Game 98 Thread / Cubs @ Astros (3 of 3)
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SP | Ryan Dempster |
SP |
Brandon Backe |
10-4, 3.25, 104 K, 350 BB, 124.2 IP |
6-9, 4.76, 83 K, 50 BB, 111.2 IP | ||
SS | Ryan Theriot |
2B | #Kaz Matsui |
RF | *Kosuke Fukudome | CF | *Darin Erstad |
1B |
Derrek Lee | 1B |
#Lance Berkman |
3B |
Aramis Ramirez | LF |
Carlos Lee |
CF |
*Jim Edmonds |
SS | Miguel Tejada |
LF | Mark DeRosa | 3B | #Geoff Blum |
C |
Geovany Soto |
RF | Hunter Pence |
2B |
*Mike Fontenot |
C | J.R. Towles |
P |
Ryan Dempster |
P | Brandon Backe |
The Cubs' NL Central lead is down to +2 over the Cardinals and +3 over the Brewers as the Lou Crew tries to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Astros.
Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto, and Kosuke Fukudome are a combined 3-for-32 (.094) in the series, and as a team, the Cubs have fanned 14 times and walked once.
Or, as Lou Piniella explained so elegantly after Saturday night's 4-1 fall, "We're not getting much hitting anywhere in the lineup."
Backe, 2-1, 4.63 in 6 starts lifetime against the Cubs (0-1 this year), is coming off perhaps his best start of the season, last Sunday, when he threw 7 shutout innings at the Nationals. Dempster, who remains winless on the road this season, was a loser at Wrigley for the first time in '08, also last Sunday, when he fell to Tim Lincecum and the Giants. Dempster also dropped his only start this season against the Astros, back in May, yielding 6 hits and 4 runs over 6 IP in a 4-2 Cubs loss.
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