Cubs get de-pantsed by Nationals

I last wrote on August 18th and said I felt the season was over, now after the ensuing road trip and last night's game, I KNOW the Cubs' season is over. There was a weird vibe to the Wrigleyville neighborhood before the game as scalpers (lots of them) were selling tickets for "half price".

For some reason my friends and I decided to go to the game. Originally we tried to barter with another friend for his tickets but he would not meet our low price, confident we could get cheap tickets we headed off for the game. We took the X80 Irving Park bus down to the game and as soon as we stepped off, a cougar in a convertible asked us if we needed tickets. We approached her car and she said she'd take $20 apiece for all 4, we said we needed only 3, so she sold us all 4 for $59, my friend, Steve, only gave her $19. The seats were solid, Aisle 135, Row 13, Seats 1-4, $60 face value. Next, since we were on a budget, we headed to the liquor store to pick up some flasks/pints to sneak into the game, I purchased a small bottle of Captain Morgan. For the record sneaking booze into Wrigley is awesome and easy, it also saves you tons of money you would have spent on beers, and saves you many trips to the bathroom. Everyone should do this, from now on, I will try and do this for every game.

Too bad the game itself sucked last night, I personally would blame Lou Piniella, because he managed the game like an ass, here is why I think this:

1.) When we were down only a few runs in the early stages of the game (I believe it was 3-1) Aramis Ramirez led off with a single. Then inexplicably, Lou called for a hit-and-run with Fukudome at the plate who wiffed on strike-3 leaving Ramirez hung out to dry and then gunned-down at second base. Way to run your team out of an inning Lou, using your slowest base-runner, and a poor contact guy. This was a wasted opportunity and seemed to kill any momentum the Cubs had going.

2.) The Pitching. Need I say more? Carlos Zambrano was terrible: 4.1IP, 8ER, 7H, 3BB, 4K. Way to step up Z with your season hanging by a thread you come out and pitch your worst game of the season, you should be real proud of yourself. Then when Lou finally pulled Z down 5-1 with the bases loaded and one out, who did he bring in? None other than Aaron Heilman. What a bad decision! Heilman did strike out the first batter he faced, but then right on cue gave up a Grand Slam to Elijah Dukes that still has not landed. The Cubs season ended right there, how fitting for this season, Lou bringing in the wrong pitcher at the wrong time, a theme for the whole year. Heilman had no business being in the game at that point, he is not a long reliever! Furthermore, he has no business being on the roster. Jim Hendry should release him right now, he is not signed beyond this season anyway. I still can't believe Heilman thought he could be a starter when this season began, what a jackass.

3.) Mike Fontenot, Aaron Miles, and Geovany Soto. None of these jerks belongs on the field. I will start with Fontenot who was 0-2 BB and made a throwing error in which he looked like an ass. He is hitting .222 on the season and has shown no signs of improvement, I said as soon as he came up in the second that he should not be out there, rather Jeff Baker should. I was proved right in the 9th when Baker blasted a solo HR. Baker is hitting .284 and is one of the hotter hitters on the team, there is no reason whatsoever Fontenot deserved to start last night, he is a loser, and should be playing elsewhere in 2010. Miles, in his only at-bat, struck out and got booed off the field. He is now hitting .177 and has 5 RBI this season! Seriously, he has no business being in MLB. Why Andres Blanco is at Iowa, while Fonty and Miles are here, I will never know. Lastly, Soto is a fat waste of space and a huge disappointment. His ROY season in 2008 is looking like a fluke and he looks like the next Rick Wilkins. If Soto wants to play next season he should be forced to go through extensive conditioning drills in the offseason. Another problem with Soto is that he can not hit a breaking ball, he is a real-life Pedro Cerrano, from Major League.

There were VERY few bright-spots last night but here they are: Milton Bradley had a nice game going 4-4 HR, RBI, 2R, BB and also made a great catch against the right-field wall late. Bradley hustled and played hard all night, and really has all season. He is the one guy who still seems to be trying out there. Our infielders: Derrek Lee, Ryan Theriot, Ramirez, and Fontenot seemed to be out of it last night, standing listlessly around the diamond. This was probably due to the fact that all the balls the Nats hit last night were hit hard to the outfield, mostly to Jake Fox, who looked as bad as Alfonso Soriano out there (but gets a pass because he is tyring and is not a dick). Bottom Line: Bradley played well last night, hopefully he can play well the rest of the way and carry that into 2010. Also, I gave him a standing-ovation when he hit his HR and made his catch, I have stuck by him all season and am proud of it!

The final score last night was 16-5, by far the worst loss I have ever been to, but I had a good time nonetheless. Eddie Vedder sang the 7th inning stretch admirably. Last night may just be the last game I will go to in 2009, mostly because I do not want to give this pathetic excuse for a team any more of my money (I don't have much). Last night, the fans finally seemed to turn on this team, lots of booing, and there was hardly anyone left by the end of the game (I stayed til the very end!).

My personal record in 2009: 8 and 4.
Next game I am going to as of right now: TBA.

The Cubs Season is likely over and so is my summer

Last night the Cubs were not trailing for 8.2 innings and still found a way to lose. Kevin Gregg was called upon to pick up the save in the 9th protecting a 1-0 lead. Once again he could not get the job done as he completely derailed: 0.2IP, 2H (a game-tying double and a walk-off HR), 4ER, 2BB. This was his 6th blown save of the season and his 5th loss. With the Cardinals victory last night, the Cubs are now 6GB in the Division. Gregg cost his team the game last night and it is not like this is anything new either. Just two weeks ago, he blew saves against the Marlins on back-to-back days! His biggest problem is allowing HR's. I told my friends at the bar last night "At least he won't give up any homers, this stadium is too hard to hit one out of at night." Man do I sound like a dick, not only did Gregg allow a HR, he allowed a BOMB, and to a guy I have never heard of or seen before in my life: Kyle Blanks. It was bad enough he blew the save, but to allow him to remain in there to try and get out of the inning was just stupid. In my opinion, Gregg should be removed from the closer role effective immediately and replaced by Carlos Marmol (no matter how bad he looks some nights, I will still take him) or Angel Guzman.

Furthermore, it is not responsible of me to only blame Gregg for last night's loss. The Cubs had opportunities to score more than the one run they did, on an Aramis Ramirez RBI-Single. The Cubs were 1-8 with RISP and left 10 men on base (sound familiar). The biggest culprit last night was Mike Fontenot, who could not get the job done with the bases loaded on a full count to end the top half of the 6th inning. Why did this piss me off more than anything else a Cub hitter had done all night? Well, for starters, Fontenot is hitting .225. I would much rather see Alfonso Soriano pinch hit there, in a 0-0 game with the bases loaded, and then use Jeff Baker to play the field. I know Lou Piniella would have to waste two players there, but the game was on the line, and you could tell just by the look on Fonty's face that he was scared. He is nice little player, but I hope the Cubs have no plans to bring him back next season, the guy just can not hit the baseball! In fairness he did make one hell of a play to start a key double play in the bottom half of the 6th, but Andres Blanco can do the same thing.

Additionally, the Cubs wasted some pretty good performances from last night. Ted Lilly in his return from the DL did a hell of a job: 6IP, 0R, 4H, BB, 4K on 70 pitches (he had a pitch count, better safe than sorry with a guy coming off of a shoulder injury). Ramirez and Derrek Lee each had two hits last night, Lee even legged out a triple, and scored the team's only run. John Grabow pitched an impressive 1.1 innings last night and Carlos Marmol was as sharp as ever in his 2/3 of an inning.

Last night it hit me, the season is likely over. There is just something about this team: bad luck, lack of timing, lack of talent, lack of managing? I don't know what it is, but I had a real feeling after that game that this season was over for us, barring a complete and unlikely collapse by the Cardinals, or us jumping 3 teams in the Wild-Card race.

I watched last night's game at a new bar as well. My friends and I went to Tavern on Milwaukee, North, and Damen, in Wicker Park. Not my favorite bar (especially past 12am on weekends) but the place was nearly empty last night other than our group. They did have a good deal: $2 PBR bottles, which they have all the time, but do not advertise because they like to rip people off. The service was below average. The bartender who was probably younger than the entire group I went with grilled us on our ID's and did not seem to want us there. The TVs were nice, but the sound was turned off in favor of "Chick Music" according to Steve Twardowski. Also, we went there with my friend Nick's pilot-buddies, and two out of the three totally suck. One of them is a euro-guy who thinks he can walk on water and only talks about him making money, spending money, and how awesome he thinks he is. Despite how awesome he thinks he is, I have never seen him with a woman, and I know for a fact he got peed on by a stripper just a few weeks ago, Oh, and he is bald. The other douche was from St.Louis and just sat there mocking us for being Cubs fans, etc. Enough said, I tried to ignore him all night, literally, and he got mad at me for not laughing at his joke (it wasn't funny?). The only way I got him to stop talking was to bring up the St. Louis Rams. All in all, not the worst place to watch a game, a step up over Nick's Beer Garden, but unless you live in the area, I would not recommend going there.

Up Next: Cubs vs Padres at 9:05pm on WGN. Ryan Dempster (6-6, 4.23 ERA) vs Cesar Carrillo (0-1, 30.86 ERA). Note to Dumpster: The Padres Suck! And apparently so does Carrillo, if you can not pick up the win tonight, you are officially the worst! Every time Dempster pitches it seems like his ERA goes up and so does his loss total. Hopefully tonight he can change that and dominate a weak line-up, other than Adrian Gonzalez. I know nothing about Carrillo other than he has had a bad outing (looking at the ERA), hopefully the Cubs can tee-off on him as well.

