Game 107 Thread / Cubs @ Brewers (2 of 4)

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SP Carlos Zambrano SP Ben Sheets
  11-4, 2.96, 87 K, 44 BB, 133.2 IP
10-3, 2.87, 115 K, 31 BB, 135 IP
       
LF Alfonso Soriano 2B #Ray Durham
SS Ryan Theriot SS J.J. Hardy
1B Derrek Lee LF Ryan Braun
3B Aramis Ramirez 1B *Prince Fielder
CF *Kosuke Fukudome RF Corey Hart
RF Mark DeRosa 3B *Russ Branyan
2B *Mike Fontenot CF Mike Cameron
C Geovany Soto C Jason Kendall
P #Carlos Zambrano P Ben Sheets

My apologies for lack of a game thread last night, I was out on a 3-day weekend celebrating seven years of marriage with the Angelfan wife. Many ask what our secret is (okay, no one does), and the answer? Marry a girl who likes baseball and doesn't mind if you check the scores on your cellphone during a sunset dinner at the beach. Lucky in love I am...

I might be a day late, but I'll pony up a few extra bucks. A comparison of the two teams heading into tonight's game:

Category
Cubs
Brewers
Runs Scored 555 498
Runs Allowed 443 470
Strength of Schedule .492 .499
Team Defensive Efficiency .715 .705
Batting Average .278 .256 
On-Base Perncentage .355  .326
Slugging Percentage .441  .443
Home Runs 121 140 
Stolen Bases 58 74
Starters' ERA 3.80 4.01
Relievers' ERA 3.98 4.05
Walks Allowed 361  360
Strikeouts 798 713

Pretty close, but the Cubs definitely look like the better team on paper. A paper you can light on fire because it's not going to mean much with two games separating the clubs and a raucous crowd filling Miller.

As for the lineup, Edmonds sits again which makes me believe the knee injury is worse than what's been reported. Of course, a career .697 OPS against Sheets in 54 AB's might be another reason, along with Fontenot's hot-hitting of late.  

Zambrano vs Sheets, it doesn't get much more fun that.

Tags: 
Gameday Open Thread
Carlos Zambrano
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 6:00pm
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Comments

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 6:22pm

great...i just got a raging case of the cooties reading your 1st paragraph.

i knew i shouldnt have skipped the shot this year.

hopefully WGN can sell me a pill to get rid of this. i could go kayaking or something afterward. maybe high-five some people.

Submitted by demale
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 8:12am

Hey I got you one better cootiemeister- marry a gal who knows nothing about baseball, but turn her into such a fan that not only does she follow the Cubs, but on a pleasant Tuesday evening she suggests we go down to PNC to watch the Pirates play the Rockies. No promotional give-aways, no fireworks, just plain baseball. Usually it's amusing baseball too ("How they gonna blow it tonight?") The $4 grandstand ticket price (not kidding) helps this decision. But last night we were rewarded with the 26th come from behind win out of 50 victories. And my darling wife of 24 years is scoreboard watching the Cubs-Brewers game for updates.

Submitted by artskoe
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 6:50pm

Does she have any sisters who like elderly (50ish) men?

Submitted by Hobart Mike
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 7:00pm

I haven't been paying attention to the condition of our outfielders ... what are Edmonds' and Johnson's issues for tonight?

Submitted by Charlie
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 7:11pm

I believe the Cubs team slugging percentage is .441 so far, not the .326 you have posted. Typo?

Also, any suggestions on where to find a woman like that?

Submitted by Charlie
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 7:15pm

Also, this lineup sucks.

Why isn't Zambrano batting cleanup?

Submitted by Bigz
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 9:54pm

never in my wildest dreams did I think we win the first two.
never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be swept by AZ last year.
baseball...good times.

Submitted by nohit
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 9:58pm

I completely expected the sweep last year. I didn't expect to win in back-to-back games started by CC and Sheets.

Good times! Now let's keep up the momentum and win this series!

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 9:57pm

I was at the bar off 1 in Malibu where Mel Gibson got busted for DUI.

Good Blue Moon beer and beautiful sunset.

Thinking about going to Santa Barbara for 10th anniversary...don't know where wife will go.

HIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

GO Cubs!!!

Great game take any spirit out of those Brewer bastards and stomp in the ground like an old Pal Mal.

Submitted by Bigz
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 10:46pm

moonshadows?!??!

Submitted by jacos
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:26pm

yeah,that was it.

Submitted by billybucks
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 10:06pm

Great to see Rammy and Kosuke clubbing the ball -- Kosuke's 2B vs. Shouse was a beauty.

I would love to see Soto hit one ball to right-center.

It looked like Z was firing on all cylanders tonight -- pumped up to go against Sheets, but also in control of himself.

Very solid baseball by the Cubs so far -- hitting, pitching, fielding, base-running. Keep it up, boys!

Submitted by nohit
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 10:12pm

Go go gadget run differential. +118. Seriously.

Next closest in the NL is Philly at +70. Best in the AL is Boston at +89.

