CubsChic

At least we don’t lose extra ground to the Brewers by getting blown out.  Losing by only one run might have been even more frustrating than getting creamed by nine.  So the winning streak ends at seven.  Time to get back on the winning track tomorrow.  I’ll be at the game once again, so maybe I can bring back some of Friday’s magic.  I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that Marquis can get out of the first inning unscathed.

Not that I don’t like winning streaks, but I’d be more than happy to ‘win two or three, lose one’ the rest of the season.  The key is to get over .500 and stay there.  If we can win tomorrow to get to .500, and then beat up on Washington and Pittsburgh before the All-Star break, we should be in good standing going into the second half.   

I was at today’s come-from-behind victory over the Brewers and it was amazing.  After spotting them five runs, Hill and the bullpen got it together and gave them nothing.  You could sense that the Cubs hadn’t given up when they got a strike ‘em out/throw ‘em out double play in the 4th inning.  The game was still within reach.

The weird thing is that the way they won this game is how they’ve been losing them for years.  We give up the game-winning homers, we don’t typically hit them.  In fact, I heard on the news this evening that the Cubs hadn’t had a walk-off home run in years.  Hard to believe.  They’re playing with confidence and a never-say-die attitude, which has gotten them back to .500 for the first time since mid-May.

Picking up the game on Milwaukee, we’re now only 6.5 back, is bigger than it seems.  Playing head-to-head, it’s either gain or lose a game.  It’s really a 2 game swing, as we’d be 8.5 games back if we’d lost.  I’m hoping for a sweep, but would settle for winning the 3-game series.  The Brewers are a good team and aren’t going to lie down for anyone.  If the Cubs keep playing this well, we could have an old-fashioned pennant race to look forward to.

A shout-out to my new buddies from the Green Bay area!  I hope you all got home ok.  It was a pleasure talking baseball with you.  I hope you enjoyed your Wrigley experience, even if you had to go home without the victory.  If you get down thinking about the game, just think about me eating Pringles. 

After sweeping two series in a row and extending their winning streak to a season-high six games, the Cubs deserve the day off.  I just hope they don’t cool off while they’re out golfing, spending time with their families, or whatever it is they do while not hanging out at Wrigley.  The Brewers are just as hot as the Cubs, winning 12 of 14, and it’s vital that the Cubs take at least 2 out of 3 from them in the upcoming series.

I love that Billy Petrick saw some action yesterday.  He’s the 6′6″, 240 lb. young pitcher called up Tuesday from Double-A Tennessee.  He got his first few Major League strike-outs before giving up his first home-run.  I was surprised to see how calm he appeared. 

Marmol did a great job closing yesterday.  Howry needed the day off and Marmol seems to be gaining the confidence he needs to be a great closer.  I’m not trying to push Dempster out of the spot, but if he’s hurt or needed in the rotation at a later date, it’s nice to have alternatives. 

Please ignore my blog post of earlier this evening, as Jim Hendry has squelched the Jones deal to Florida, at least for now.  Maybe Hendry thinks he can get more for him or isn’t willing to part with so much cash.  Could be that putting Dempster on the DL opened up a spot for another pitcher to be called up, so clearing Jones’ roster spot wasn’t an urgent issue at game time.

Regardless, welcome back Jacque.  Please take some defensive lessons from Soriano while you’re still his teammate.  Soriano made his 10th outfield assist of the year tonight.  That’s 10 before the All-Star break!  I’m just glad these fools keep running on him.

As for tonight’s game against the Rockies, all the starters had at least one hit, many coming with two outs.  This team is clicking right now, with everyone feeling they have a role.  No superstar attitudes, despite some of the salaries that are being made.  Seeing the players in the dugout, they look like they could be some minor league team.  They’re having fun, which is easy to do when you’re winning, but I also think it’s why they’re winning.  The Cubs matched their longest winning streak of the year tonight at 5 games.

You read it here first.  Well, at least it was written here before most other places because it wasn’t official when I posted it.  I can take chances like that because I know my readers are a forgiving bunch and a correction is only an edit away.  

The Cubs have finally found a taker for Jacque Jones.  He will head to Florida along with about $5 million of the Cubs money.  The Cubs get a minor league left-handed pitcher in return.  Jones was due more than $7 million over the next two years, so this saves the Cubs some money while also sparing us from having to put him in the line-up.

Unlike during the sweep of the Sox this past weekend, when the pitchers were in control and runs were hard to come by, tonight’s game against the Rockies was a thriller of a different kind.  When I drove by Wrigley this evening during the 7th inning, I was surprised to see so many fans already leaving.  Of course, the Cubs had a sizeable lead and it was a weeknight, but it was a beautiful night for baseball.