There will be no morning post tomorrow, I have to go to my Grad School Orientation at UIC at 8 am. This signals the beginning of the end of a great summer. Also, as I was writing this, it was brought to my attention that Kevin Gregg has been demoted from the closer role, NICE!

Go Cubs! Rock out Chicago, Diet Pepsi, Uh Huh!

The kid who threw the beer on Shane Victorino's head

The kid who threw a beer on Shane Victorino's head, while he was trying to make a catch, turned himself into authorities today. He is a 21-year old from where: BARTLETT, Illinois. To my one reader who commented earlier today, Dan, YES, he was from the Western Suburbs and a douche-bag. I go on rants about these western-suburbs losers all the time (see my post about the Captain Morgan Club from a few days ago). Somebody needs to tell these dicks to get the hell out of town, nobody wants you in Chicago. They are fairly easy to spot, usually wearing some sort of plaid shorts, an Ed Hardy-esque T-shirt, or some sort of expensive yet lame Cubs shirt, and they likely are wearing their sunglasses on top of their heads. Oh, and they can handle drinking about 6 beers max before their equally lame girlfriends or bang-bros need to walk them home from the Cubbie Bear, Moe's Cantina, Sluggers, or Casey Moran's after the game (those are my four worst rated bars in the Wrigleyville area). I am sick and tired of all these clowns graduating from College and moving into this great city and making real Chicagoans and Cubs fans look bad.

Also, Shane Victorino is a pussy for pressing charges against this kid in the first place. I mean c'mon man, it was only a beer dumped on you, and you made the catch regardless, get a life!

Furthermore, today's game sucked. Ryan Dempster lost again, which I believe I predicted in my morning post. Not a shocker for me, the guy is a bad pitcher, who had a career year last year, and duped Jim Hendry into giving him a 5-yr deal. I only caught a few minutes of the game on the radio this afternoon and the one half inning I could sit through was the inning Dumpster gave up 4 runs on a "wind-aided" HR to Ryan Howard and a solo shot by Pedro Feliz. I love how the delusional Cubs fans and the media are trying to let Demp off the hook by calling Howard's dinger "wind aided" get real, Howard is the Bill Brasky of baseball and Dempster sucks, the result: a HR! Do not blame the wind, blame the crappy pitcher, who also happened to walk the guys in front of Howard. The Cubs will not win consistently with Dempster in the rotation and I will leave it at that. Maybe he will come back focused and improved next season, but I doubt it. He will more than likely just continue to pitch like the number 4 or 5 starter that he actually is for the remainder of his time with the Cubs.

Cubs get their heads flushed down the toilet by the Phillies

The Phillies are a good team, the Cubs are not, and that is why the Cubs lost last night 12-5. I hope last night was the end of the Jeff Samardzija Era here in Chicago (as a baseball player) he showed last night he is not ready to pitch at the Major League level. Not that it is entirely his fault, he has been shuttled between Iowa and Chicago all season, primarily as a reliever. Ideally, the Cubs management would have called up a starter from Iowa like Mitch Atkins to make this emergency start. Samardzija was awful last night: 3.1IP, 8H, 7ER, 4K, at least he did not walk anybody. Samardzija needs to be sent down to the minors to regroup and/or develop other pitches besides his fastball. My advice for him would be to retire from baseball and sign as a free-agent with the Chicago Bears. I watched every game he played as a football player at Notre Dame and I truly believe he could still play football, he would have been a 1st or 2nd round pick in the NFL Draft when he graduated.

The Cubs offense again was pathetic. How do you only manage 3 runs off of a washed-up Pedro Martinez, seriously! The Phillies were trying to give us this game by starting him and we still got blown out. The Cubs managed only two extra-base hits: Doubles by Derrek Lee and Fukudome. Ryan Theriot was really the only bright spot going 3-5, RBI, and raising his average to a team-high .300 (among every-day players).

Up Next: Cubs vs Phillies this afternoon at 1:20pm on CSN and WGN Radio. Ryan Dempster (6-5, 4.05 ERA) vs Cliff Lee (9-9, 2.95 ERA). Who would you pick to win this game? An all-star caliber pitcher with a Cy Young or an overpaid clown who can't keep the ball down? I would take Lee. I do not see Dempster giving the Cubs much in this outing since he has not done anything all season to make me think different. The Cubs have seen Lee this season and they won that game (although he was with Cleveland at the time). It was the game we trailed 7-0 and eventually won in extra-innings because Kerry Wood could not convert the save. I was at that game, albeit on a rooftop, but I do not remember the Cubs doing much against Lee. The Phillies are rolling and the Cubs are in a tailspin, unfortunately I see the Phillies finishing the sweep this afternoon. Thank God the Pirates are coming in for a weekend series, maybe the Cubs can get back on track against them.

The Cubs out-hit the Phillies, but refuse to Win

This Cubs team is not very good and they always seem to find ways to lose. On a night where Rich Harden was nearly un-hittable (he had a perfect game through 5.1IP) we still could not do enough to win. Harden was spotted an early 2-0 lead when the Cubs scored twice in the third inning off of J.A. Happ. Milton Bradley got things going with a lead-off double, then Derrek Lee walked, and Jake Fox came through with an RBI single. The Cubs would load the bases in the inning but would only get one more run on an Alfonso Soriano Sac-Fly (all he would do in the game). After this point the Cubs hitters basically took the rest of the night off, especially Fat-Ass Geovany Soto who was 0-4 and refuses to take pitches in his at-bats, and can not lay off of face-high fastballs in key situations.

Harden took his perfect game into the 6th, but it all blew up once he got there. After retiring the lead-off guy, he walked the next hitter, and then gave up a 2R-HR to Jimmy Rollins (who happens to be the only Phillies hitter who is hot). Harden looked rattled at this point and was lucky to get out of the 6th inning, let alone the 7th. All in all he had a good start: 7IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 6K, in a rarely efficient outing he threw 87 pitches, but had clearly unraveled towards the end. For awhile, I really thought we could see a no-hitter tonight, it was not meant to be.

Fast-Forward to the 8th inning and enter Carlos Marmol, who sure enough blew the game by walking 3 and beaning one, allowing a run to score without allowing a hit, in 2/3 of an inning. Marmol was pitiful, again, and deserved to lose this game. He also deserves to no longer be the set-up man. My advice to Lou Piniella would be to use Angel Guzman (who did pitch two perfect innings in the 9th and 10th) as the set-up guy, and use Marmol only with big leads and earlier in the games. John Grabow also did a nice job getting out of Marmol's jam in the 8th, retiring Raul Ibanez on 3 pitches.

Going into the bottom of the 9th the Cubs trailed by a run, but were in luck because Brad Lidge was on to close (he is terrible) and sure enough he blew the save! Fukudome got things started with a walk and was then sac-bunted to second by Ryan Theriot. Then the unthinkable happened and Bradley came up with a big hit, finally! He had an RBI single to left. This game was just not meant to be for the Cubs, who could not win the game in the 10th or the 11th, Scott Eyre (who should never have been released by Piniella in the first place) absolutely shut them down. Piniella does not have a clue how to manage a bullpen, letting go of Eyre for really no reason other than the fact that Lou did not like him was a huge mistake. It was nice to see Eyre get his redemption tonight.

Lou was forced to bring in closer Kevin Gregg to pitch the 11th where he retired arguably the three best Phillies hitters in a row, all lefties too in: Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez. Too bad retiring lefties is not Gregg's problem, retiring righties is his weakness. Gregg came out to start the 12th and sure enough gave up a HR to Ben Francisco that barely made the basket in left field. This was directly after Milton Bradley had thought he'd hit the game-winning HR to left-center only to watch it get caught at the wall to end the bottom of the 11th. That near miss seemed to take all the wind out of the Cubs' sails and I had a feeling that the game ended there, mostly because I had such little confidence in guys like Lee, Fox, Soto, and Soriano to win the game in the 12th inning. This was the 11th HR Gregg has allowed this season in only 53.2 IP, unacceptable. His record is 4-4, with 5 blown saves, and a 4.02 ERA. I look forward to the days when Gregg is not a Cub and we do not have to endure this B.S. anymore. He is an awful closer.

The Cubs could not muster a comeback in the bottom of the 12th as Lee flied out weakly, Fox walked, Soto struck out (on a face-high fastball), and Soriano flied out to right (his bat must be slow because he should have been trying to pull the ball). Overall, there were very few things to be happy about from tonight's game. Offensively, Jeff Baker had a great game going 4-5. Bradley had a nice night as well going 2-5, 2B, RBI, R (and nearly hit a walk-off). Lee walked 3 times and Fox also added two hits and did not make any errors at third base. Harden had a good game too, I would take his stat-line anytime, unfortunately the Cubs' hitters got complacent (as usual) once they had a lead and could not tack on any insurance runs (they were 2-8 w/RISP and left 12 men on base). Lou was very agitated in his post game interview and had very little to say about the game. At least the Cardinals lost tonight as well, thank-you Reds!!!

Up Next: The Cubs and Phillies are at it again tomorrow night at 7:20. Jeff Samardzija (1-1, 6.29 ERA) vs Pedro Martinez (0-0, N/A). Martinez is making his first Major League start of the season after spending time recently in the minors after being signed out of retirement. The Cubs last saw him last September while he was with the Mets and beat him. Martinez does not have anything left and ordinarily I would say there is no way they could lose to him, I mean his ERA was over 5 at AAA. But tomorrow the Cubs are starting Samardzija, so all bets are off! Tonight was a pitcher's duel, tomorrow should be a slug-fest, I would not be surprised to see neither pitcher last beyond the 5th, let alone the 4th inning. But who knows? Maybe the Shark will surprise all his nay-sayers out there and step up with a big game? Perhaps that is too much to ask from an over-paid, over-hyped, football player with one pitch, who has never started a Major League game before? My prediction: the Cubs win in a slug-fest. They need to win, or their season will be over before they know what hit them. It would be a shame if the team completely fell apart just as their most hated player (Bradley, who I have stood by all along) started to get hot. Hopefully the Cubs can bounce back tomorrow night! Oh, and I hope Koyie Hill starts in place of Soto.