For what it's worth (admittedly not much), MKE is at +22 and STL is at +28.

Submitted by CA-Phil
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 10:20pm

Our bullpen is shot with Wood out, Howry sucks, DFA Marquis, where's the hitting...oh wait a minute, that was last week ;)

Submitted by Washington
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:56am

Maybe SD would take Marquis and send us Maddux for old time's sake instead. Interesting comparison is to look at Ted Lilly and Maddux stats this year side by side. Greg would be 8-4 with us instead of 4-8 in SD. Although you couldn't leave Maddux off a play-off roster as easy as Marquis.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 11:08pm

Yea... so Doug Davis is throwing a perfect game... he is currently throwing in the 7th.

Doug Davis?

Submitted by rokfish
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 11:28pm

well i like the way the cubs have produced all
series ,good to see rami come thru, starters have been good.

nice to see braun run around in outfield missing everything.

will cubs make any trades?

i would consider cedeno the last positon player on team
is it worth the upgrade?

eyre to the east coast? for a minor leaguer ?

Submitted by navigator
on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 11:58pm

HUNTLEY, Ill. (AP) -- Three Chicago Cubs fans face felony charges after allegedly beating a Chicago White Sox fan so badly at a child's birthday party that he lost his eye, McHenry County authorities said...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5471429&...

Submitted by Washington
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:59am

Does McHenry County really count as a hotbed of Cubs/Sox rivalry? It's like 3 hours away. This didn't happen at a game or during a game between the teams. Looks sensationalist journalism to me. Blame the thugs not the Cubs.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 6:59am

Ummm... 3 hours? Not quite. More like one hour.

With that said, the vast majority of McHenry County baseball fans are Cubs fans.

Submitted by Washington
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:35pm

Have you ever tried driving from U of Chicago to Woodstock? An hour won't get you out of Chicago. At least 2-1/2 hours from U of Chicago to Wonder Lake unless traffic patterns have changed immensely. But the point remains I doubt McHenry County is perceived as a hotbed of Cubs/Sox rivalry and the story was just being sensationalist. Probably a Sox fan spinning it to make the Cubs look bad.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 4:38pm

Since when do we measure the distance from the University of Chicago.

I grew up in McHenry County... my family still lives there, and I live in the city.

I get to them in an hour all the time, and it NEVER takes more than about 75 minutes.

But as I already said above... McHenry County isn't a hotbed of Cubs/Sox rivalry. And this was media sensationalism.

But it still doesn't 3 hours to get to McHenry County from Chicago.

Submitted by navigator
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 7:46am

Cubs Fans Could Face Felony Charges after Postgame Fight
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/26092044.html

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 9:57am

Let me preface this first by saying that I am drunk and rowdy everytime I go to wrigley. That being said.... When the hell did cubs fans become F*%N Soccer Hooligans?

Submitted by nohit
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:29am

It's all fun and games until ...

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:17am

Quien es mas macho?

Carlos Zambrano es MUY F@#$ing macho

That's who!

Submitted by Cubster
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 6:42am

looks like Edmonds has an arthritic knee...his previous knee scope included some microfracture work which means he's missing some articular cartilage and they try to stimulate some formation of scar tissue to fill the defect...so expect it to be cranky from here on out. The cortisone can calm things down for awhile though.

from the Sun-Times:

Cubs center fielder Jim Edmonds, who got a cortisone shot in his sore left knee after the game Sunday against the Florida Marlins, said he was ready to play Tuesday but was kept out of the lineup for one more day.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/10810...

Submitted by Chifan
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:19am

Because of Edmonds's injury issues, Levine is reporting that Jimbo is looking for lefty bat for the OF. Personally I think they need a switch hitter because if they add another lefty they will have issues with LHP. He also confirms Eyre can be had for a reasonable price. He didnt mention any names of the lefty bat, but here is a list of quality CF and Corner of who can play defense enough for Lou "just catch the damn ball" Pinella to play in RF:

AL West
Milton Bradley

AL Central:
David DeJesus
Mark Teahan

AL East:
Luke Scott
Brad Wilkerson

NL West:
Randy Winn
Dave Roberts
Jody Gerut
Brian Giles

NL Central:
Ken Griffey Jr.

NL East:
Mark Kotsay

I would doubt Bradley, Dejesus, Giles, or Scott because of the high price to get them. Griffey is also unlikely as the CIN ownership wont deal him to a NL Central team and I would put Winn that category due to his 09 salary. I think of the remaning guys the top 5 candidates could be 1. Kotsay 2. Teahan 3. Roberts 4. Wilkerson 5. Gerut.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:22am

If I see Jody Gerut in a Cubs uniform again I'm going to shit.

Submitted by Chifan
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:28am

Rosenthal adds the name of Raul Ibanez into the mix:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8395270/Cubs-lo...

I dont think that would be smart. Ibanez cant play the field and would would be asking Fukudome an average CF to be flanked by two butchers in Ibanez and Soriano. Id rather make a smaller deal for an insurance guy than add an Ibanez.