Needless to say, those fans missed a lot of baseball!  The Rockies scored 6 times in the 9th to take a 1-run lead.  I thought Ron Santo was going to cry.  But the Cubs came storming back with two outs to score the tying and winning runs on Soriano’s first hit of the night.  Fontenot went 5 for 5 tonight.  I tell you, these kids can play! 

Ryan Theriot might be in a slump, but when he was asked to execute a suicide squeeze he laid down a perfect bunt and got the job done.  It helped that Angel Pagan took off from third base at exactly the right time and has enough speed that he didn’t even have to slide into home plate.  It was a huge run on a day when the pitchers were stingey with them.

Howry pitched a flawless 9th, which is good since he’ll be closing while Dempster rests a sore oblique muscle.  The Cubs bullpen gave up no hits in over 3 innings, which is something I could get used to.  We can’t expect our starters to go 8-9 innings every day.  Hill did a fine job starting, going 5+ innings, and it’s too bad he couldn’t get the win.

Soriano hit another home run to lead off the game.  That’s two in a row.  What are the odds he’s plunked by Contreras when Soriano leads off tomorrow?  That would certainly empty the benches!

Here’s hoping the Cubs get the sweep tomorrow.  It would be a nice birthday present for my friend Patti, who will be at the game rooting on the Cubs! 

I knew the Cubs were going to lose today’s game against the Rangers when they had the bases loaded with no outs in the second inning and couldn’t score a run.  Of course, the Rangers scored three times in the bottom of the inning.  The Cubs did manage to claw their way back into it, but they lost it in the ninth after a botched run-down left the winning run at second base.  The Cubs had 13 hits and 13 left on base.  Not a pretty picture and no way to win a ballgame.

Hopefully the Cubs can leave their missed opportunities in Texas because they’re going to need everything working to beat the White Sox at the Cell this weekend, despite the Sox play of late.  Both teams will be up for this series and the Sox could do a lot of healing as a team by beating up on their cross-town rivals.  Let’s hope the Cubs can sweep and put the Sox out of their misery for the rest of the season.   

Although I’ve never been a big Sammy Sosa fan, I wanted to congratulate Sosa for hitting his 600th home run this evening.  I guess some would consider it poetic justice that he hit it against the Cubs, since 545 of his home runs came as a Cub and until tonight he’d never hit a home run against the Cubs.

Sammy is looking much leaner than in years past and he seems to be enjoying himself again.  Now that he’s out of Chicago, I don’t spend any time thinking about him, his corked bat, his boom box or his suspected steroid use.  It’s a shame that we’ll never know for sure what numbers he could have put up without ‘extra help.’  With 600 home runs to his name, however, it will certainly be a tough call for the committee to keep Sosa out of the Hall of Fame.

I, for one, will miss Michael Barrett.  I know we need better defense behind the plate, but I really like Michael for everything else he brought to the team.  Of course it made good baseball sense to get a catcher, plus a prospect, for a player we’d most likely lose to free agency at the end of this season.  The fact that Barrett’s replacement from the Padres, Rob Bowen, calls a great game will also help ease the pain.  The Padres pitchers currently have the lowest ERA in the National League, which is a very positive reflection on the catcher.  Bowen is also known for his good defensive skills and has unusual speed for a catcher.  I really don’t think the Zambrano situation had anything to do with this.  Hendry isn’t going to ship someone out of town because two professionals couldn’t get along.  This was simply a good baseball move.

On Saturday, we finally get the fans to behave and the players start fighting.  At least Zambrano stayed focused and lost a tough 2-hitter.  Today everyone behaved but the pitching imploded.  It’s a good time for a day off to refocus.

I hope the League comes back with Derrick’s penalty for the fight soon.  If he can’t serve a probable suspension while we’re in Texas, hopefully he’ll appeal so that he can at least play against the White Sox next weekend.  I just wish these guys would think before they swing, especially if they’re not even going to land a punch.  I also think the home plate ump should be disciplined or at least written up for not preventing the fight.  It’s his job to keep the situation from escalating and he was yapping with the catcher and not doing his job.  The situation could have ended up a lot worse.

I thought it was funny that Zambrano was being held back during the fight and it looked like his belt had been pulled off.  What happened was that he was in the locker room changing shirts when the fight broke out, so he came running out not fully dressed.  At least his pants were on.