Cubs lose to Rockies Again, Iowa Cubs, Captain Morgan, and the Cubs Return Home

The Cubs lost on Monday night to the Rockies 11-5 for the second day in a row, dropping 3 of 4 to the red-hot Rockies. I have not watched a game since last Wednesday since I went golfing in Wisconsin all weekend, and all they show up there are Brewers games. It looks as if the Cubs took the rest of the week off as well. Thanks to the complete ineptitude of the Cincinnati Reds (whom the Cardinals just played) we now stand 3 GB in the division.

Sunday I went to the Iowa Cubs game at Wrigley Field, which was a blast. Tickets were as cheap as $5, my girlfriend, her friends, and I sat in the upper deck, section 517. Seeing as the place the almost totally empty the six of us decided to just find six seats together and sit there. Sure enough, a mother and her two sons come barging into our row and say "You're in our seats" (very bitchy), so I replied "Sorry we ruined your day!" (I was not sober). So we moved up two more rows, I still do not know why that woman had to be such a bitch, she could have just politely asked us to move? Hot-Dogs were $1 at all concession stands, which was tight, I had two of them. The game itself was pretty dull however, I missed the introductions, had no scorecard, so I had no idea who anyone was unless they came up to bat. I did give Micah Hoffpauir, who I did not even know had been sent down, a standing ovation in his first at bat (he flied out). Also, So Taguchi has nothing left in the tank, too bad because he was a clutch hitter once upon a time for the Cardinals. The Cubs did go on to win the game, but we had to leave early as it was so hot. We did move all they way up in the upper deck and sat along the fence, catching a very cool breeze from the west, I have not sat in the Uecker seats in a long time. All in all, the "Road to Wrigley" was a fun time, and we plan on making it an annual tradition, if they continue to play the game attendence was down to 16,000 vs 32,000 they drew last season.

Furthermore, last night, I made my first trip to The Captain Morgan Club, and it will be my last. We went because Monday nights are 1/2 off everything there. The waitress was awful, she wanted nothing to do with us. When I ordered a 16oz can of Old Style, she looked at me like I had two heads. When we put in our food order, she turned and walked away as I was mid-order. Not knowing if she'd gotten the rest of the order, my girl had to go up and ask her (I was no longer in the mood for anymore of her bullshit by this point) to which she replied yes. The food was ok, but it was basically ballpark food, and the Italian Beef I ordered was not as good as the ones they serve inside the stadium. Fortunately the bill came out to be only $15 and I left a $3 tip, the only reason I left that much was because the bus-boys did a nice job. I could not imagine ever paying full price for any of that stuff. The only reason that place stays in business is because of all the tourists, drunks, and western-suburbs d-bags who flock to Wrigleyville on weekends.

Now back to the Cubs... They return home tonight to begin a 3-game series with the Phillies at 7:20 pm on CSN and WGN Radio. Rich Harden (7-7, 4.41 ERA) vs J.A. Happ (8-2, 2.74 ERA). If the Cubs have ever needed a big start from Harden, tonight is the night. He needs to step up and pitch like the ace he used to be and end this losing streak. Happ is having a monster season, he was 8-0 at one point and would be running away with Rookie of the Year had he not burned all of his eligibility as a reliever at the end of last season. He is a good, young, left-handed pitcher, who will apparently remain in their rotation despite the additions of Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez (the other two pitchers we are set to face in this series). Since it is a night game, I see Harden giving us a strong outing tonight and getting the victory over the Northwestern University product, Happ.

Last night as I was listening to the first two innings of the game (I turned it off once Esmalian Caridad came in to pitch) I had a feeling that the Cubs season just ended, I hope I was wrong. Apparently, Aramis Ramirez has re-injured his shoulder and two things can happend: 1) DL and 2) Cortisone Shot, where he will miss a few more games, and return this weekend. The Cubs desperately need his bat in the line-up, but if he is not healthy, maybe it would be best just to shut him down, we do not need him jeopardizing his career on this injury. Plus, as of late he has not been hitting all that well, the shoulder clearly affects his swing. Also, what is the deal with Carlos Zambrano's back? With him on the DL now we have a rotation of Harden, Randy Wells, Ryan Dempster, Tom Gorzelanny, and Jeff Samardzija. If we have to go on with this rotation, the season is over! Luckily, it looks like Ted Lilly will be back this weekend, meaning Samardzija will only make one start and then move back to the pen or to Iowa. Gorzelanny is a huge question mark, he looked awful last night. Dempster is a gamer, but he is not good, so I do not get my hopes up whenever he starts a game. Wells has logged a lot of innings this season, I hope he is not starting to fade away, the Cubs need to be careful with his arm, he needs to be included in their plans for the future. With Lilly hopefully coming back with something left in the tank (he still leads the team in wins with 9!) and Z coming back we could be ok, but for now, guys like Harden, Demp, and the entire offense (especially Milton Bradley and Alfonso Soriano) need to step up and whether the storm and keep this team in contention.

Go Cubs!

Thank you Aaron Harang, again

Last night the Cubs bounced back from what I would call a demoralizing loss on Sunday night to the bastard Marlins with a 4-2 win over the familiar punching bag known as the Cincinnati Reds. Is it just me or have the Cubs owned the Reds recently? If I am not mistaken, this was four wins in a row against them, and two in a row against Aaron Harang. Harang actually did not pitch too poorly last night, the lone mistake he made was leaving a ball up in the zone against Mike Fontenot, who promptly launched it into the right-center bleachers, making the game 3-0 in the 2nd. That was really all the Cubs would need last night. Other than this, Harang was solid, he struck out 10 Cubs hitters: Alfonso Soriano twice (not surprising), Derrek Lee twice, and Koyie Hill THREE times (a few looking too). Some games, Hill looks like he has no intention of swinging the bat, like a pitcher, and just takes a ton of pitches to wear out the opposing pitcher, last night was one of those games. However, I am not really alarmed over the number of K's last night, Harang is among the league leaders in that category each year. Lee did come through with a clutch double in the 8th to score Fukudome, making the game 4-0, the Cubs could have done more that inning, but as usual they did not. Also, it was nice to see Fontenot step up and have a big game, he has really struggled lately, and I have been very critical of him on this site and others, last night's HR was BIG!

What can I say about Randy Wells? The guy is the man, seriously: 7.1IP, 6H, ER, 2BB, 5K. The only run he allowed came in the 8th, when he gave up a solo HR to Alex Gonzalez (not the former Cub). Seriously, I did not think Gonzo was capable of hitting one out, the pitch was a mistake, a little bit of a hanger. But that was the only blunder in an otherwise dominant performance, on National TV mind you. This game just did wonders for Wells' Rookie of the Year chances. ESPN was really kissing his ass after the game, noting that he has the most wins among MLB starters since June 21st, with 8. That is 8 straight wins for Wells, imagine what his record would be had he gotten any run support during his first couple of starts this season. With Colby Rasmus no longer an everyday player, Wells could run away with the ROY if he continues to pitch well. Wells improved his record to 8-4, 2.73 ERA. Basically Wells is pitching as well as Ryan Dempster did last year, while Dempster has struggled mightily this season. Hopefully Demp can revert to form (although I am highly skeptical) and give us a strong rotation down the stretch this season, making the Cubs a force to be reckoned with.

The bullpen last night was entertaining to say the least. Newly acquired, John Grabow, came in to finish the 8th and beaned the first batter he faced, Joey Votto, a lefty mind you. This was just a typical Cubs play, bringing in the lefty to face the other team's best hitter (also a lefty) and he plunks him on the first pitch. Then to top it off, he gets Brandon Phillips to ground into a double play to end the inning. Then in the 9th, Carlos Marmol made things really interesting: walking the lead-off hitter (as always), strikeout, single, flyout, RBI double, groundout. Marmol escaped allowing only one run and got his 4th save of the season. I guess this performance will quiet all of the Anti-Kevin Gregg people out there, for now. Marmol has been erratic all season and I really do not expect it to change. I can handle his ups and downs and most Cub fans should be able to as well, I mean two of our best closers ever were Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams and Rod Beck, both of whom always kept things interesting. It is the end result that matters and Marmol indeed got the save. Despite all of his wildness this season, there is no one else in our bullpen I would rather have out there with the game on the line than Marmol.

Additionally my friend Steve and I tried a new bar to watch the Cubs game, we chose Nick's Beer Garden in Wicker Park on Milwaukee Ave. Their special was $5 PBR can & "well" shot, we chose Vodka, and did multiple rounds. Not a bad deal at all, we were getting drunk quickly, and well vodka is not that bad, it was definitely better than the tequila I was about to try, before Steve stopped me. The rest of the patrons were as interesting as the game: the guy sitting next to us was in his mid-50's and a total bozo. He went through more than a whole bottle of Pinot Grigo by himself, what man drinks Pinot Grigio, at a bar? I could tell he was a complete ass due to the fact that he said he loves to "You-Tube Steve Goodman" and listen to songs about the pain and joy of being a Cubs fan. For those who do not know, Goodman is the writer of the song "Go-Cubs-Go", a song that I, and most of my friends detest. Also, this gentleman looked exactly like the Public Access Producer in Wayne's World and was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, generally a good sign that you are a weirdo. That guy probably went to McDonalds on his way home and cried over a double cheeseburger. Other than that guy, there were two women making out near the pool table for a solid hour or more. All the while the bartender had a sweet mix of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke going on her Ipod. Not my favorite place to watch a game, the place was not really designed to watch sports (they had the food network on when we came in), they only had two TVs, and no sound, but it was a good time nonetheless.