Submitted by Jace
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:06pm

I have liked Kotsay for a few years now. I think he is a notch above everyone else on the top 5 priority list. I do also think that Gerut is possibly appealing. We got a pretty skewed look at him when he played here before...

Submitted by Chifan
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:24pm

Levine is saying Texas and SF have called Jimbo about potential trades. I wonder if Texas would trade David Murphy?

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:43pm

Do they still have Marlon Byrd?

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:54pm

Since Pie has put his early slump behind him in Iowa, he's been raking. Why look elsewhere? Torres might be worth a look too, if Pie fails too miserably, or even Kroeger as a RF.

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:51pm

soriano is no butcher

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:56pm

Soriano is pretty awful as a left fielder. He has acceptable days, but he also has really awful days. He does not have good days.

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:58pm

False

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 4:39pm

Which part? When has Soriano had a good day in the field, and who has he been better than? Particularly, when has Soriano read a fly ball or ran a route better than...anyone? I will certainly give him credit for his arm, but he's definitely been a butcher with the glove this year. I honestly thought he looked better last year, but maybe I just wanted to believe he'd be a good fielder. I mean, I thought initially that he could someday be an acceptable center fielder. So young.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 4:41pm

Chad is right... and I rarely agree with Chad.

Soriano ranked among the top leftfielders in the game last year with his defense.

And his arm alone makes his defense very valuable.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 5:08am

More important here is the thought that how an outfielder 'looks' or the routes he takes to a ball has an bearing on how good a fielder he is. That's a common misconception. What is important is if he catches balls, how quickly he gets to the ones he doesn't catch, and when he throws are the throws quick, accurate and strong. Soriano screws up some balls out there, this year actually seems worse than last year, but he makes a lot of catches in the gap that the Carlos Lee's and Manny Ramirez's of the world have to pick up from the warning track.

Submitted by billybucks
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 7:50am

Everyone still OK with a split? Anyone? Anyone?

Submitted by Bigz
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 8:11am

no, I want blood now

Submitted by 10man
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 10:01am

I want a bloody sweep now. If i'm gonna root for the Cubs, I'm gonna be greedy about it.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 10:06am

Agreed. BUT - I wouldn't cry with a split either.

Submitted by Indiana JJ
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 10:31am

How bout a split of these next two? I'll take that.

Submitted by Chifan
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:31am

No, because going in I thought a split should one of the Z/Sheets or Demp/Parra games plus the Harden/Bush game which should be a near lock. Plus a split now keeps us in this win 1 or 2 then lose 2 funk we have had since the break.

Submitted by Indiana JJ
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 10:39am

I got tickets to Friday's game for my son for a b-day present (will be his first time at Wrigley). My plan was to drive (from Ft. Wayne) to Chesterton IN and get on the South Shore Line and get off at the Van Buren station then walk to the Red Line station @ State & Jackson and take that to Wrigley. It just dawned on me today that Lolla starts Friday and the Metra stop I'm planning to use is right next to Grant Park. Is this going to be a big headache for us? Especially on the way home after the game? Also, about how long is the Red Line trip from Jackson up to Addison?

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:27am

I'd suggest picking up the Brown Line at Washington & Wells or Quincy and taking that North up to Fullerton or Belmont and transferring to the Red Line. I find that the Red Line is almost unbearable on Cubs' game days, while the Brown line is mostly work commuters. Between the Cubs and Lolla, the Red line is going to be a zoo. A 95 degree, no seat, people crammed everywhere zoo.

The trip should take 35-40 minutes.

Submitted by Indiana JJ
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:20pm

Doug Dascenzo
Thanks for the advice I might try the brown line instead, but shouldn't I get on at Adams or Library instead of walking to the other side of the Loop. Also what about walking from the Southport or Belmont station to Wrigley and skip the red line completetly.

Submitted by jacos
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:29pm

should be fine w/ red line on a friday.

most of concert crowd will come in on metra trains from suburbs.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:48pm

Yeah, I was thinking Ogilvie or Union train stations.

Walking from the Belmont station would only take about 10 minutes (~.5 mile), so that's definitely walkable. Southport would probably be a tad longer.

Submitted by Brick
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 1:45pm

I usually just take the Brown Line to Belmont and walk 4 blocks north. Don't bother with the Red.

For one thing, the Red Line will be crammed with people, especially closer to Wrigley.

Further, and more aesthetically, there's a nice sense of anticipation walking up Sheffield into thickening street crowds, hearing, then smelling, then seeing Wrigley loom up in the distance.

My 2¢.

Submitted by Raisin101
on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 12:03pm

The Cubs signed another amateur pitcher from the Pac Rim - Taiwanese RHP Hsin-Hong Tsai. (Check out his ht/wt => he might be 6' and 150 lbs!!) Hopefully AZ Phil will see him sometime soon at Fitch.

Link: http://taiwanbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/07/cubs-si...

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