There goes the starting pitching...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 1:50pm

remarkable amount of 2-out, nobody on hits so far today through 5

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 1:53pm

our #4 hitter got his OPS above .500 today. awesome.

Submitted by artskoe
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 1:58pm

Get those fair weather fans outta there. Where's the roar? Small ball parks are supposed to rock. What do we have to put up a dome to amplify the noise? Comeon, Cubs fans!

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:03pm

a 140m team with a 15-21 record who's lost 8,272 games in a row to PIT...they'd have to knock a couple dollars off a can of old style to wake this place up.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:04pm

nice bounceback Dempster, get some no-Doze for the offense

Submitted by artskoe
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:22pm

Never mind. I just saw the pregnant woman with the Cubs logo on her baby-to-be. Yuck.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:37pm

41,000 rather silent fans in attendance today...damn.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:51pm

140m worth of 15-21.

awesome.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:58pm

Cubbie memories—there's nothin' like 'em.
---
100 years from now, very few will remember how much this game sucked

(maybe some kid whose mom took him to the game in utero)

Submitted by Cubnut
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 2:59pm

We used to be 15-21. Now it's worse.

Any guesses on who will be the leadoff man tomorrow? Lou is going to teach Theriot a good lesson, I bet, for striking out in the ninth.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 3:09pm

be nice if we had someone off the bench in that spot that could put a ball in the OF for at least a chance at a sac fly.

tyler colvin isn't much a 2-out pinch runner on 1st type, imo...

Submitted by Ryno
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 5:55pm

I just don't care.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 6:23pm

post of the year candidate

Submitted by The Joe
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 6:55pm

My baseball life at the moment:

1) Check my fantasy lineup.
2) Check to see when the Cubs are playing.
3) Do some work.
4) Check my fantasy lines.
5) See how much the Cubs are losing by.
6) Do some work/take a nap.
7) Check to see how much the Cubs lost by and if anyone got a hit.
8) Go to sleep and repeat.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 6:34pm

tick,tick,tick...

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 6:37pm

but hey, how 'bout those i-cubs, eh? 5 in a row to reach .500! another 4 hit game for tracy and...never mind...

Submitted by The E-Man
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 9:28pm

Pretty poignant post-game report from the Daily Herald's writer:

"What are you going to do?"

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=381063&s...

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 10:54pm

"What are we going to do, I mean what are we going to do?" Piniella said to wrap up a 1 minute, 25 second postgame meeting with the media...
...
So why don't we go to some of our other contestants, starting with you, Ryan Dempster.

What are you going to do?"

i hope deflecting the media to the locker room with these short/no-soundbite interviews is part of some plan to embarrass/hassle/motivate/whatever the players. these post-games are getting shorter by the week.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 10:59pm

Are we going to quit playing a DH in right field where he arm costs us a run a game and his bat doesn't make up for it? No, I guess not.

Submitted by Charlie
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 1:18am

He sounds readier and readier to resign.

Submitted by billybucks
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 9:41pm

Some big questions coming into the season:

Soto, Soriano, Byrd, Fukudome, Silva.

All have been much better than expected, and the phenom is hitting over .350 -- and, despite having a $120+ million payroll and no significant injuries, and playing a very weak stretch of teams, the season is on the verge of slipping away.

Pure Cubbery.

Submitted by navigator
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 12:44am

Not Fukudome.

Another great April. Then his hitting coach flies back to Japan and Kosuke's batting average goes with him.

Submitted by rokfish
on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 11:46pm

Will Hendry have the balls to admit this team sucks and be ready to
sell off parts of it maybe his job depends on it.
If he doesnt do anything and they still suck he should be canned.
If he becomes a seller and clears payroll well Ricketts might like that.
With colorado and philly next week i dont see any improvement happening.

Submitted by Mike Wellman
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 9:09am

i-cubs win 6th straight...tracy BA over .600 [17/28]...wellington castillo w/ 3 run HR, 3 caught stealings & 1 pickoff @ 2nd base...

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 10:35am

CarrieMuskat: #Cubs lineup for Sun rf fuke, ss castro, 1b lee, 3b ramy, cf byrd, lf sori, 2b font, c soto, p lilly

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 10:42am

Saw this on mlbtr, of course it's mentioned without a real source:

According to multiple scouts, the Cubs would move Derrek Lee if they could. Lee is earning $13MM in the final year of his contract, and also has a no-trade clause.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 10:57am

According to multiple scouts, scouts don't talk with the GM of other teams.

It's possible that the other GM's have told their scouts to take a look at Lee, but it's more likely multiple scouts are fictional or talking out their ass to sound important.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 11:20am

one of the many reasons I can't stand MLBTR.

just a fancy re-hash gossip rag.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 12:21pm

It does a nice job when it just summarizes articles by the local beat writers, but when they act like they actually have "contacts", well it's pretty transparent.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 12:44pm

it's from a Nick Cafardo article in the Boston Globe

Submitted by QuietMan
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 12:46pm

It's from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/article...

page 5.

Submitted by navigator
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 12:59pm

However, in this case they were plagiarizing.

Someone should tell their employers.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 2:04pm

Wonder if the same scouts told him that Lee had a no trade clause... I guess he does if you mean "clause in the CBA". What a tool.

Submitted by navigator
on Sun, 05/16/2010 - 12:58pm

You can be assured that EVERYTHING posted at MLBTR was sucked off the internet. The source of this rumor is NICK CAFARDO who writes for the Globe (Boston.com).

Here's the complete quote:

9. Derrek Lee, first baseman, Cubs: If the Cubs could move him, they would, according to multiple scouts. The 34-year-old first baseman is in the final year of a five-year, $65 million contract, earning $13 million this season. The Cubs are looking to shake things up, but a taker for Lee will be hard to find if teams feel his bat is slowing. Lee also has a no-trade clause.

In the same article, Cafardo has a story that demonstrates once more that when you take the checkbook away from Jim Hendry you might as well have kept MacFail. I mean just add a few "fucks" and "fucking"s to this and it could have been Doughnuts talking:

8. Andy MacPhail, president, Orioles — He used the new media to offer a three-minute “State of the Orioles’’ address to fans via MLB.com Wednesday. “We have all had to endure a terrifically horrendous start,’’ said MacPhail. “The first 18 games were terribly problematic for us and a miserable way to start the season.’’ MacPhail said the early issues were the explosion of the back end of the bullpen and an inability to hit in clutch situations. He asked the fans to stick with the team. “We appreciate your support,’’ he said. “Keep the faith. We’re going to get this thing straightened out.’’

page 5 of a five page article.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/article...

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