Up Next: Cubs vs Reds tonight at 6:10pm on CSN (Not WCIU, the Tribune gave me shotty information) and WGN Radio (my new way of taking in the games because my girlfriend doesn't have a TV). Tom Gorzelanny (3-1, 5.19 ERA) vs Johnny Cueto (8-8, 4.06 ERA). This is Gorzelanny's Cubs debut and I really do not know what to expect from the lefty tonight. He has not started in the majors since earlier in the season (April or May), was relegated to the bullpen, and has allegedly pitched well at Triple-A recently. Honestly, I do not expect much out him, I would take 5IP and 4ER, but who knows maybe he will go out there and throw a gem? Cueto is the Reds ace, escpecially since Edinson Volquez just got shut down for a year due to Tommy John Surgery. He was decent the last time we faced him and I am worried he is overdue for a strong start and the Cubs hitters have been a little weak the last two games. I guess we'll find out tonight, Go Cubs!

Cubs beat Astros 12-3, Acquire 2 pitchers from Pittsburgh

Kevin Hart we barely knew you... Hart earned his 3rd victory of the season improving to 3-1 with a quality start: 6IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K, he was also 1-3 at the plate. This was also Hart's final start in a Cubs uniform as he was traded after the game along with P Jose Ascanio and INF Josh Harrison (A) to the Pittsburgh Pirates (our favorite trading partner) for LHP John Grabow and LHP Tom Gorzelanny. Grabow, 30, was a highly sought after left-handed reliever who is 3-0, 3.42 ERA in 45 games this season for the Pirates. He is a lefty specialist who should be Lou Piniella's best left-handed option out of the bullpen for the rest of this season. Gorzelanny, 26, is a Chicago native (south-side, though) who has been a starter for most of his short career. This season he has been relegated to the bullpen with little success in only 9 games, he was on the DL/in the minors for the rest of the season, he has not pitched in the big leagues since June 10th. I do like this trade for the Cubs. Although Hart did give us 3 straight solid starts, I do not feel he was in the Cubs' long term plans, I also feel that Ascanio could develop into a solid set-up guy. The Cubs desperately needed a lefty set-up man, and Grabow fills that void. My guess is, B.J. Ryan was not too impressive at Iowa, or they plan to bring Ryan up as well, and move Sean Marshall (who did pitch today) back into the starting rotation to replace Ted Lilly/Hart. I am not quite sure where Gorzelanny fits into the Cubs future plans. He was a decent starter at times in his young career, hopefully he can get back on track, and provide some depth at starter for the Cubs. In my opinion the Cubs paid a high price for Grabow, but there was a demand for him throughout the league, hopefully this deal pays off for both clubs.

As for the game itself today, it was another blowout Cubs win. Things were tight early, but right on cue, Astros starter Russ Ortiz (who was walking a tightrope) finally caved and gave up 5 runs in the 3rd inning, after allowing 4 in the 2nd inning. This was the second day in a row that an Astros starter allowed 9ER. In the 2nd, Fukudome had an RBI single and Ryan Theriot would later add a 2-RBI double in the same inning. Hart let the Astros back in the game in the top half of the third giving up a 2-Run HR to Kaz Matsui, making the score 4-3, that was the last time the Astros would score.

In the bottom of the third Jake Fox and Milton Bradley hit back-to-back HR's to left-field. The Cubs were not done here, Alfonso Soriano followed with a single up the middle, and Mike Fontenot followed that with an RBI triple (after he looked like a douche popping out on a first pitch in his first at-bat). Next, Koyie Hill hit a Sac-Fly scoring Fontenot, this is all I really expect from Hill, any run production from him is a bonus, the man calls one hell of a game. After Hill, Hart got a base hit and later scored on a Fukudome RBI double. In all, the Cubs got 5 runs in the 3rd inning, which lasted about 40 minutes, no thanks to Ortiz, who is one of the slowest pitchers in MLB, much like Steve Trachsel.

The Cubs would go on to tack on another run in the 5th and two more in the 7th. In the end Fukudome probably had the best day among Cubs hitters going 3-3, 3B, 2B, 2 BB, 4RBI. Ryan Theriot also had a big day going 1-4 with 4RBI. That is very good production from the top of the order, I feel as if Lou should leave Fukudome in the lead-off spot against right-handed pitching for the remainder of the season. Soriano and Fontenot each had 2 hits apiece, Soriano even walked 2 times, and they both scored 2 runs apiece. Andres Blanco had a nice pinch-hit as well, he is due for some more playing time. The only Cub who had a bad day was Derrek Lee, but this was somewhat expected since he has struggled against Ortiz his whole career, he was 3 for 33 (.091) lifetime vs Ortiz, and did nothing to change that today. I am not at all concerned. Lee did make a phenomenal catch & tag on an errant throw from Theriot on a double-play, a crucial one actually, it came with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning, and saved Hart's day.

Furthermore, the bullpen was sharp today as well: Marshall, Mitch Atkins, and Kevin Gregg each pitched a scoreless inning. Atkins looked good once again, although most pitchers do when they are up by 9 runs. Gregg struck out the side and needed the work, he had not been used since Sunday afternoon, it was good to see Gregg pitch well/efficiently with a big lead (something he has struggled with this season).

This home-stand was a huge success for the Cubs who went 6 and 1 and are now 14 games over .500 at home this season. Now the Cubs embark on a 10-game road trip stopping in Florida, Cincinnati, and Colorado. The Cubs would like to take care of business on this trip and continue their good play from the last road trip. The Cubs will need to win not only to stay in the division race, but Florida and Colorado are also competing with the Cubs for the Wild-Card race, so these games are BIG.

Up Next: Cubs vs Marlins Friday night at 6:10pm on Comcast Sports Net and WGN Radio. Rich Harden (7-6, 4.55 ERA) goes against Kris Volstad (8-9, 4.44). Harden is coming off of 3 straight good starts, his most recent one, was proabably his best of the season. Tomorrow's game is a night game and we all know how well Harden pitches in those, hopefully he can keep up the good work tomorrow night. As for Volstad, I do not know too much about him: I know he is young and very talented, probably better than his numbers show, he is also a big/imposing figure on the mound. I expect tomorrow night's game to be a close one for sure. Hopefully the Cubs can keep their winning streak alive and start off their road-trip on a positive note with a win!
*Also, the demoralized Astros are headed to St.Louis for a weekend series with the suddenly hot Cardinals, who are fresh off a few victories (as I am writing this, we'll see about tonight's game) of the Dodgers (who suddenly look beat-able). Hopefully the Dodgers can help out the Cubs tonight with a win over the Cards and maybe the Astros can come back to life and at least compete with the Cards over the weekend, but that may be asking too much, they looked terrible in this series against the Cubs, their starting pitching other than Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez is pathetic.

Cubs win big in laugher over Astros

The Cubs did lose on Tuesday night, I do not really want to talk about that game, any game in which Ryan Dempster starts I feel the Cubs will lose, he is just not very effective. He got hit hard, I honestly thought he would give up 10 runs in that game. I guess the bullpen was brutal as well, the lone bright spot, if you could call it that was that Roy Oswalt hurt his back and had to leave the game in the second inning, therefore further taxing the Astros' bullpen.

Yesterday's game was complete domination by the Cubs. They got off to a quick start, scoring 6 runs in the first inning, highlighted by an Alfonso Soriano 3 run-HR. Reed Johnson also injured himself during his second at-bat of the inning fouling a ball off of his foot, and breaking his foot (he will miss at least a month). I expect Sam Fuld to be called up to replace Johnson, but I am not sure how much playing time he will see, due to the fact he is a lefty, and Soriano and Fukudome are playing well.

The Cubs offense all had a good day, everyone had a hit with the exception of Fukudome and Mike Fonetenot (who walked in his only at-bat). The game was essentially over after the first inning. Aramis Ramirez hit his 9th HR of the season and is really playing well as of late. Andres Blanco hit his first career HR in the 8th, well after the game was out of reach. Micah Hoffpauir may have gotten some of the critics off of his back with a triple, the first of his career. Also, Jake Fox, who came in to play for Soriano had a nice game with a Sac-Fly and an RBI single, they guy is a flat-out run producer. There are too many good things to say about the Cubs bats yesterday, what a great team effort! Since Ramirez's return the Cubs have scored 10+ runs three times, where they only had done so twice without him, we are seeing just how valuable he is to our line-up.

The pitching was the real story yesterday as Randy Wells went out and pitched 8 innings allowing no runs on 6 hits, walking two, and striking out only one. He was dominant to say the least, no baserunner reached second base against him until the 8th inning, his last. He pitched a lot of ground balls, resulting in 3 GIDP for the Astros. Wells earned his 7th win in 8 games and is now 7-4 with a 2.84 ERA on the season. Once he has enough innings pitched he could be near the league lead in ERA and a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. In addition to Wells, Mitch Atkins pitched the 9th in his MLB debut, he shook off a Jeff Baker error and induced yet another double play to end the game. From what I saw, Atkins did not look all that bad, he threw strikes (7 out of 8 pitches) and looked poised out on the mound. Hard to understand how this guy had a 6.92 ERA at AAA-Iowa, he was considered an outside chance to make the club out of spring training. I would expect to see Atkins again in September if he continues to pitch well.

