Cubs Spring Training Recap
A. J. Pollack reached base five times on four singles and a walk, Kelly Johnson had four hits including a double and a three-run HR, ex-Cub Xavier Nady had four hits (including a grand slam HR) and scored three runs, and David Winfree had three hits including a solo HR and a three-run HR, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 15-8 drubbing of the Cubs in what was the final Cactus League game for the Cubs (although they will be playing what's billed as an "intrasquad charity game" tomorrow morning at Dwight Patterson Field before flying to Chicago later in the day).
By Arizona Phil at Tue, 03/29/2011 - 8:35pm
Tyler Colvin crushed a towering grand slam HR over the RF fence to cap a Cub four-run 8th inning rally and narrow a six-run deficit to two runs, but the Colorado Rockies hung-on to defeat the Cubs 6-4 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Sun, 03/27/2011 - 7:19pm
Starlin Castro drilled a three-run double to cap a four-run 7th inning rally, as the Cubs defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-3 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon
By Arizona Phil at Fri, 03/25/2011 - 9:13pm
Darwin Barney singled and scored in the 2nd inning and sliced a two-out two-run triple into the RF corner to cap a four-run 5th, while Alfonso Soriano slugged a solo HR in the 4th and singled and scored in the 5th, leading the Cubs to an 8-7 victory over the crosstown-rival White Sox before a capacity crowd at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny and warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Thu, 03/24/2011 - 10:55pm
Battling for the 5th starter's job and perhaps his big league career, Carlos Silva threw six innings of three-hit ball, retiring 17 of the last 18 men he faced, and Reed Johnson--also battling for a spot on the 25-man roster--singled twice and scored two runs, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland A's in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon
By Arizona Phil at Wed, 03/23/2011 - 7:08pm
Carlos Pena crushed a three-run HR, Starlin Castro tripled, singled, scored a run, and knocked-in another, and Geovany Soto drove-in two runs with a wind-blown double, as the Cubs took a 7-4 lead after the top of the 4th inning in Cactus League action at damp and windy Tempe Diablo Stadium, in a game that was called due to rain after 3-1/2 innings before it was an official game.
By Arizona Phil at Mon, 03/21/2011 - 6:42pm
Welington Castillo continued his torrid Cactus League hitting, lining a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning to score Bobby Scales from 2nd base with the winning run, as the Cubs edged the San Francisco Giants 3-2 in front of an all-time record crowd of 13,465 under overcast skies at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Sun, 03/20/2011 - 7:40pm
Darwin Barney reached base five times on three singles and two walks, Starlin Castro slugged a three-run home run, and Carlos Pena ripped a double and two singles, but it wasn't quite enough, as the Cincinnati Reds outslugged the Cubs 14-13 in Cactus League action before a capacity crowd of 13,186 at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in warm and sunny Mesa, Az, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Fri, 03/18/2011 - 8:37pm
Esmil Rogers threw five innings of one-hit shutout ball, and the Colorado Rockies defeated a split squad of Cubs 4-2 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Tue, 03/15/2011 - 7:40pm
Bobby Scales had two singles, a double, two RBI, and two runs scored, helping the Cubs rally from a 4-1 deficit to take a 6-4 5th inning lead, but the Reds scored two runs in the 6th to tie the game and an unearned run in the 7th to take the lead, and then held-on to edge the Cubs 7-6 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny and warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
Both the Reds and the Cubs were playing with split squads, with each team's other half playing each other in Las Vegas.
By Arizona Phil at Sat, 03/12/2011 - 7:06pm
Ryan Dempster threw five shutout innings and Carlos Pena drove-in two runs with a solo HR and a single, leading the Cubs to a 4-3 victory over the White Sox in Cactus League action at Camelback Ranch this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Fri, 03/11/2011 - 6:13pm
Brett Jackson rifled an RBI single into the LF corner with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to score Jim Adduci from 2nd base with the winning run, as the Cubs scored one in the 8th and one in the 9th to edge the Cleveland Indians 2-1 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Thu, 03/10/2011 - 5:52pm
Melky Cabrera drove-in three runs with a bases loaded triple to key a five-run 1st inning and the Royals never looked back, as the Cubs were thumped 13-4 by Kansas City in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Wed, 03/09/2011 - 7:07pm
Five Colorado pitchers combined to throw a five-hit shutout, and Jordan Pacheco crushed a pinch-hit three-run home run, leading a Rockies split squad to a 4-0 whitewashing of the Cubs in afternoon Cactus League action at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort on Salt River Maricopa-Pima Indian Community land located east of Scottsdale today.
By Arizona Phil at Tue, 03/08/2011 - 6:47pm
Up from Minor League Camp (Fitch Park) to provide some back-up insurance on the bench, D. J. Lemahieu slugged a pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to give a Cubs split squad a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in warm & sunny Mesa, AZ, this afternoon.
By Arizona Phil at Sun, 03/06/2011 - 8:56pm
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Have they changed the meaning of extend again? Kids these days, just when I've gotten used to bad meaning good.
The Cubs should extend Marmol now while he's in his little slump.
(Ducks)
A+
Cubs can build on that foundation of Sweeney and Ransom.
almost 9% of MLB players have ADHD/mental-health exemptions for amphetamine use (well more than the population average at large)...and the amount who use stimulants not on the banned list bumps that up quite considerably...from the ones who pound redbull to the ones taking the newest GMC stimulant(s) that hasn't appeared on the ban list (yet).
stimulants and baseball is the way it's done...from those who like to get pumped up before a game to those that are trying to deal with 200+ days of travel.
Hmmm...
"But whatever players put into their bodies today to fight fatigue, it no longer includes amphetamines — or at least it doesn't unless those players want to risk getting slapped with a stiff suspension."
hahahahahhaha...oh my...my sides...phew, good one.
Hitters swing at more bad pitches as the season goes on, and a group of scientists at Vanderbilt University believe it's because they're not sleeping long enough or well enough. http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/...
the DP would have most likely been turned...castro had a decent amount of time and was in good position to throw.
robinson's take-out slide was a bit silly...he was way off the bag.
Would they have gotten the DP anyway?
Also, while I tend to be a pretty big supporter of pitch counts, I can definitely see why they kept ninja in so long with our bullpen and Gregg pitching so much.
lololol...interference by robinson on a crappy slide going for castro (well off the bag getting ready to toss to 1st after stepping on 2nd) rather than bag forces a double play.
k.gregg gave up a 1 run single...got the "weird" double play...cubs win. STL fans are pissing themselves in rage.
it was a fair call, fwiw...robinson was no where near the bag on the slide.
...and 2 singles later (men on 1st/2nd) he's done after 115 pitches. almost...
ninja going into the 9th, 104 pitches.
3 96mph fastballs in a row to start the 9th...followed by an 84mph off speed pitch for the ground out.
and Javier Baez has a Grand Slam tonight in the 7th inning.
Z (AAA, PHI) tonight..
7ip 5h 1bb 6k, 0r
...according to a news/blog blurb about his last start he's not even hitting 90mph (at least that night), but he might be up in the bigs soon...especially with pettibone sucking hard in the rotation for PHI
Wavin' Wendall Sandberg....
Delmon Young becomes the 10th Phillie thrown out at home this year. Only Diamondbacks (11) have had more outs at home.