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Game Recap
Cubs Win Streak Ends at 5
The Cubs five-game win streak doesn't make it to six and and the loss coupled with the Cardinals win over the Dodgers, drops the Cubs back to second place. Ryan Dempster returned from the disabled list and was nothing short of awful. 5 IP, 9 H, 3 K and 5 ER, 6 total and the error was his own. But at least he didn't walk anyone! With the Cubs catching a huge break when Roy Oswalt left in the second inning with a back injury, the Cubs just needed some decent pitching to stay in this one and they sure didn't get it from Dempster or the bullpen.
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Lucky Number 13
For the second time in a week the Cubs go 13 innings, but manage the win this time to keep a half-game lead in the NL Central as the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers (Brewers lost again to drop 4 back). The class of the Central division since June, the Astros waltzed into Wrigley on the shoulder of the über-hot Wandy Rodriguez (4 straight wins and 0.62 ERA in July) and he didn't disappoint, holding the Cubs to a run on 7 strikeouts in 7 innings. Z matched those 7 innings and one run, although with just 4 K's and 4 BB's. That left it up to the bullpens and the Cubs' proved to be just a little bit better tonight
Alfonso Soriano had goat written all over him, going 0/5 with 3 K's and failing to run on a tap out to third base that he claimed hit his toe. Then with the bases loaded and 0 outs, he got one more chance and launched one deep to center on top of the center field restaurant for the win and give the Cubs the opener.
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Game 93 Recap: Cubs 10, Phillies 5
The Phillies Don't Go to 11.
W - Zambrano, (7-4), "working" from home and watching afternoon Cubs games, ending someone else's winning streak.
L - Moyer, (9-7), making the same reference to the same movie that everyone else always makes.
S - Gregg, (19)
Things to Take from This Game
1. A Balanced Attack
Seven different Cubs had RBI today, without benefit of a home run. Bradley, Soriano and Ramirez all had two-hit games, Theriot had both 3 hits and stolen bases. Perhaps most interesting, Bradley's five ABs were all with a runner in scoring position; he went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI. None of the hits were rockets, but I'll take it.
2. Well-pitched early...
Moyer had the Cubs fooled for the first three innings, and Z pitched well through the first five.
3. ... tense moments late.
The Phillies left the bases loaded in both the seventh and the eighth. Marshall faced one batter, Dobbs, who singled in two runs that got charged to Z. But Guzman then escaped from the inning, and eventually turned the game over to Gregg who escaped from the eighth and pitched an uneventful ninth for an impressive save. The Cubs also finally did some damage to the Philly relievers, getting to both Durbin and Lidge, allowing our relievers some breathing room.
The 5-2 Roadtrip details, below.
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Game 91 Recap: Cubs 1, Phillies 10
Illegitimate.
W - Rodrigo Lopez. (2-0) (Seriously)
L - Ted Lilly (9-7), Pre-mature aspirations of legitimation
S - Chad Durbin (1)
Things to Take from This Game
1. Aspirin.
2. Well, the bullpen pitched well. Mostly.
Lilly never looked comfortable. His 6/2 K/BB line looks good, but he fidgeted on the mound, was consistently wild in the strike zone, and it resulted in 7 ER in 4 IP. A 3-run HR by Ibanez in the first, and a 2-run job by Ruiz in the second, and the Cubs were out of it. Stevens and Heilman pitched well, before Guzman gave up a solo HR to Howard in the ninth.
3. Rodrigo Lopez, wtf?
The Cubs were shut down by Lopez, who departed for Chad Durbin and the embarassment of the three-inning save. I can't begin to understand the combination of events that led to the cubs being six-hit by this pairing.
4. Oops.
Soriano watched a routine fly ball clank off of the heel of his glove for a run-scoring error. You just don't see professionals miss fly balls in this manner; he didn't lose it in the lights, slip, get distracted, or anything. Just missed it. He then seemingly responded to the Phillies fans' mocking applause after he caught the next ball, by making an overly exaggerated graceful hop-catch on the ball after that. He did have three of our six hits, at least.
If you really want to, the details follow.
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Game 81 Recap: Cubs 1, Braves 2
Good Duel, Bad Result
W - Vazquez (6-7)
L - Zambrano (4-4)
S - Soriano (9)
Things to Take from This Game
1. Z does fine on short rest
Zambrano pitched an efficient six innings on three days rest, the only blemishes being a couple of run-scoring hits by McCann.