Unless Sosa hits a home run tonight, there is a good chance that he’ll get #600 against the Cubs during this next series with Texas.  I’d really like to avoid seeing that hop one more time.

Didn’t we all learn this in grade school?  Well, fans at Wrigley were not helping the home team today by grabbing at baseballs that were still in play.  At least the Cubs won; so no harm, no foul.  We’ll never know whether Cliff Floyd would have caught that fly ball at the wall if the fan hadn’t grabbed for it, causing the ball to drop for a hit and score the only Padres run of the game.  And I was listening on the radio, so I haven’t seen the ball hit by Derrick Lee that was called a double but appeared to some to be a home run touched by a fan over the yellow line.  Like I said, small details when the Cubs won the game.  But you’d think that fans would have learned a lesson after that infamous 2003 playoff game!  Of course, in both of today’s incidences, the fans were in the bleachers and were trying to catch home run balls.  They just need to make certain that they’re home runs first.

I’m really liking DeRosa at third base.  He’s made some awesome plays there and it allows Theriot and Fontenot to continue clicking at short and second, respectively.  Not that we won’t miss Rameriz’s bat eventually, but this line-up is working for me right now.  We’re not only winning close games, but we’re winning them at home. 

Lilly looked good today.  It’s never a sure thing when you come back after such a bizarre outing (facing only two batters before being ejected in his last start).  If Zambrano can continue the trend of the starters going deep into the game, our bullpen can just get to work on their tans.

I just got home from cheering on the Cubs as they beat the Mariners 3-2.  It was a gorgeous night at Wrigley, although more brisk than expected as the wind was blowing in at quite a good clip.  That same wind kept a fly ball crushed by Soriano in the park.  Marshall threw an awesome game and came away with the much needed 1-run victory.

The key hit of the night was by Fontenot, who had two RBIs.  As I said in yesterday’s post, this kid is going to make it impossible for them to send him down.  Unfortunately, Matt Murton was sent to Triple A Iowa today.  I think the Cubs needed another arm and Murton needs the at-bats he wasn’t getting here.  I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the red head.

I’m headed out of town for the next few days, so there might not be any posts until we’re well into the Padres series this weekend.  Stay tuned. 

The double play combo that played last night for the Cubs, Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot, are not strangers.  They played against each other in high school and were teammates on the LSU team that made the College World Series.  Their enthusiasm and hustle, combined with that of Felix Pie, is just what this team needs.  I say let all three kids stay in the line-up and see what happens.  Especially since Rameriz is now on the DL, there is room for DeRosa to play at third.

I like how this team seems to be able to bounce back from tough losses.  Having Dempster come in to save the rare 1-run victory, after having blown only his second save opportunity the night before, was good for the whole team’s morale.  It’s a long season, and with the addition of these kids, I say the next 4 months could be interesting.

The Cubs got the raw end of the deal in Atlanta this weekend.  Braves pitcher Tim Hudson nailed Alphonso Soriano, almost in the head, on the first pitch of Saturday’s game.  Soriano had hit the previous day’s first pitch out of the park and preceded to hit three straight home runs.  Of course his beaning was intentional, but both teams were given a warning and nobody got tossed.  Then yesterday, after striking out the first two batters, Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly hits Renteria and is immediately ejected!  It’s not Lilly’s fault that both benches emptied.  Major League pitchers need to pitch inside to be successful.  There was no clear intent and no prior warning.  The ump, Jim Wolf, said that he ‘expected something to happen.’  If that was the case, then both teams should have been warned before the game, not after the fact.

Despite little warning, the bullpen managed to pitch well most of the game.  Everything was fine until Dempster came in to handle the 8th and proceeded to give up 3 runs, taking the 5-4 loss.  It will be a shame if Lilly has to wait another 4 days to pitch again.

Mike Fontenot is trying to make it hard for the Cubs to send him back down to AAA.  He hit his first home run of the season, as well as an RBI triple, in yesterday’s game.  Of course, it didn’t help that he hit into a double-play with the bases loaded in the 8th inning, squelching a potential game-breaking rally.  It seems that every time the Cubs miss opportunities like that this year, the other team comes back to make them regret it.

Soriano’s bat has finally woken up on this road trip.  In Atlanta tonight, he hit the first two pitches he saw for home runs.  He was kind enough to wait until the third pitch of his third at bat to hit his third home run.  That’s three home runs in five pitches!  He already had three homers in the fourth inning. 

I think even the Atlanta fans wanted to see him hit a fourth, but he was intentionally walked in his forth at-bat.  The crowd booed, and I don’t think it was only the Cub fans.  He got two more chances, but only managed one other single.