Up next: The Cubs and Astros finish their 4 game series this afternoon at 1:20pm on WGN TV and Radio. Kevin Hart (2-1, 2.08 ERA) vs Russ Ortiz (3-5, 4.75 ERA). Hart has had back-to-back strong outings, I am not really sure if we can expect him to do it again? His track record in the minors would suggest he can not. But he has been keeping the ball down, all he really needs to do is go out there and keep his team in the ball game. I would like to see 6IP and 3ER, maybe 4ER. Russ Ortiz is a familiar face to the Cubs hitters, they have seen him twice already this season, winning once and losing once. The last time Ortiz had the Cubs' number, this time, I see them scoring some runs off of him, possibly a lot of runs. The Cubs have the Astros on the ropes, if Ortiz does not have his best stuff out there, he will have to remain in the game, due to the overuse of the Astros Bullpen, thanks to Oswalt's injury and Mike Hampton's turd of a start yesterday, not to mention the 13 inning game on Monday. If the Cubs can score a few runs today, like say 5, they should win this game and take three of four from the Astros. The Cubs are currently 1/2 game out of first place trailing the Cardinals who defeated the Dodgers in 15 innings last night, thank you LA for blowing the lead in the 9th you bunch of over-rated jerks! One last thing, Mark DeRosa looks like a dick in a Cards uniform.

Cubs defeat Astros in Grand fashion in 13 innings

Last night the Cubs needed to win, especially since St.Louis got lucky and beat the Dodgers. Last night before I left for the game, I was for some unexplainable reason watching Chicago Tribune Live (CTL) and Paul Sullivan, Cubs beat writer, said that Carlos Zambrano nudged him before the game, as he does when he is about to pitch well, or have his good stuff. Zambrano was right, he did have his good stuff last night: 7IP, ER, 3H, 4BB, 4K. He pitched quickly and was dominant at times, the only blunder was when he allowed at towering HR to fellow Venezuelan, Carlos Lee, on an 0-2 count. Seriously, that was one of the farthest hit balls I have ever seen to center field, it almost hit the the little camera box!

Furthermore, even the bullpen pitched well last night, combining for 6IP, OER, 2BB, 7K. Aaron Heilman actually pitched decently as did Carlos Marmol, neither walked anyone. Jeff Stevens for some reason pitched the 9th and most of the 10th inning allowing only 2 hits and striking out three, he showed good poise out on the mound in a tough spot, Kevin Gregg also probably needed a day off. Sean Marshall got out of a minor Stevens jam and only pitched 1/3 of an inning, Lou Piniella needs to figure out a way to get more out of him, he is vastly underused. Finally, Jeff Samardzija pitched the final two innings, he made things interesting in the 13th getting into a first and third one out jam, but was saved by a great Jake Fox catch of a high fastball, and a convenient Carlos Lee double play, to get out of the jam and eventually pick up his first win of the season. My guess would be either Samardzija or recently called up Justin Berg will be sent back down to make room for Ryan Dempster who is set to come off of the DL today and start tonight.

Last night the Cubs did not do too much offensively, mostly since they were facing lefty, Wandy Rodriguez, who seems to give them fits. The Cubs were 1-9 with RISP last night, looking like the Cubs of May/June, fortunately, the Astros were worse, going 0-7 with RISP. The lone Cubs run in the first 9 innings came when Derrek Lee hit a solo-HR to lead off the 4th inning, of course I was in the bathroom/getting an Old Style when this happened. But it continues to prove that I am Lee's good luck charm, he always seems to hit homers when I am in attendance. I can not believe he has 20 HR this season, what a pleasant surprise! Maybe he can give us 30+?

The rest of the Cubs did not look good last night, except Aramis Ramirez, who was 3-6 2B, R. D Lee managed to reach base 5 times last night. The top of the order did absolutely nothing as Reed Johnson and Ryan Theriot went a combined 0-12, Johnson is now hitting .243, Lou may want to consider not batting him lead-off anymore as he is not consistent enough. My suggestion against lefties would be to either bat Theriot or Milton Bradley first. Alfonso Soriano had a bad looking night as well, he grounded into a double play and failed to run out a grounder to third base (he thought he fouled it off his foot, but it did not look like it did) and really took a lot of heat from the fans, especially the ones in my area. In all fairness, he did make some nice catches in left field and did eventually win us the game (more on that later).

The Cubs should have won the game in the 9th when they had the bases loaded and one out for PH Mike Fontenot. Fontenot really screwed up, he failed to get a suicide squeeze (which I predicted before it happened to my Dad) down, leaving Bradley hung out to dry at third. Then hit a weak fly ball to center accomplishing nothing with his at-bat. Then later in extras he made a bad relay throw which allowed a Astros runner to reach third base, when he had all the time in the world to throw him out, Fontenot did his best last night to lose his team the game, thankfully his mistakes did not matter in the end. My point is, Fontenot should never have been out there in the first place. Lou had two much better options in the 9th: 1.) If he wanted to do the squeeze play he should have gone with Andres Blanco, who is on this team to do two things field and bunt (he is a good bunter) I guess Lou did not want to be obvious. 2.) Use Jake Fox and play for a Sac-Fly! Fox would have a better chance of making contact and hitting a fly ball, which was all we needed. I think Lou simply out-smarted himself. If Fontenot wants to continue to play in the major leagues as a light hitting second baseman, which he is, then he seriously needs to learn how to bunt and throw, before he costs the Cubs anymore games. Fonty is hitting a pedestrian .229, with Jeff Baker playing better and Blanco a better defender, how can Lou continue to justify playing Fontenot?

Finally, after Samardzija got out of the 13th the Cubs managed to load the bases for Alfonso Soriano, who like I mentioned was having an awful game. I was hoping for a Bradley walk-off, but really just wanted a win. With the Astros outfield drawn in, all Soriano had to do was hit a fly ball, and boy did he ever. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Astros pitcher, Chris Sampson had to throw Soriano strikes. Soriano responded by launching a Walk-OFF Grand Slam to the same spot Carlos Lee hit a HR in over the batter's eye in center field. Soriano posed at home plate to admire his HR and then slowly trotted around the bases savoring the moment and the cheers, he stutter-stepped around second, touched third with his hand, and then jumped into a crowd of teammates at home plate. What a finish to a great game, Soriano made us all forget about the awful game he'd had to that point, and more importantly the Cubs stayed in first place. The Cubs have now won 5 in a row and 9 of 11 overall.

Great game to be at last night, I did not get there in time to recieve the free luggage tags at the gate, because I opted for an Old Style Fan can and free hot-dog compliments of the Full Shilling. I went to the game with my Dad and sat in aisle 208 down the third base side, a solid view of the game and conveniently located near restrooms and beer stands. This was also at least the second if not third extra innings game I have been to this season.

My personal 2009 Cubs record: 8 and 3.
The next game I am going to as of right now: TBD.

Up next: The Cubs and Astros play again at 7:05 pm. Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.09 ERA) vs Roy Oswalt (6-4, 3.66 ERA). Dempster is making his first start since coming off of the DL today after breaking his toe celebrating a Cubs victory a few weeks ago. I am really not expecting much from Demp, I just hope his toe has healed, and that he is not rushing to get back. Oswalt is a good pitcher and his team could really use a win tonight. The Cubs have seen plenty of Oswalt over the years, hopefully he has on off night, and the Cubs can continue their winning streak!

The Cubs will have to make some moves

With Ted Lilly heading to the DL with a soar shoulder (thank goodness there is no tear) and for arthroscopic knee surgery, he will be out for at least 4-5 weeks. That leaves a gaping hole in the Cubs rotation. Ryan Dempster is set to come off of the DL to start on Tuesday, but for now it also means that Kevin Hart will remain in the rotation. Lou Piniella has said he would like to keep Sean Marshall in the bullpen, so for now, they're going to go with Hart as the 5th starter. This really worries me because Hart is not very good. He has not given up a lot of runs this season, but he does allow a lot of hits, and walks far too many men. I do not believe that the Cubs can win the division or the wild-card with Hart pitching every 5 days.

Therefore I feel the Cubs need to add a starting pitcher before the trade deadline, preferably a lefty to offset the loss of Lilly. Here are two ideas:
1.) Zach Duke, Pittsburgh Pirates: 9-9, 3.42 ERA, 3CG, 139 IP, 1.227 WHIP. Pretty good numbers considering he plays for the Pirates, career-wise he is 13 games under .500.
2.) Doug Davis, Arizona Diamondbacks: 4-10, 3.95 ERA, 118 IP, 1.496 WHIP. Davis is 33 years old and is 8 games under .500 for his career. His best seasons were with Milwaukee from 2004-06. He was also a key pitcher for the D-Backs in '07 going 13-12. He has not been as bad as his record would suggest this season, he got off to a terrible start, and does not get a lot of run support.

If the Cubs are smart, I think they would at least inquire about one, if not both of these guys. Milwaukee could be looking to add Davis as well, he is known as a Cub-Killer. Of the two, I would prefer Duke because he is 26 and has more upside.

