Cubs defeat Padres 6-4 in rain shortened game

Last night the wind was howling out of Wrigley Field, it had been for hours, I had been walking around the stadium before the game with my girlfriend trying to find the Jones Soda Guy giving out free sodas, he was a no show, I will never drink that soda again!

As for the game itself Cubs starter, Ted Lilly, got off to a slow start in the first inning allowing a single and a wind-assisted HR to Adrian Gonzalez to left field. Lilly would recover nicely only allowing one more run, his line: 6.1IP, 3ER, 8H, 7K's. He kept hitters off balance all night and did a great job keeping the ball in the park, despite the windy conditions. He was probably lucky he was facing such a soft lineup. The third run he allowed was a solo-HR to Adrian Gonzalez, again. Lilly got his team-high 5th win of the season improving to 5-2.

The Cubs bats got off to a hot start in the bottom of the first, starting with a Alfonso Soriano lead-off HR to Waveland Ave. The next batter, Ryan Theriot then hit a HR to left-center, this one was clearly aided by the wind, but I will take it! Later in the inning, Geovany Soto knocked in Milton Bradley with a RBI single to give the Cubs the lead. The Cubs would lead the rest of the way in this game. In the third inning, Soto finally hit his first HR of the season, scoring Bradley again. In the fourth inning, Theriot hit his second HR of the game, a solo shot to left.

Even our bullpen did a decent job last night. Angel Guzman, who is improving by the day, relieved Lilly in the 7th, and allowed no runs in 0.2IP. Carlos Marmol earned his 3rd save of the season by pitching the 8th, he allowed one run on a fluke Jody Gerut single, he did have two walks as well, and looked less than stellar. It was after this half inning that the game was sent into Rain Delay and subsequently called a final.

My thoughts on this game: Kudos to Geovany Soto, who I have been quite critical of this season. He was 2-3, HR 3RBI's (all 3 RBI's came with two outs). This was by far his best game of the season. Hopefully he has found his hitting stroke, we could really use his bat (especially when he is hot) with Aramis Ramirez out of the line-up. Derrek Lee had another bad night going 0-4, he is hitting .194 on the season. His .194 batting average ties him with Bradley. I have a lot of friends who have been critical of Bradley all season for his poor average, so hopefully they will be just as critical of Lee. I would hope Lou Piniella has the sense to play Micah Hoffpauir today. Lee has been consistently horrible at the plate and is even booting plays in the field: he allowed a ball to drop in behind him on what should have been an easy play down the right field line. Lee can no longer hit, he does not belong in the 3 spot. Lou dropped Bradley to six, now he needs to switch them back or just do the smart thing and bench Lee.

This afternoon the Cubs look for a sweep of the Padres. Ryan Dempster is pitching for us and is due for a good start, he has been awful lately. This Padres line-up is a joke, if Dempster is for real, he needs to shut these guys down. Former Cub, Chad Gaudin, is starting for the Padres. I am assuming he would like to stick it to Lou.