April 2007 Archives

Game Twenty-Four - Cubs 2 Pirates 3
WP - Matt Capps (2-0) LP - Michael Wuertz (0-1) Save - Salomon Torres (8)

The Pirates were able to snap the Cubs mini 3-game winning streak with a come from behind win on Monday night in Pittsburgh. Rich Hill gave up just 2 runs in 7 innings of work but the offense could not add to the 2-1 lead in the 7th. The Pirates tied the game with Hill on the mound in the bottom the 7th and Jason Bay's home run off of Michael Wuertz in the 8th was the difference in the game. Jack Wilson put on a clinic at shortstop for the Pirates as the Bucs evened their April record at 12-12.

Rich Hill gave Lou Piniella another quality start and even hit a double at the plate. But in the end it was the Cubs inability to win another close game and on the season they are 1-9 in games decided by 2 runs or less. The Cubs finished a disappointing April with a 10-14 record.

Game Twenty-Four: Cubs (10-13) vs. Pirates (11-12)
Game Time - 6:05pm C.T. WCIU, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 185
Location - PNC Park, Pittsburgh

Rich Hill (3-1, 1.57/0.84) vs. Zach Duke (1-2, 6.92/1.80)

Rich Hill has had a tremendous first month of the season and can end it on a positive note tonight with a win in the series opener against the Pirates. Hill was scheduled to pitch on Sunday night in St. Louis but because of the tragic death of Josh Hancock, his start was moved back a day. Hill has been spectacular on the road this year; he is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in 2 games while striking out 13 and walking 3. For the first time in several weeks the Cubs will turn to Hill to extend a winning streak, not to end a losing streak.

First and foremost, I think I speak for all of us at the CCO, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Josh Hancock and the entire Cardinals organization. For the second time in 5 years the Cardinals have lost a pitcher in a tragic fashion. I think Jim Edmonds put it best when he said there are times when we think we are invincible, but unfortunately it takes situations such as this to really put it all into perspective. You are in our prayers....

With one day to go the first month of the season is almost complete and I think we can all say this is not what we were expecting from our Cubbies. Getting out of the gate hot and letting the NL Central know there is a new team in town would have been a lot better, right? But 300 million later and we are still faced with the same old struggles. Whether it be the staff ace losing his mind in the 5th inning to blow a lead or the bullpen walking in the go ahead run. Every struggle makes us put our hands to our face and say, why, why can't it just be easy. Why can't our #1 off-season acquisition get off to a hot start, like he has done the last 10 years? Things aren't easy when you are a Cub fan or on the major league roster, that's just the way it is. And after the first month of the season I have learned to deal with it, and I hope you have all done the same. But let's not forget we are in the NL Central and there is hope. Ladies and gentleman we have a long road ahead of us, five months to be exact and this thing we call a division crown is far from settled. If we get hot, we will settle it real quickly, but if we stay luke warm I guarantee you I will be completely bald by the middle of September. Let's take a look back at the last month in the NL Central....

Sunday night's game between the Cardinals and the Cubs has been postponed due to the death of Cardinals' reliever Josh Hancock who was killed in an automobile crash early Sunday morning. The 29-year old reliever for the Cardinals was killed on westbound Highway 64/40 within the city limits according to a report on Cubs.com.

This tragic event will remind many of the death of Darryl Kile in 2002 that Joe Girardi announced to the crowd at Wrigley Field. Everyone here at the CCO sends out our thoughts and prayers to the Hancock family and friends.

Game Twenty-Three - Cubs 8 Cardinals 1
WP - Carlos Zambrano (2-2) LP - Adam Wainwright (1-2) Save - None

The Cubs made it two straight and three in a row with an impressive performance on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis. Jacque Jones had his best game of the year and led the way in the 7-run 5th inning that saw eleven Cubs step to the plate. Jones doubled and tripled in the 5th and on the day was 3-4 with 4 RBI's and a run scored.

Carlos Zambrano was dominate, threw strikes and had a 4-hit shutout going into the 7th inning that was spoiled by a lead off home run by Albert Pujols. Zambrano threw strikes and was ahead of most of the batters he faced but most importantly he did not walk a single batter on the afternoon for the first time this season.

