Game 68 Thread / Cubs @ Blue Jays (1 of 3)

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SP Sean Gallagher SP A.J. Burnett
  3-2, 4.42, 31 K, 13 BB, 36.2 IP
5-6, 4.98, 78 K, 38 BB, 81.1 IP
       
SS Ryan Theriot RF Alex Rios
1B *Micah Hoffpauir DH *Matt Stairs
DH Derrek Lee 3B Scott Rolen
3B Aramis Ramirez CF Vernon Wells
RF *Kosuke Fukudome 1B *Lyle Overbay
C Geovany Soto C Rod Barajas
CF *Jim Edmonds LF *Brad Wilkerson
2B Mark DeRosa 2B *Joe Inglett
LF *Eric Patterson SS David Eckstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can the Cubs reach 20 games over by mid-June? They have a chance by winning tonight or this series, and it would be the first time since late 2004. But they'll be on the short-end of the pitching matchups for the most part. By ERA, Gallagher is outperforming Burnett at this point, but Saturday's matchup is Roy Halladay(3.07) vs Jason Marquis(4.54) and Sunday is Jessie Litsch(3.42) vs. Ted Lilly(5.13). Burnett might also have the added motivation of trying to audition for his next team, as he's one of the names certain to be bandied about during the trade deadline in connection with the Cubs.

The Blue Jays once again tried to convince themselves they could contend in the AL East and have delivered a fine pitching staff, currently third in the AL in ERA and runs allowed. The offense has struggled through injuries and poor performance though. Scott Rolen missed a month, Wells and Eckstein have also been on the disabled list, Aaron Hill is currently on the disabled list with a concussion and they released Frank Thomas early on. That doesn't even mention the horror that was suppose to be Alex Rios's MVP season (so my fantasy teams thought). That all being said, they now find themselves at the .500 mark, 7.5 back of the division-leading Red Sox and five back of the Rays. They also happen to be a half game back of last place in the division - funny how perspective works.

As promised, Lou is using the DH to give some of his stars a bit of a breather by DH'ing them and letting a bench player handle the defensive duties; tonight it's Derrek Lee with Micah Hoffpauir playing first base. Lou also tinkers with the lineup and puts Theriot in the leadoff spot with Patterson (who stays in left field) at the nine spot or the duel leadoff men that many AL lineups feature.

The next fifteen will be against the AL, here's hoping the Cubs can keep the NL mojo they had going.

Tags: 
Gameday Open Thread
Sean Gallagher
Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 5:10pm
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Comments

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 5:41pm

Roy Halladay v. Marquis?

Groan... where's Sergio Mitre when you need him. :)~

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 6:14pm

I was AT that friggin' game!!!

Submitted by Dmac
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 5:47pm

Maybe we'll get lucky when Marquis pitches, and they'll close the stadium and turn the air conditioners on and blow the fly balls back into the OF.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 5:55pm

Hoffpauir hitting 2nd? Interesting.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 5:55pm

BASE-CLOGGER!!!

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 6:01pm

Well... I would rather have the base-clogging Fukudome batting 2nd! :)

Submitted by nohit
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 6:46pm

Matt Stairs??? *The* Matt Stairs???

Submitted by Fireball
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 7:07pm

Sean, you might want to keep the ball inside the park. Might be a short night if you don't.

Submitted by mattralph
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 7:19pm

Cub hitters, you might want to try to stop striking out. The pitching is only going to get tougher after tonight.

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 7:26pm

Back to Back to Back (Utley-Howard-Burrell), StL 0, Phil 3...top 1st

and our luck tonight is a bit off, Edmonds just missed a 2 run HR although the double scored Koskuke

Submitted by billybucks
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 9:51pm

...and the "ump play" in the 6th didn't help. Although, what hurt more was a lousy AB by DeRo (takes fastballs down the middle on 2-0 and 3-1, then swings at probable ball 4 on 3-2) and Theriot's suddenly trying to pull the ball and hitting into a bases-loaded DP. That inning was their chance.

Home games are more fun.

Artificial turf sucks.

Submitted by jacos
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 11:36pm

Missing Soriano already.

Submitted by Wes
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 9:30pm

Wow. Toronto has a lot of left-handers. A lot.

I said this in the chat, and I know it was 8 years ago, but I don't remember Scott Downs having a slider like that. That thing is unbelievable.

Submitted by rokfish
on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 11:31pm

marquis has to have a good game saturday as i see him
being a part of a burnett trade in july,.

marquis and ?
for burnett

Submitted by Boro
on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 6:22am

Not much.

Even though he got the win tonight, Burnett is stomach churningly over rated. Look at the guy's career stats. He's never actually done anything. Toronto grossly overpaid for him, and of all the names being bandied about, he's probably dead last on the list.

That said, he'd certainly be an upgrade on Marquis.

Submitted by Wes
on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 8:52am

I disagree. The guy has certainly battled some injury problems. He's only gone 200 innings twice in his 9 year career.

That being said, he's peripherals are very good. 3.84 career ERA. That ought to get you a lot farther along than a career 75-72 record, but that's what happens when you play in Florida and Toronto. He goes an average of 6.5 innings per start. Strikes out close to a batter every inning. Decent WHIP (1.28). Was 7th in the AL last year with a 1.189 WHIP. Doesn't give up too many home runs. He has been prone to the walk, but aside from that, I think calling him "stomach churningly over rated" is a major reach.

Submitted by 10man
on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 1:00am

A Poll about who should start in the ASG and Geovany Soto in conspicuously absent as a choice.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling...

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 9:43am

That's ridiculous. I'm sure it was done on purpose just to get more page views/comments. Not only is Soto not on the list, but neither is Aramis. Unreal.

Submitted by navigator
on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 10:33am

The poll is ridiculous because it's based on an article by Tim Kurkjian who was asked to pick the players HE thought should be on the
All-Star team, not who he thinks WILL be on the All-Star team.

Submitted by Chifan
on Sat, 06/14/2008 - 10:56am

according to the local fish wrap:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.ns...

I am starting to think this division race is over unless the Brewers were to land Sabathia or we lose another core guy for a couple months.

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