Cardinals Acquire Matt Holliday

The St.Louis Cardinals have acquired OF Matt Holliday from the Oakland A's for 3 prospects, including the Cards' top hitting prospect. Yet another shady Oakland-St.Louis deal see:
1. Mark McGwire deal in 1997, total BS, St.Lou gave up basically nothing to get the then top slugger in MLB.
2. Mark Mulder to St.Louis in 2004. Mulder was at the time, one of the best pitchers in the game, few saw the injury problems ahead, well maybe Billy Beane. In return the A's got Dan Haren among others, Haren turned out to be a stud, he was later dealt to the D-Backs for more prospects, Haren is currently one of the premier pitchers in the NL.
3. Willie McGee to Oakland in 1990. McGee actually won the NL Batting Title in 1990 despite being traded to the AL at the deadline, he had enough at-bats, McGee was also the 1985 NL MVP. Nevertheless, the Cards did not get much in return, and McGee helped Oakland get to the World Series, where they eventually lost to Lou Piniella's Cincinnati Reds.

So maybe today's deal between the Cards and A's is the Cards getting paid back for McGee? Matt Holliday is hitting .286, 11Hr, 54 RBI, .378 OBP which is not actually that bad considering he plays in Oakland (and isn't on steroids like Miguel Tejada or Jason Giambi, Oakland is a bad hitters park!). He got off to a terrible start this season and is in the midst of his best stretch of the season. Holliday was a strong performer while with the Rockies, he was constantly near the top of the leaderboards in AVG, HR, and RBI each of the last few seasons. He also knows NL pitching. The Mark DeRosa deal has not worked out as well as the Cards had hoped, so they were forced to acquire another power bat to go with Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick. The only question is where are they going to play him, the outfield is getting pretty crowded in St. Louis with Ludwick, Rick Ankiel, Colby Rasmus, and Skip Schumacher already out there. Who would play right? Holliday I guess would have to play right. Hopefully for Cubs fans, Holliday stays in his funk from earlier in the season, if not it could be a long couple of months for the Cubs as we chase the Cards.

Maybe Tony LaRussa is why the Cards and A's do so many deals? I mean he has managed both of them to a World Series Title. Also, lots of teams make frequent deals together, the Cubs themselves send off their rejects to Baltimore for their mid-level prospects, examples: Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, Rich Hill, Joey Gathright, and Sammy Sosa for basically Mike Fontenot and Ryan Freel. And we did make multiple deals with the Pirates, a division rival, in 2003: getting Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton for Bobby Hill and Jose Hernandez, and later aquired Randall Simon for basically nothing. Point is, there are lots of shady trades in baseball, it is just when it comes to the Cards and A's there are usually some big names being traded for very little in return. Here's to the Cubs playing better baseball rendering this trade useless!

Perfect game, other thoughts

Today there was very little on T.V. so I found myself watching the first two innings of the White Sox game for some reason. Mark Buehrle was starting against the Tampa Bay Rays who struggle mightily against lefties and he retired the first 6 hitters. I was so into the game that I opted to watch a couple of episodes of Cheap Seats I have recorded on my DVR, featuring 1978 Superstars, which is a must see, Ron Cey running is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Also, Reggie Jackson, who was working for ABC at the time was filmed sitting shirtless in the crowd while he was supposed to be providing commentary and/or interviews.

Back to the game, as soon as I was finished with the Superstars I heard that Buerhle was working on a perfect game going into the 9th, so I decided to watch. Dewayne Wise made one of the best catches I have ever seen, it was Reed Johnson-esque as Wise robbed Gabe Kapler of a Home Run. Buerhle then struck out some guy named Michel Hernandez, a catcher whom I have never heard of and got another nobody, I believe Jason (I thought it was Josh) Bartlett to ground out weakly to shortstop. Mark Buerhle pitched the 16th perfect game in MLB history, his second no-hitter overall, congrats! As soon as the game ended Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who is a ridiculous person, began screaming "Yes, Yes, Yes,!" it sounded like he was having an orgasm on air. I do not think I can handle all of the media attention this is going to cause, especially on Comcast Sports Net and their awful White Sox Broadcast and Post-Game Crews featuring Chuck Garfein.

As for the team I actually do care about, the Cubs have the day off today after a successful 7-game road trip to the east coast where they won 5 of 7. The Cubs begin a 3-game weekend series with the Reds tomorrow afternoon at 1:20 on CSN. Randy Wells (5-4, 3.00 ERA) vs Aaron Harang (5-10, 4.17). Harang apparently has not won a game since May 25, a streak of 11 starts. He also pitches for a poor offensive team who does not score a whole lot of runs for him. Harang is a dangerous pitcher, who can dominate at times, and strike out a lot of hitters. If I were the Cubs I would be wary of Harang, who is due to break out of his slump. Wells has been just OK recently, I am curious to see how he will pitch tomorrow, at the very least I would expect a quality start from him. I hope the Cubs can take 2 of three from the Reds, minimum. But I am not too optimistic since we have Kevin Hart, who walks too many hitters, starting on Sunday. Ted Lilly is starting on Saturday and is coming off of his worst start in awhile, he usually has bad starts in bunches, so he could give us another one on Saturday. Lilly always seems to have 3 or 4 good starts followed by 1 or 2 bad ones. Hopefully Wells gets the team off to a good start tomorrow. The Cubs will face the Reds ace (arguably) Johnny Cueto on Saturday and punching-bag Micah Owings on Sunday.

I will be very curious to see what Lou Piniella does with the line-up this weekend. Will Milton Bradley start all three games or none? Will he find his left-handed swing, has he had enough time to fix it with Lou? I guess we will see this weekend. Koyie Hill can not really hit, I think we all know this, I think that Lou should give Jake Fox the start on Saturday or Sunday, just to see what happens, and to give Hill some rest. I have been critical of Jeff Baker in the past, but he is starting to show some promise at second base, Lou should find a way to get him in the line-up this weekend.

A week from now is the trading deadline, I will be interested to see what the Cubs will do, although I could honestly see them doing nothing. At the very least I think they need to acquire another catcher, preferably one who can hit their weight, maybe he could even be left-handed? Is Rob Bowen still available? Among other needs: relief pitcher, preferably a lefty, we do have B.J. Ryan, but I do not expect to get much out of him. I still think the team could use another right-hander in the pen as well, Aaron Heilman is basically worthless, and Jeff Samardzija is too unreliable and inconsistent. What would happen if Angel Guzman got hurt again? I have not seen enough of Jeff Stevens yet. Lou wants another lefty-power bat, but where is this person going to come from, and where would the Cubs play him anyways? Dream on Lou, I think you are basically stuck with this line-up. Lou wanted this type of team and he got it, he can with it, but it is not going to be easy.

And finally I just wanted to comment on how big of a tool Rick Reilly of ESPN (formerly of SI) is. He wrote an article this week whining about Tiger Woods' golf course etiquette i.e. swearing ( a lot of on camera F-bombs and throwing clubs). Guess what Rick? This happens in golf all the time, at least with the people I play with, including myself! How about you do not mic-up Woods? It is not like the guy is that interesting anyways, c'mon. Does anyone really care about what Woods says or does on the course? Because I don't. I am really tired of Rick Reilly's bullshit, I can not believe ESPN even allows him on television.

And we're back!

The Cubs may just be back in this thing after a sweep of the lowly Washington Nationals. As of today the Cubs are 2 GB in the NL Central behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals, but we are even in the loss column. The Cubs were supposed to beat the Nats and they took care of business. Yesterday we got a 7-run 4th inning, reminiscent of last season, where the hits just kept coming. The big lead we staked Kevin Hart was enough for him to get the win.

For the second day in a row, Alfonso Soriano, who had been left for dead by most Cubs fans, hit a HR, this one was also a game-winner. Soriano's HR's the last two days were also hit in key situations, yesterday's especially, since it was after an error, Soriano made the Nats pay. If Soriano can stay "hot" then the Cubs have a chance to get back in this division race in a hurry. Micah Hoffpauir and Mike Fontenot had three hits apiece yesterday, which was great to see, since both had been slumping for some time, but they both seem to be reverting back to their old form (which is good). Throughout the series Hoffpauir saw a lot of playing time and did well, combining multiple hits with surprisingly strong fielding in the outfield and at first base. Props go out to Jake Fox who just keeps hitting when given the opportunity, yesterday he hit a 3-run HR that basically put the game out of reach for the Nats. Fox has hit when given the chances, he's hitting .326 on the season with 5 HR and 19 RBI in only 86 ABs. Too bad Cubs management did not call him up right away when Aramis Ramirez went down with an injury. Anyhow, Fox brings a positive attitude, energy, and hustle to an otherwise dull team, he has basically taken the place of Mark DeRosa.

Even the Cubs pitching was top-notch against the Nats, who are a good hitting ball club. Rich Harden had one of his better outings of the season on Thursday. Carlos Zambrano despite a bad first inning and lack of his best stuff, did just enough to win on Friday, including his 2RBI. On Saturday night Randy Wells was not as sharp as he could be but still got the win, thanks to some run support (finally) and despite Aaron Heilman's best efforts to blow the game. By the way, Heilman needs to be shown the door out of town. Every time he comes into the game I cringe, if he does not blow the lead, he will make sure to at least walk a few guys and give up hits to make it interesting. Jeff Samardzija has pitched well as of late, let him and/or Jeff Stevens take Heilman's place in the bullpen. And to think that Heilman thought he could still be a starter at the beginning of the season, HA! Well maybe he could start for the Nats? Finally, yesterday Kevin Hart gave us 5 solid innings, despite walking 5 again (he did the same thing vs Atlanta a few weeks ago) and got his first win of the season, as well as his first hit and RBI, congrats. Here is another thought, couldn't we move Hart back to the bullpen once Ryan Dempster returns from the DL? He too would be an upgrade over Heilman.

