Cubs get rocked by Dodgers 8-2, split series

Sunday night's game was over after the top of the first, when the Dodgers came out swinging, putting up 5 runs off of Sean Marshall. Marshall had by far his worst outing of the season: 4.1IP, 8R, 7ER, 8H, BB, 2K. He allowed 5 runs in the first inning alone and considering the lack of scoring by the Cubs offense, 5 was enough to lose the game. Marshall likely just pitched his way out of the rotation and into the bullpen. With Rich Harden set to come off the DL this week and Randy Wells pitching so well, it would appear that Marshall is the odd man out, and will move to the bullpen.

Offensively, the Cubs were awful once again. The lone bright spot was Reed Johnson who was 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBIs. Johnson has been red hot lately and is unfortunately our best hitter right now.

The Cubs managed to split their 4 game series with the NL leading L.A. Dodgers and went 4-3 overall on this homestand. Now comes the real challenge as the Cubs head out of town for a 9 game road trip, stopping in Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Houston. The last time the Cubs were on the road, they lost all six games. It is June 1st and this Cubs team does not look very good, they are 25-24 overall and 4.5 GB Milwaukee for first place. The Cubs have a tough June ahead of them and need to start playing better soon.

The Cubs' run production is awful, the team leader is Alfonso Soriano with 25 RBIs, I can not even remember the last time Soriano drove in a run? He also leads the team with 12HR, but has not hit one in awhile, Soriano needs to step up, sore knee or not, he is paid to be a better player than his numbers show. Just how bad is the Cubs' run production? Ryan Theriot is second on the team with 22 RBIs, no offense to Theriot, but he should not be second on the team in RBIs, not to mention HR (5). Aramis Ramirez is still going to be out for another month, at least. This means that Derrek Lee, Milton Bradley, and Geovany Soto need to step up their games. Lee needs to hit for power: i.e. doubles and home-runs, his .248 AVG, 5 HR, 19 RBI over two months is not enough. I realize he has had injuries, but it is time to get things rolling. Lou Piniella refuses to sit Lee, so we're stuck with him, he needs to start producing. Milton Bradley has also been a disappointment this season: .224 avg 5 HR, 14 RBI, and only 9 extra-base hits. He has shown signs recently of coming out of his slump, but the bottom line is it is time for him to put up or shut up. Geovany Soto has been the biggest disappointment of all and it is looking like his ROY season was a fluke. Soto is hitting .216 HR, 12 RBI, and has only 5 extra-base hits this season. Not to mention he does not throw out base-stealers as well as he has in the past. If Soto does not improve soon, I would bench him. Koyie Hill is not the best option at catcher, but he is out-performing Soto: .289AVG, 2HR, 7RBI in only 45 AB vs Soto's 125 AB. Additionally, Hill is a better defensive catcher than Soto. Soto has looked lost and over-weight all season. He can no longer hit a breaking ball and has no power all of the sudden. It is time for Soto to step up or move aside, the Cubs can no longer to afford to have him in the line-up every day, given his lack of production.

The Cubs have the day off today before a three game series with the Atlanta Braves. Randy Wells (0-2, 1.80 ERA) vs Kenshin Kawakami (3-6, 4.73 ERA) on Tuesday night. Wells has been solid in every start, it will be interesting to see if he can keep it going. I have never heard of Kawakami, but judging by his numbers, he is not all that great. Hopefully the Cubs can get a few runs off of him early and give Wells a lead to pitch with, something they have not really been able to do yet this season.