I had just read a trivia question today about what Cubs player had ever hit 4 home runs in a game.  None have.  There are only 15 players in the Major Leagues to have accomplished the feat.  This is the second time in his career that Soriano has hit three homers in one game.

The Cubs have slowly but surely won their way back into 2nd place in the weak NL Central.  They’re now only 5 games out.  The starting pitching has been wonderful of late.  The bats have woken up and should only get stronger now that the weather has finally warmed up.  I hope I don’t need to wear another jacket to Wrigley until October!  

The Cubs lost to the Brewers last night, but they didn’t lie down.  The Brewers are a good team, with great hitters and a decent pitching staff.  It’s not as frustrating to lose to them as in past years, when they weren’t very good and we still couldn’t beat them.  This year just hurts our standings more.

Angel Guzman has been put on the disabled list with tightness in his forearm.  He’s been replaced on the roster by Double-A right-hander Sean Gallagher (7-2 this season with a 3.39 earned-run average in 11 starts).  Gallagher will serve in the bullpen.

Does calling up someone from Double-A mean we don’t have anyone of quality at Triple-A?  I don’t thing that’s the case.  I think it involves waivers and such, and finding the right arm to use as a temporary stop-gap until Guzman is better.

The Cubs just beat the Brewers 7-2, with Soriano going 5 for 5, including the decisive 3-run homer in the 7th.  I told you Pie’s enthusiasm would rub off on his teammates.  Soriano and Pie have been friends since they met at Spring Training, and they’re apparently happy to be playing together again.

I hope Lou isn’t taking this personally, but the Cubs are 2-0 without him in the dugout.  He will be watching this series from Hendry’s skybox, as Lou was officially given a 4 day suspension.  I doubt his ejection helped spur this team on to their subsequent victories, but I’m glad they’re finally out of their funk (at least for now).

It helped that the Brewers used the Cubs’ playbook tonight.  The Brewers had the bases loaded in both the 1st and 2nd innings and still couldn’t score.  The Cubs made some sloppy defensive plays, but also made some great ones when it counted, like the 1st and 2nd innings.

A brief update on minor league pitcher/ND grad Jeff Samardzija.  He lost his last outing, giving up a season-high 8 runs on 10 hits over just 5 innings.  He has dropped to 0-5 with an ERA of 5.75.  I’m glad the Cubs don’t need him in the rotation any time soon. 

The Cubs finally win a game and Lou is nowhere in sight.  His suspension started today for his argument yesterday with the 3rd base umpire.  During his dirt kicking episode, the officials say that he made contact with the ump, with is a very big no-no.  Lou will hear the length of his suspension tomorrow when he meets with the League officials. 

Can’t say that I wasn’t happy with the way the Cubs performed for bench coach Trammel today.  I actually sold my tickets to today’s game to attend a birthday party.  This is the second time this season that the Cubs have had a blow-out win when I’ve sold my tickets.  I better start selling more games.

It’s great to have Pie back in Wrigley.  He still can’t hit left-handers though.  It didn’t matter today due to the huge lead, but it’s not good when you want him in a game late for defensive reasons but you need to pinch-hit for him against lefties.  You’ve got to love his speed and the way he plays the game.  He’s truly excited about every hit and play.  I think his energy will spread in the dugout and clubhouse, hopefully negating the Zambrano/Barrett stench of this past weekend.

I don’t want to spend too much time on the fight incident, because it’s been covered ad nauseam in the media.  I’d just like to see Zambrano gone this year, when the Cubs can hopefully get something for him.  He’s not a good teammate, on the field or in the clubhouse.  I like Barrett, but his defense just isn’t good enough to be the everyday catcher.  There’s enough pop in the line-up without him, so why give up the stolen bases and questionable game-calling if you don’t absolutely need to?

So now the Cubs are off to Milwaukee for a very important series.  Today was the 1/3 mark in the season for the Cubs, so it’s too early to say that the series up north is do-or-die.  The Cubs are 7.5 games behind the Brewers going in.  They could leave town anywhere from 4.5 to 10.5 out - a huge swing.  (OK, not ‘anywhere’ in between, with 6.5 and 8.5 being the other options if the three games are played as scheduled.) 

Can Lou make the trip and just not go in the clubhouse?  Is he banned from the team plane while suspended?  I don’t know the rules on this.  Can he phone in his ’suggested’ line-up to Trammell?  I’m sure the Cubs would appeal a long suspension, so maybe Lou could manage the all-important Brewer series even if he has to sit out more than just today’s game.