Twins Games Recaps

On Saturday I was lucky enough to score a free ticket and the game did not get rained out. The Cubs however, did manage to get shut-out. Rich Harden started for the Cubs and put up exactly what I thought he would (I predicted this line in an earlier post): 6IP, 2ER, 5H, 9Ks, OK, so I was off by one K. Nevertheless, Harden pitched well enough to win, and looked very sharp in his return from the DL. The bullpen: Jose Ascanio, Sean Marshall, and Kevin Gregg each pitched a scoreless and hitless inning of relief.

The problem on Saturday was the Cubs hitting, or lack there of. Only 5 hits, Derrek Lee had two singles, and Milton Bradley was the only other player who hit the ball hard. The Cubs were mystified by Twins starter, Anthony Swarzak, who shut them out on 4 hits over 7 innings. Swarzak was so good, the Twins sent him to AAA after the game. I am still unsure if this was a case of good pitching or really bad hitting. The Cubs had an opportunity in the 9th, but with men at second and third with one out, Fukudome and Ryan Theriot could not drive in the runs. Not surprising that neither of those clowns could get a base hit. Theriot is swinging for the fences on every swing and Fukudome is still spinning. Actually, I had already done something I never do, I left the game after the 8th inning to get a table at a bar down the street. I just never had the feeling that the Cubs were capable of coming back in this game.

Additionally, I was lucky enough to go to the Cubs game on Sunday. This one was planned, as my girlfriend and I took our Dad's for Father's Day. It was a perfect day for a game, sunny and about 75 degrees. We sat 8 rows behind home plate. My man, Ted Lilly came up big, again (he is currently the ace of this staff): 7.2IP, 9H, 2ER, 6K, 0BB, HR allowed. Lilly did not have his best stuff, but he kept the Twins hitters off balance all day, and gave his team a chance to win. Carlos Marmol finished the game in relief, he did not allow a run or a hit, he did walk two.

The Cubs finally did some hitting on Sunday. They got things going in the second inning when Ryan Theriot hit a Sac-Fly to right scoring Lee and tying the game at one. In the fourth inning, Geovany Soto hit a double to score Milton Bradley, giving the Cubs the lead 2-1. Lilly allowed a solo-HR to Chris Gomez in the sixth inning tying the game at two. Finally in the 9th, Theriot came up with one out and the bases loaded and delivered a clutch walk-off single to right, scoring Lee to win the game. This was such an exciting finish and a must win for the Cubs, who looked awful most of the weekend leading up to this point. Theriot had really been slumping before this game as well. I did not mind hearing "Go, Cubs, Go" after this game.

I do have a couple of questions regarding the Cubs. Why was Aaron Miles in either game? He was a combined 1-6. He is now hitting .200 with an OBP of .240. Miles has had his fair share of chances, now it is time for him to go, injured or not. I complained about him constantly during these two games and fans sitting around me did not seem to be too fond of him either. To top it off, he dropped a line-drive on Sunday that hit him in the chest. How could he not catch that one? I could have made the play. I know Andres Blanco does not really hit either, but he is a far superior fielder, and deserves to play over Miles, whose time is running out I would think. Also, Gerald Perry was fired as hitting coach. Not surprising since our hitters all suck. But it is not entirely his fault, Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella are just as much to blame. The Cubs just are not as good as people think they are. Von Joshua is our new hitting coach, he used to be on the White Sox staff from 1998-2001. He has worked at Iowa with many of our younger players like: Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Soto, and Koyie Hill. I would like to think that Joshua can help the Cubs, but I just do not see this group of hitters getting much better, with the exception of Bradley and Soto. The return of Aramis Ramirez should help, but he is going to be rusty. Also, where has Alfonso Soriano gone? .229 BA and .296 OBP, unacceptable.

On a positive note, 3 Cubs hitters had multi-hit games on Sunday. Lee was 2-4 2R. Soto was 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Theriot was 2-3, 2B, 2RBI. I was very impressed with Soto, he hit the ball hard a few times, maybe he is finally coming around? The Cubs are now 30-30 this season 3.5 games behind first-place Milwaukee.

My personal 2009 Cubs record: 5 and 2.
The next game I am going to as of right now: Friday, June 19th vs Cleveland.