2. Vazquez pitches like an All-Star scorned
Not as much shame in this weak performance by the Cubs' offense, as Vazquez, Gonzalez and Soriano pitched well. Ramirez looked pretty good at the plate, with a couple hits to show for it. Soriano managed to sneak a couple hits in, as well, and Hill got the lone RBI. There isn't much to report in the way of missed rallies or failed execution or bad approaches at the plate, the team just ran into three good pitchers and...
3. Some good defense
Maybe no plays that make Sportscenter, but for the most part it was a well-defended ballgame. No errors, and some particularly good D up the middle. A satisfying game in everything but the result.
The hard-fought details, below.
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Cubs Win, Gatorade Cooler Loses Again...Bradley Sent Home.
I'll make this brief, but wanted a place to discuss the latest in "As Milton's World Turns". First though, the Cubs won, they hit a 2-run home run and a 3-run home run. It's nice to know those haven't gone extinct. Jake Fox and Geovany Soto did the damage and no truth to the rumor that Soto was promised White Castle if he hit one out today.
Randy Wells got his second win on the year, two solo shots being the only marks against him. After 98 pitches and 7 innings, the increasingly baffling Lou went to Carlos Marmol and he predictably walked two of the first three hitters, gave up a couple of hits with some assistance from Soriano losing a ball in the sun (which I admittedly didn't see) and was mercifully pulled for Sean Marshall who got out of the jam by inducing the 3-2-3 double play by A.J. Pierzynski with the bases juiced.
Game 69 Recap: Cubs 5, Tigers 6
5 Runs on the Road, Lilly Pitching, Not Enough.
W - Galarraga (4-7)
L - Lilly (7-5)
S - Rodney (16)
Things to Take from This Game
1. Fox, Fukudome lead Attack
Jake Fox staked the Cubs to a 3-0 lead on a big home run in the first. Fukudome had a triple and a double in the game, while Hoffpauir hit an impressive opposite field home-run in the ninth. An encouraging day from the supporting cast, but also a day with continued futility when there were RISP.
2. Lilly is Ineffectively Wild in the Strike Zone
Lilly got hurt on several breaking and offspeed pitches that got up into the heart of the strike zone. Just one BB to 6 Ks, but10 hits an 6 ER in 6 IP. Santiago and Ordonez each hit two-run homers off of him, and Raburn had two RBI hits. Cabrera also hit a homer that was incorrectly ruled a double.
3. No Dramatic Comeback, Today.
Rodney gave up the homer to Hoffpauir, but otherwise slammed the door by striking out the side.
The one-run-short details, below.
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Motor City Misery
11 Hits, 7 BB's for the Cubs offense....just 3 runs. One of those 11 hits was a solo home run by the somewhat rejuvenated Geovany Soto, meaning the Cubs needed 10 hits and 7 bb's to score the other 2 runs. The Yahoo box score says the Cubs left 13 on base as a team (seemed like 130), with Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir leading the way with 8 and 7 left on base each (some of those the same baserunners). The offensive ineptitude and Rich Harden's gopher ball won't keep me from making fun of the bullpen though, who managed to walk in the two deciding runs.
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The Gregg Game
I watched just two innings of last night's affair, tuning in as Micah Hoffpauir gave the Cubs the lead and turning it off right before Ryan Raburn's ball landed. The saying goes something like "a picture is worth a thousand words"...well here's my word quota for the night.
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Game 66 Recap: Cubs 0, Braves 2
A Loss, or a Metaphor?
W - Vazquez (5-6)
L - Dempster (4-5)
S - Soriano (6)
Things to Take from This Game
1. An Evening Full of Singles and Scoring Opportunities...
The Cubs had 9 hits off of Vazquez, all of them singles, and another hit off of Soriano in relief.
2. ...That Leads to Nothing but a lot of Getting Left Stranded on Second Base.
The Cubs left 12 men on base. Perhaps most
confounding was the decision to let Blanco bat with the bases loaded
and two outs in the sixth.
3. But at Least there are Consolation Prizes?
We can be happy that Dempster had a fine performance, gutting out 6.2 innings in the Atlanta heat. He still had some control problems, but other than McLouth, the Braves struggled to do much against him. And that has to make up for some of the frustration at getting shut out, right?
The futile details, below.
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Recent comments
crunch (view)
masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around. i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.
That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.
Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.
Childersb3 (view)
Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa
Taillon and Wisdom up
Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.
crunch (view)
booooooooooo
also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.
crunch (view)
cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.
taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight. who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.
p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury. good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.
Bill (view)
A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return. Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.
Sonicwind75 (view)
Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention". Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."
Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost. But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.
Sonicwind75 (view)
I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions. Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022. I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.
Childersb3 (view)
I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
We'll find out soon enough!!!