Cubs lose to Astros 2-1 in 13 innings

The Cubs did not look good yesterday, in fact they looked pathetic. Ryan Dempster got off to a bad start per usual and allowed a run in the first inning, which with our offense, is good enough to lose. Dempster managed to get out of the jam in the first and pitched well the rest of the game: 7IP, ER, 7H, 4K, 0BB.

The offense was the problem for the Cubs yesterday and will continue to be the problem all season. This line-up is a joke! Derrek Lee is the most feared hitter in this line-up and that is sad. There is not a single player hitting .300 on this team. I kept waiting for the Cubs to break through yesterday but I felt it would never happen. Finally, in the 9th with one out, Lee hit an opposite field home-run to tie the game at 1-1, thank you LaTroy Hawkins. It was nice to see Lee hitting the ball the other way with authority. He needs to do this more often, most pitchers tend to pitch him away. The rest of the Cubs offense did not show up to play yesterday. I mean, we were facing Russ Ortiz for goodness sake! The only hard hit ball was Micah Hoffpauir's fly-out to the stupid hill in center field, in any other park that was a home-run. Ryan Theriot looks lost at the plate and seems to have forgotten that he is a contact hitter who should hit the ball the other way, his 6HR have gotten to his head. Alfonso Soriano as usual did nothing. Fukudome was 0-5 and looked foolish at the plate. Andres Blanco did manage to lay down a nice sac-bunt, but it was all for nothing because Aaron Miles and Theriot could not get the job done after that and drive in Milton Bradley from second base in the 10th inning. I bet Lou Piniella wishes he had kept Jake Fox on the roster after this, he is a solid pinch hitter who could have won us the game, instead we got to see Miles tap out to third, and Theriot do nothing. Way to go Lou! Poor roster management is killing this team, Miles has no business what so ever being on the roster. He should be given his outright release or at least be placed on waivers today.

One bright spot yesterday was the fact that the bullpen pitched well again. Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg each pitched 2 scoreless innings. Marmol was very efficient and threw strikes, hopefully he figured out what was wrong. Jose Ascanio took the loss, he pitched 1.2 innings, and walks finally got the best of him. He walked the lead-off hitter (a big no-no) Hunter Pence, to lead off the 13th. It looks as if the umpire was squeezing Ascanio in that at-bat, Pence did not want to swing, and was given the benefit of the doubt. I am not really sure why Pence is so respected by the umpires. He is allowed to walk down to first on every questionable three-ball pitch, which is showing up the umpires, but they do not seem to care. Pence eventually came around to score on yet another Geoff Blum game winning single. Seriously, I was thinking to myself before the game even started, that the Cubs should look into acquiring Blum. He can play third-base, he can hit, he is a veteran, and he bats left-handed. He seems like he would be an ideal fit on a Lou Piniella roster. Jim Hendry should definitely look into what it would take to trade for Blum. At the very least he would be an upgrade over our sorry bench and would be a solid addition to a team in a division race.

Up Next: The Cubs start their Inter-League season with a 1:20pm game against the Minnesota Twins. Randy Wells (0-2, 1.86 ERA) vs Kevin Slowey (8-2, 4.21 ERA). Wells is still looking for his first Major League win and Slowey is looking for his 9th this season. I am not familiar with Slowey, but if he has 8 wins at this point, he is probably a solid pitcher. This is the beauty of Inter-League play, the unknown. I am expecting to see a low scoring pitchers duel (if the wind is blowing in). Neither team is good offensively. The Twins come into Chicago at 30-32. The Cubs sit at 29-28. This stretch of Inter-League games will make or break the Cubs' season. After the Twins, the Cubs host the White Sox and Indians. Then they go to Detroit and to the South Side for a rematch with the Sox. The AL Central is weak sauce, the Cubs need to take care of business. If they do, they can ressurect their season, if not they can forget about winning the division. The next two weeks will tell us a lot about the 2009 Cubs.