Cubs get their heads flushed down the toilet by the Phillies

The Phillies are a good team, the Cubs are not, and that is why the Cubs lost last night 12-5. I hope last night was the end of the Jeff Samardzija Era here in Chicago (as a baseball player) he showed last night he is not ready to pitch at the Major League level. Not that it is entirely his fault, he has been shuttled between Iowa and Chicago all season, primarily as a reliever. Ideally, the Cubs management would have called up a starter from Iowa like Mitch Atkins to make this emergency start. Samardzija was awful last night: 3.1IP, 8H, 7ER, 4K, at least he did not walk anybody. Samardzija needs to be sent down to the minors to regroup and/or develop other pitches besides his fastball. My advice for him would be to retire from baseball and sign as a free-agent with the Chicago Bears. I watched every game he played as a football player at Notre Dame and I truly believe he could still play football, he would have been a 1st or 2nd round pick in the NFL Draft when he graduated.

The Cubs offense again was pathetic. How do you only manage 3 runs off of a washed-up Pedro Martinez, seriously! The Phillies were trying to give us this game by starting him and we still got blown out. The Cubs managed only two extra-base hits: Doubles by Derrek Lee and Fukudome. Ryan Theriot was really the only bright spot going 3-5, RBI, and raising his average to a team-high .300 (among every-day players).

Up Next: Cubs vs Phillies this afternoon at 1:20pm on CSN and WGN Radio. Ryan Dempster (6-5, 4.05 ERA) vs Cliff Lee (9-9, 2.95 ERA). Who would you pick to win this game? An all-star caliber pitcher with a Cy Young or an overpaid clown who can't keep the ball down? I would take Lee. I do not see Dempster giving the Cubs much in this outing since he has not done anything all season to make me think different. The Cubs have seen Lee this season and they won that game (although he was with Cleveland at the time). It was the game we trailed 7-0 and eventually won in extra-innings because Kerry Wood could not convert the save. I was at that game, albeit on a rooftop, but I do not remember the Cubs doing much against Lee. The Phillies are rolling and the Cubs are in a tailspin, unfortunately I see the Phillies finishing the sweep this afternoon. Thank God the Pirates are coming in for a weekend series, maybe the Cubs can get back on track against them.