Game Twenty-Three: Cubs (9-13) vs. Cardinals (10-13)
Game Time - 2:55pm C.T. FOX, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 187
Location - Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Carlos Zambrano (1-2, 6.91/1.79) vs. Adam Wainwright (1-1, 5.04/1.80)

Carlos Zambrano is coming off his best start of the year last Monday against the Brewers. Zambrano allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits before leaving the game with 1-out in the 6th inning. While Zambrano's numbers were not what many expect out of the Cubs ace, the most important line from the start was 7 strikeouts (a season high) to 3 walks and of the 103 pitches he threw, 62 were for strikes. Today will be the first start of the year for Zambrano against the Cardinals; the Cubs will need their ace to pitch like one and lead the way to a third straight victory for his team.

Game Twenty-Two - Cubs 5 Cardinals 3
WP - Jason Marquis (3-1) LP - Anthony Reyes (0-4) Save - Ryan Dempster (4)

Lou Piniella pulled all the right strings while Jason Marquis beat his former team for the second time in a week. The Cubs won their first game decided by 2 runs or less this season (1-8) and in the process raised their road record to 5-4 on the year. Marquis had a solid outing in his 6 2/3 innings of work and for the first time this season the bullpen held a close lead while the offense tacked on a very important insurance run in the 9th inning.

Anthony Reyes threw a lot of pitches early in the game and in the 4th inning a dropped ball in left field by Chris Duncan, off the bat of Derrek Lee, led to a 4-run inning that featured a pair of 2-run home runs by Aramis Ramirez and Felix Pie. Alfonso Soriano's two outfield assists highlighted a solid defensive night for the Cubs while Ryan Dempster came into the ballgame with 1-out in the 8th inning and the bases loaded. Dempster responded with a great outing and did not allow a single run in route to his 4th save of the season.

Game Twenty-Two: Cubs (8-13) vs. Cardinals (10-11)
Game Time - 7:10pm C.T. WGN TV, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 187
Location - Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Jason Marquis (2-1, 1.88/1.17) vs. Anthony Reyes (1-2, 5.00/1.38)

After a day off the Cubs start a 6-game road trip tonight in St. Louis that will conclude in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Jason Marquis will take the mound on the night he is scheduled to receive his World Series ring from last season. The Cubs offense had an impressive "coming out party" on Wednesday afternoon and will look to continue scoring runs against a pitcher they faired quite well against 6 days ago.

Things have been slow in the minors lately, as a few of the teams have struggled. Felix Pie is starting to hit the ball well so he could be staying in Chicago for a while, if you had planned to see him at an I-Cubs game, you might not get that chance. Mark Prior, who was supposed to start at Triple-A Iowa remained at extended spring training but as many have heard, he is now out for the season following surgery. I think many are ready to give up on him, likely because of the constant problems Kerry Wood has had but I am not one of those guys. I say give him another chance when he is able to make it back and he will reward our patience but I am one of those optimistic Cubs fans though.

Sean Marshall made his first start of the year and it appears Angel Guzman will be making the start on Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Here is what has been going on in the minors....

It was odd reading about Mark Prior yesterday. As the meaning of his surgery completely sunk in, and the uncertainty of his future as a Cub grew to never-before-seen levels, I felt a bit like I had lost something important to me. As sure as I was that Prior could not be counted on at the beginning of this year, and as sure as Prior's health has been a circus the last few years, I still firmly believed it would all work itself out eventually, and that Prior would be on the mound in a Cubs uniform, throwing 94-96 mph. I believed this would happen someday....maybe not this year, but soon. Now it appears it may never happen again, or that he may resurface in the future wearing a uniform that is foreign to me. Was he "Mrs Prior" and he simply refused to pitch through pain? Was he too cautious in avoiding surgery over the past few seasons, effectively throwing away precious youthful years of his baseball career? Have the Cubs trainers been clueless, and borderline criminally negligent in their duties with Prior? Do you think you know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? You know better....