After sweeping the Nats the Cubs appear to be back. All except for Milton Bradley who is now taking private hitting lessons from Lou Piniella and will not likely play until Wednesday afternoon, when we face a lefty starter, and he can bat right-handed. I really hope that Lou can help Bradley get back on track from the left side of the plate, Bradley has been so unproductive at times, he is starting to remind me of Todd Hundley. At least Bradley has played a decent right field and takes a lot of walks, hence he is second on the team in OBP at .372, just behind new lead-off hitter Fukudome who is at .377 and has been really good at leading off despite his lack of base stealing ability. For the record, Lou should keep Fukudome at lead-off as long as he continues to hit and keep Soriano at the 6 spot for the remainder of his career. I do not like Reed Johnson batting lead-off against lefties though, he just does not get on base enough, and is too streaky. I would like to see Ryan Theriot get a look at lead-off vs lefties with Bradley batting second or vice-versa.

This is my first post since July 10th, I decided to give myself my own All-Star Break. I did go to game one of the double-header vs the Cardinals on July 12th it was awesome. Got in line for bleacher seats early ready to go with a can of Arizona Iced Tea's Arnold Palmer Drink mixed with Gordon's Vodka, a choice pre-game drink if you ask me. They did not let us in the stadium until 11:05 am because on double-header days you can only enter one hour before game-time. Nevertheless once we were in we sprinted up the stairs and got second row seats in left-center, but closer to left. We were treated to a nice Cubs win, highlighted by a Hoffpauir 3-Run HR and a Zambrano GW- HR. What a game, the rest of the details are a little fuzzy for me, I had plenty of Beck's, and got a lot of sun.

My personal 2009 Cubs record: 7 and 3.
The next game I am going to as of right now: Monday July 27th at 7:05 vs Houston. Not sure where the seats are yet, but I want to get there early so I can get my Cubs luggage tags at the gate.

What the new Cubs owner should do...

Cuba has confirmed that prized LHP Ardolis Chapman has defected. He managed to defect while the Cuban team was playing in a tournament in the Netherlands. Chapman is said to have a a fastball that touches 100 mph and is rated as one of the top left-handed pitchers in the world. If I were new Cubs owner, Tom Ricketts, I would make a strong effort to sign this guy. Chapman is only 21 years old (allegedly) and is the best pitching prospect to leave Cuba since Jose Contreras. The Cubs could really use a young, talented left-handed starting pitching prospect with this kind of potential. The Cubs are not really as deep at starting pitching beyond this season, I do not expect Rich Harden to remain a Cub beyond this season. Who knows how good Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, or Kevin Hart will do over a full season? Who knows how good Randy Wells will be beyond this season, or even in the second half? Carlos Zambrano's early retirement in a few years? With all of these question marks, the Cubs should make it a priority to sign Chapman, it is going to cost a lot of money, but it would be worth the risk.

Cubs Roster Move

The Cubs sent down P Kevin Hart today and called up reliever Jeff Stevens from Iowa, Stevens was acquired from Cleveland in the Mark DeRosa trade. I really do not know much about Stevens other than the fact that he is 0-3 at Iowa with a 2.18 ERA, who knows how this will translate in the big leagues? The Cubs called him up because they needed an extra reliever for the 4-game weekend series with the Cardinals, including a double-header on Sunday. With the All-Star Break coming up, Hart was no longer needed here, he is set to return to the Cubs and start a game after the break. The Cubs need to be careful with Hart, I am not sure how many more options he has left.

Also, Jason Waddell is due to come off of the DL, and will return to Iowa. I assume if he pitches well down there, he will return to the Cubs as their lefty specialist out of the bullpen, and Sean Marshall can return to the rotation to replace injured Ryan Dempster, instead of Hart. I would much rather have Waddell back in the pen over Neal Cotts or B.J. Ryan.

I am tired of Shaq's Bullshit

Shaq is asking fans on Twitter what his new nickname should be: The Big Witness or Shaquilier (a not so clever play on the word Cavalier). My question is who gives a shit? I am so tired of Shaq, all he does is bounce around from contender to contender just so he can get a shot to one-up Kobe Bryant with another title. Too bad Shaq is not that good anymore, all he does is latch on to superstars see: Penny Hardaway, Kobe, Dwyane Wade, and Steve Nash. I wish this clown would just retire so I don't have to hear about his Twitter updates on Sportscenter anymore. Seriously what a jerk, I bet he sucks in Cleveland too.

Cubs lose to Braves 4-1in a real yawner

The Cubs game yesterday was a real yawner, I know because I was there. Their lone run came on a Fukudome solo HR in the 6th inning. Kevin Hart was recalled from AAA- Iowa to replace injured starter Ryan Dempster who is on the DL with a broken toe. Hart was not too bad: 5IP, ER, 4H, 5BB, 3K. It could have been worse for Hart, he pitched out of a few jams, and did not get much help. Hart did not get much help defensively as Derrek Lee let a grounder get over him, it was ruled a double, but it should have been an error, he is supposed to make that play. Fukudome and Jake Fox (who started in LF) also both let balls get by them, Fox's lack of defensive skills are starting to show. The umpires, specifically the second base umpire, blew multiple calls that favored the Braves. The first was when Fukudome was ruled out at second on a double play ball hit by Ryan Theriot, it was clear from my seats that Fukudome was safe. Then later in the game Casey Kotchman was ruled safe on a similar play, when he was clearly out, if you follow the in the neighborhood "rule" at second base. Derryl Cousins needs to get his eyes checked, he is a complete ass. Nevertheless, the Cubs never really deserved to win the game yesterday, they did not hit the ball, again.

With Ryan Dempster on the DL we need to do something about the rotation, Kevin Hart is not the answer. I would like to see Lou Piniella either bring Sean Marshall or Jeff Samardzija into the rotation, preferably Marshall of the two. If Mitch Atkins starts to perform better at Iowa, he could be a possibility as well, especially since Marshall has been pitching so well out of the pen, and he is our only lefty in the pen. The Cubs would have to add another lefty to the pen if they move Marshall to the rotation, I am not sure when Jason Waddell is due back from the DL, or if Neal Cotts is still considered a big-league pitcher. I have heard rumors that recently released B.J. Ryan (Toronto and fomerly of Baltimore) could be had for the league minimum, similar to Jim Edmonds' deal last season. Ryan likely is not the answer, he has battled major arm injuries the last few seasons, and does not have much left in the tank, I guess it could be worth a look though.

I was wondering why Geovany Soto was not in the line-up yesterday, especially since Koyie Hill started the night before, apparently fat-boy strained his oblique in batting practice. The club is not sure if he will have to go on the DL yet and Fox is the backup there for now. If Soto does have to go on the DL the Cubs will be in trouble, we do not have much depth at Catcher in the organization, it would be similar to our catching situation of 2007. I hope he is ok, but oblique injuries can be troublesome.

Furthermore, Jeff Baker sucks. Why did we trade for this guy? What happened to Andres Blanco? I know he does not hit all that well, but he can really field, unlike Mike Fontenot and Baker. Blanco deserves to play over both of these clowns.

The Cubs are off today and they need their rest, they start a 4-game weekend series with the Cardinals tomorrow. This is a huge series, if the Cubs do well, they'll be right back in the division race. The Cubs are back to .500, again, at 41-41.

I did go to the game yesterday, it was fun, and cheap. My friend Nick and I scored Standing Room Only Seats for $15 and snuck in a flask of Vodka which we mixed with Tropicana Lemonade. We were easily able to sneak down to seats in section 231 and enjoy the game. Also, the Italian Beef Sandwiches at Wrigley are pretty tight. It is rare that I go to a game, have a good time, and spend less than $40, which in these economic times, is a really good deal.

My personal 2009 Cubs record: 6 and 3.
The next game I am going to as of right now: Sunday July 12th at 12:05pm vs St. Louis.
*There is a possibility I will be going to both games of the double-header on Sunday. As of right now I have bleacher tickets for the morning game so I will be waiting in line early on Sunday morning with an alcoholic beverage in hand.

Cubs Win again, other thoughts

Last night the Cubs hung in there and defeated the Braves 4-2 against a very tough pitcher, Jair Jurrjens. We were lucky to avoid Jurrjens when we went to Atlanta, he has been one of the best pitchers in the league this season. Last night however was not one of his best days and the Cubs made him pay for it. It seemed as if Jurrjens was having control problems, although you could sense he was not too happy with the home-plate umpire. From what I could tell, the umpire did miss a few calls, but it was even for both teams, he was not calling low pitches for strikes either way. Jurrjens was just a little bit off last night and the Cubs took advantage scoring 4 runs off of him.

Our new lead-off guy, Fukudome got things started last night with a nicely hit single to left, and was then sacrificed over to second base by Ryan Theriot (I loved this play, playing for the one run against a good pitcher is never a bad idea!). Then Derrek Lee hit yet another HR to left field to make 2-0. That was Lee's 5th HR in the last 6 games and his 16th this season, he also has 53 RBIs, both lead the team. Lee is hitting as well as I have seen him hit since his monster season in 2005, no joke, I do not remember the last time Lee looked so confident at the plate, or hit with this kind of power. If Lee keeps this up, 30HR and 100 RBI is within reach, something I never thought he could do before the season started, or even after May. Seriously though, if this team is going to go anywhere this season, Lee needs to hit the baseball.

The Cubs then added two insurance runs in the second inning, all with two outs. Mike Fontenot (who I thought could have been sent down) got the rally started with a single, which was followed by a Randy Wells single. Fontenot would then score on a Fukudome double (a very hard hit ball). Wells would later score on a Theriot infield single to make it 4-0 and that was all the Cubs would need.

