Cubs end road losing streak, beat Braves 3-2 in 11 innings

The Cubs finally ended their 7 game road losing streak last night, defeating the Atlanta Braves 3-2 in 11 innings. This was their second extra innings game in as many nights, this time the Cubs came away with the victory. I did not think the Cubs would do much against Atlanta's Derek Lowe and I was right, they only got two runs off of him in the 4th inning and they could have gotten more. Ted Lilly pitched very well once again: 7IP, ER, 2R, 6H, 7K, BB. Lilly's problem all year has been allowing home-runs. Fortunately for him, the Braves have very little power in their line-up, and Turner Field is a pitcher's park. Actually, Turner Field is taylor-made for Lilly's pitching style. Lilly got a no-decision, but he held the Braves line-up in check, and gave his team a very good chance to win, he has been pitching like our ace most of the season. Lou may have left him in there a little too long last night, he gave up one run in the 6th, and was clearly tired. Inexplicably, Lou Piniella left him out there for the 7th inning too, and he allowed another run, although un-earned. However, it was Lilly who made the error, his fourth this season. Lilly left the game with the score tied 2-2. Lou had no problem leaving Lilly out there for one inning too many, he always seems to do this, whether its Ryan Dempster or Carlos Zambrano. Too bad Lou did not leave Randy Wells out to at least finish the 8th inning on Tuesday night.

Offensively, the Cubs did just enough to win last night. It was going to be tough for them to score anything on Lowe, but they managed to push two runs across in the 4th inning. With the bases loaded, Mike Fontenot hit a double to deep left-center, scoring Ryan Theriot and Fukudome. Unfortunately the Cubs could not get any more runs in the 4th or off of Lowe. Derrek Lee had one of his better games of the season going 2-3 2BB, R. D-Lee was on base 4 times last night and had two singles, he also scored what turned out to be the game winning run on a Micah Hoffpauir pinch-hit opposite field single in the 11th inning (off of a left-handed pitcher too!). Lee got into scoring position on a real heads-up play, tagging up from first base on a Foul-Out to deep left-field. It was great to see Lee hustling and leading by example. Reed Johnson singled to left, advancing Lee (who had to hold up) to third base. Then Hoffpauir came up with a clutch pinch-hit. This was also very good to see, Hoffpuir has not seen a lot of action lately, especially against left-handers. What was even better was that Hoffpuir did not try to do too much with his at-bat, he hung in there against the lefty, and just flipped a blooper the other way into left, scoring Lee easily. I know how valuable Fukudome is in right field, but I would really like to Hoffpauir getting more regular at-bats.

Additionally the bullpen pitched well last night. Carlos Marmol recovered from his disasterous outing on Tuesday and pitched an efficient/perfect 8th inning. Angel Guzman pitched the next two innings allowing only one hit and walking nobody, his ERA is down to 2.49, he also picked up his second win of the season, improving his record to 2-0. Guzman is becoming one the better set-up men in the league, hopefully he can keep up the good work. This is good to see, Guzman has been a top-prospect in the Cubs' system for the better part of this decade, and has always had great stuff. Injuries unfortunately have set him back greatly, it is nice to see him finally having some success. Finally, Kevin Gregg pitched a perfect 9th inning for his 9th save of the season.

Other thoughts: I like that Koyie Hill got the start for Geovany Soto, I would like to see more of this. What has happened to Ryan Theriot's speed? He was gunned down easily attempting to steal second base on a strike 'em out-throw 'em out to end one inning. He also grounded into TWO double plays! As I recall, Theriot has grounded into quite a few double plays this season, when did he turn into Derrek Lee of 2008? Also, Alfonso Soriano looks awful running the bases and playing the field. Clearly his knee is bothering him and affecting his play more than he is telling people. He led the game off with a single to left, but that should have been an easy double, especially for Soriano. Instead he limped awkwardly around first base and was held to a single and then erased on a double play. Lou likely would have bunted Soriano over to second, but with him running so slowly, he'd likely be thrown out at second. Maybe it is time for Soriano to take a few days off or go to the DL. It is not like he is hitting, .243 AVG, and .301 OBP, which are terrible numbers for a lead-off hitter. I know Soriano is trying to step up with Ramirez out, but lately he is hurting the team more than he is helping the team. Milton Bradley who is out with a calf injury is listed as day-to-day and could return as early as this weekend in Cincinnati. If Bradley does not improve by the weekend, he could be placed on the DL.

Up Next: The Cubs finish their series with Atlanta tonight at 6:10pm. Carlos Zambrano is making his return from his suspension tonight, I am not really sure what to expect from him. He pitched very well before being ejected last week vs Pittsburgh, I would think that given the Braves weak line-up and Turner Field, that he will pitch well tonight. Pitching for Atlanta is Jair Jurrjens (5-2, 2.59 ERA) who I do not know much about, but I hear he is good, and is having his best season. The Cubs will again have to work hard to score runs tonight and capitalize with men in scoring position.

Note: This will be my last post of the week. I will be leaving Chicago for the weekend to attend a wedding. My next post at the earliest will be on Sunday.