Four runs was plenty last night, especially with Randy Wells pitching for the Cubs: 6IP, 2ER, 7H, 4K, BB, just another typical Wells start, he improved to 4-3, 2.48 ERA. Wells probably did not have his best stuff last night, but he battled. He got into a big jam in the 4th after Fontenot could not get to a grounder and a high-line-drive that hit his glove (Andres Blanco makes at least one of those plays if not both). Then Wells himself made a rare error, his first, to load the bases with one out. Wells was able to escape allowing only one run. Wells also allowed a solo-HR to Nate McLouth in the 5th. Wells did his job last night, his team spotted him a few runs early (something they seem to rarely do for Wells), and he gave them a chance to win the ballgame with yet another quality start. Eventually when Wells has enough innings pitched to qualify, he will be among the league leaders in ERA. He is flying so far under the radar it is ridiculous, seriously! This guy should be a lock for N.L. Rookie of the Year, but I am sure he will continue to go unnoticed. Example: Head SI.com Baseball Writer, Jon Heyman (Big-time East Coast Bias) wrote his Mid-Season Awards article yesterday and listed his top-five ROY candidates in each league, and he failed to mention Wells. His list was ridiculous and sad, here it is, with my comments on each player:
1.) Colby Rasmus, St. Louis: .282 avg, 13HR, 32 RBI, not that impressive, not enough run production, despite playing in a hitters park.
2.) Tommy Hanson, Atlanta: 4-0, 2.26 ERA in 6 starts. Very comparable to Wells and has only made six starts, this kid is supposed to be the real deal though.
3.) Casey McGehee, Milwaukee: .343 avg, 6HR, 27 RBI. Seriously Jon? MLB generally does not vote older journeyman rookies as ROY. Also, I would be shocked if McGehee continues to hit, unless he faces Jeff Samardzija every time.
4.) Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh: .295 avg, HR, 20RBI in 31 games. McCutchen was not called up until the Pirates dealt McLouth. He looks pretty good, but I would need to see more, he may not have the numbers at the end of the season, expect the average to fall slightly, plus he plays for the Pirates.
5. Ronald Belisario, Los Angeles: 1-3, 2.42 ERA. Has anyone ever heard of this guy? Has very similar numbers to Angel Guzman (is he still considered a rookie?). When I saw his name, I thought we were talking about Donald P. Bellisario, creator and producer of Magnum P.I. It seems like Heyman was really reaching on this one.

Heyman's list looks like it was lifted from some pre-season list of candidates, based purely on numbers, I do not understand how he could not have included Wells?

Finally back to the Cubs... I really like the roster moves they made yesterday. I had no problem sending down Sam Fuld or Kevin Hart. David Patton going to the DL seems a little fishy to me, I know they can not send him down because he was a Rule-5 pick, but what ever it takes to keep him I guess. It was good to see Aramis Ramirez, who was 0-4 and was the only Cub starter to not reach base, back in action last night, our line-up missed him dearly. I like the Cubs decision to only have 11 pitchers on the staff right now, especially considering how well our rotation has pitched all season, here's to us not playing a bunch of extra-inning games before the All-Star Break! I also really like Lou Piniella's decision to drop Alfonso Soriano in the order and moving Fukudome to lead-off, well played. Soriano was killing this team, let him figure things out lower in the order, and he did get a double last night. Fukudome has looked great leading off, it looks like he is comfortable there, and that his work with Von Joshua has paid off. The only question I have for Lou is who bats lead-off against lefties? Reed Johnson? And lastly, Congrats to Ted Lilly on making the All-Star team! He deserves to go more than any other Cub, well maybe I could argue for Theriot or Wells.

Up Next: The Cubs and Braves play game two of a three game series tonight at 7 pm on WGN. Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.09 ERA) faces off against Javier Vazquez (5-7, 3.05 ERA). Dempster is coming off of a win over the weekend, although he allowed 5 runs. Vazquez has been solid all season, but is just not getting enough run support, let me get my violin. I would think this game has the makings of another low scoring game, especially considering the Cubs never hit Vazquez all that well, but who knows. Luckily the Braves are not playing very well right now, so there is a chance Dempster can shut them down, not to mention the Cubs are on a roll at home right now. But I am not getting too excited, the Cubs are under .500 this season when playing on WGN. The Cardinals and Brewers are playing each other, lets see if we can make up some ground!

Cubs Roster Move

The Cubs made a trade with the Colorado Rockies today sending P Alberto Alburquerque to the Rockies and getting IF Jeff Baker in return. Baker is a second baseman who can also play at 3B or 1B if needed, he bats right, and throws right. This season in 12 games, Baker is hitting .130 with 3RBI, he sounds like he will fit in just fine with the Cubs. Baker has been on the DL since late April, he is set to join the team today. The Cubs have not said if he will remain on the DL, start his rehab stint, or join them immediately. He is coming off of his best season in 2008 with 12HR and 48 RBI and he will be a bench player for the Cubs. The Cubs will have to make a corresponding roster move to make room for Baker, my guess is that Aaron Miles or Ryan Freel is finished (YES!). I do not know anything about Alburquerque other than that he was a pitcher for us at A- Daytona.

So we took care of the Pirates, big deal

The Cubs took 2 of 3 games from the Pirates in Pittsburgh to finish up 3-7 on their road trip. This was a terrible road trip for the Cubs, losing to Atlanta in a make-up game, getting swept by Detroit, and losing 2 of 3 to the White Sox. The Pirates are not a very good team (as evidenced by their recent trades) so we were supposed to beat them. Now the Cubs are back in Chicago for an 11-game home stand which includes a 4 games vs Milwaukee, 3 vs Atlanta, and 4 vs St. Louis. This is their most important stretch of games so far this season, if the Cubs are going to make any noise in the Division, now is the time to make a move.

Last night the Cubs beat the Pirates 4-1 behind a strong pitching performance by Randy Wells: 7IP, ER, 6H, BB, 4K, his record is now 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA. Wells has been very consistent since being called up from AAA, in his 10 starts only one could be considered bad. It feels like every time he goes out there, the Cubs have a very good chance of winning. Wells is quietly building up quite the case for Rookie of the Year. Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless 8th, he beaned the lead-off hitter, but got out of the inning unscathed. Kevin Gregg pitched an efficient 9th for his 14th save.

Offensively the Cubs looked good, and why shouldn't they, I mean they were facing Virgil Vasquez. Sam Fuld, who started in place of Alfonso Soriano, and lead-off, got the game started with a double down the line. Fuld looked like a real lead-off man! This is what your lead-off hitter is supposed to do, not swing at anything, and always look for homers. Fuld would come around to score on Derrek Lee's towering HR to center, his 12th of the season, he is also the first Cub to reach 40 RBI this season, so he is kinda like a dwarf among midgets. But the HR was great to see, Lee seems to be back on track for good, I hope he can keep it going on this upcoming home stand. The Cubs did not score again until the 6th when Fukudome hit a solo-HR to right, he hit the ball hard 3 times off of Vasquez, and looked like he was really seeing the ball clearly. Then in the 8th Geovany Soto hit a clutch single with RISP to score Milton Bradley from second, he was safe by a split-second at the plate. Four runs was enough to win the game easily, considering how well Wells pitched. Generally when the Cubs score at least 4 runs they are very successful.

Sam Fuld had a very good night 2-4, 2B, BB, R. He collected his first MLB hit and made a great throw to the plate to prevent a would-be Pirates run from scoring. I am by no means suggesting we sit Soriano (unless they wanna put him on the DL) but Fuld looked like a real lead-off hitter last night, which was nice to see. Fuld plays a little bit like Scott Podsednik, but is a better fielder, with a better arm. I would not be surprised at all if Fuld played again tonight. Ryan Theriot, Fukudome, and Soto each had two hits apiece, Soto had a 3B, the third of his career. Theriot and Lee both grounded into double plays, Theriot has done that a lot this season, I would not be surprised if he leads the team, for Lee it was only his 3rd of the season. Lee has improved greatly in that category from last season, the reason: he is hitting more fly-balls. Len Kasper said Lee hit a career high 240 ground balls last season and this season Lee made an effort to hit the ball in the air more often.

Furthermore, how could I forget Lou Piniella! Lou treated us with his first outburst/ejection of the season in the 6th inning of last night's game. He was arguing a play at first where Wells was called out but appeared to be safe on a close play. Earlier in that sequence Wells hit a ball right down the third base line that was ruled foul, it seemed as if Lou thought it was fair. Lou went out to argue these calls to stand up for his rookie pitcher. Wells responded nicely throwing a scoreless 6th and 7th innings where he looked very sharp. It was not one of Lou's best or funniest blow-ups, but he had to go out there, those were questionable calls at best.

Up Next: Cubs vs Brewers @ 7:05 on CSN and MLB Network (its the Thursday Night Baseball Game with Matt Vasgersian and Dan Plesac calling the game). Ryan Dempster (4-5, 4.09 ERA) is pitching agains Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55 ERA). You know how I feel about Dempster, so I will not bash him here, but he needs to start performing. I really do not expect much out of Dempster anymore these days, I would take a quality start, but I do not expect one. The Cubs have seen a lot of McClung the past few seasons, but as a reliever, not a starter. I am not exactly sure why they converted him to a starter anyway? But anywho, the Cubs should be able to score a few runs off of him, he is not that good of a pitcher. This is the first game of a four game series, the Cubs come in at 37-38 and 3.5 games behind the first-place Brewers who are 42-36. Now would be an ideal time for the Cubs to start playing well and get back in this Division race. Beware though, the Brewers are a good road-team with a 20-18 road record this season. The Cubs will not have to face the Brewers' ace, Yovani Gallardo in this series.