September 2009 Archives

Game One Hundred Fifty-Eight - Cubs 2 Pirates 8
WP - Jeff Karstens (4-5) LP - Carlos Zambrano (9-7) Save - None

The Chicago Cubs are just going through the motions at this point. After dropping game one 4-0 and managing only four hits on Wednesday afternoon, the Cubs scored only two runs in the second game and the Pirates swept the Cubs in the day-night doubleheader.

Entering play on Wednesday the Pirates had lost 17 of their last 18 road games. The Bucs swept the Cubs and posted back-to-back wins on the road for the first time since June 10 and 11 in Atlanta.

Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens beat Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano on Wednesday.

Carlos Zambrano did not finish his season on a positive note. Zambrano struggled with his command and lasted only six innings. Big Z gave up four runs on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Zambrano threw only 98 pitches in his complete game gem against the Giants ... on Wednesday night he reached pitch number 98 with two outs in the fifth. Zambrano threw 117 against the Pirates, 75 for strikes.

This is the first season since 2002 (4-8) that Carlos Zambrano did not posted double digit wins.

Ryan Doumit wore out Cubs' pitching in game two. Doumit finished the game 4-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run, three runs scored and four RBI. Doumit broke a 1-1 tie in the third with a two-run double off of Carlos Zambrano that proved to be the game winner.

The Pirates scored eight runs on 12 hits against Cubs' pitching on Wednesday night. Justin Berg took over for Zambrano in the seventh but left after a grounder off the bat of Garrett Jones hit him in the right calf. John Grabow replaced Berg and the Pirates put the game away against their former teammate. Grabow gave up three runs (two earned and one inherited) in one of his worst outings as a Cub.

Ryan Doumit capped his night with a home run in the ninth off of Carlos Marmol ... just the second home run served up by Marmol this season.

Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot drove in the Cubs' runs on Wednesday night. Fontenot tied the game with a single in the second and Theriot drove in Carlos Zambrano on a safety squeeze in the third.

After posting their 82nd win of the year and officially being eliminated on Tuesday night, the Cubs just appeared uninterested in a long day of baseball on Wednesday ...

Game One Hundred Fifty-Eight: Cubs (82-75) vs. Pirates (60-97)
Game Time - 7:05pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: Comcast SportsNet Plus - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 183
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Carlos Zambrano (9-6, 3.69/1.37) vs. Jeff Karstens (3-5, 5.45/1.49)

Final from Game One - Cubs 0 Pirates 4

Ted Lilly took the loss in game one after the Cubs' offense was silenced by Charlie Morton. The Cubs managed only four hits, three by Ryan Theriot, and Morton picked up the first complete game shutout of his career ... will have full recap up later tonight. Wednesday afternoon was the fifth time this season Ted Lilly was on the wrong end of a shutout.

Carlos Zambrano will face Jeff Karstens in game two. No word yet whether Derrek Lee will be in the lineup or not. Koyie Hill will be behind the plate in game two.

Tonight it all starts with Carlos Zambrano, for the last time this season, and just winning a ballgame ...

Game One Hundred Fifty-Seven - Cubs 0 Pirates 4
WP - Charlie Morton (5-9) LP - Ted Lilly (12-9) Save - None

The Pirates beat the Cubs for only the third time this season behind the first complete game shutout of Charlie Morton's career. The Cubs' offense managed only four hits in nine innings against the young right-hander. Ryan Theriot recorded three of the Cubs' four hits and two of those did not leave the infield. The Cubs were extremely aggressive against Morton. They walked only three times and Morton hit a pair of batters. The Cubs put two runners on base only twice in game one of the day-night double header.

The Cubs offense allowed Charlie Morton to have a career day. They simply did not make him work. Morton threw just 119 pitches and beat the Cubs for the first time in his career.

Ted Lilly made his first start since September 12. Lilly was incredibly rusty in the first inning and uncharacteristically walked two batters in the opening inning ... Lilly had walked 10 batters all year at Wrigley Field before Wednesday afternoon.

The Pirates scored all four of their runs in the first after Lastings Milledge took out Ryan Theriot on a good hard baseball slide at second base to break up an inning ending double play. Milledge up ended Theriot with a slide that was very close to being interference. The call was correct, the Cubs took exception and the Pirates scored three more runs before Ted Lilly was able to settle down.

Lilly ended up allowing four runs, all earned, on five hits in seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Wednesday afternoon was Ted Lilly's final start of the year. 'The Bulldog' ended up with a 12-9 record with five of those losses coming in games the Cubs were shutout.

Game One Hundred Fifty-Seven: Cubs (82-74) vs. Pirates (59-97)
Game Time - 1:00pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: WGN TV - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 183
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Ted Lilly (12-8, 3.02/1.06) vs. Charlie Morton (4-9, 5.01/1.53)

Somewhere Ernie Banks is smiling ... LET'S PLAY TWO! The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates have a full day of baseball ahead of them with a day-night doubleheader that begins at 1:00pm C.T.

Game One is the make-up from the delayed rainout back on August 16. After three hours the game was finally called and the Cubs headed west on the trip that would end their season. Rich Harden was scheduled to face Ross Ohlendorf in the finale of the three-game series on a Sunday afternoon seven weeks ago.

The Cubs could be without Aramis Ramirez for the rest of the season. The Cubs have discussed shutting Ramirez down but the slugger wants to play. Cold weather on Tuesday night to go along with the sore shoulder were the reasons given for Ramirez being out of the lineup.

Kevin Gregg is the latest Cub to be officially shutdown for the year. An MRI on Monday revealed cracked cartilage in his rib cage. Gregg wanted to pitch and the Cubs said no. Gregg blamed the amount of innings early in the season for his problems in August. He admitted he told Lou Piniella he would take the ball despite the fact he knew he was not 100%.

Today it all starts with Ted Lilly, for the last time this season, and just winning a ballgame ...

Game One Hundred Fifty-Six - Cubs 6 Pirates 0
WP - Ryan Dempster (11-8) LP - Kevin Hart (4-9) Save - None

With Tuesday night's win behind Ryan Dempster, the Chicago Cubs posted their third consecutive winning season for the first time since stringing together six straight winning seasons from 1967 - 1972.

After totaling only one complete game as a staff through the first 153 games of the year, Ryan Dempster tossed the Cubs second complete game shutout in the last four games.

Ryan Dempster completed his first game since June 11, 2008 against the Braves and registered his first complete game shutout as a Chicago Cub ... the third of his big league career. Dempster was incredibly sharp on Tuesday night. He allowed just five hits and two walks with six strikeouts on 120 pitches, 81 for strikes. The Pirates put two runners on base at the same time just once against Dempster on Tuesday night.

The Cubs offense jumped out early against Kevin Hart. They scored three runs in the first inning and tacked on three more in the fourth. The Pirates' defense committed three errors, which led to three unearned runs. Kevin Hart continued to struggle in a Pirates' uniform. He walked four batters in four innings and is 1-8 since being dealt to the Bucs.

Derrek Lee drove in two more on Tuesday night before leaving the game after six innings. Lee fouled a ball of his foot during an at bat in the sixth. He eventually walked and stayed in the game but was lifted in the top of the seventh. Lou Piniella joked about the injury in his post-game press conference saying his sore foot took his mind of his neck for a minute. Lee added to his career high RBI total with a two-run single in the fourth. Lee has driven in 111 runs on the year with six games left on the schedule.

Micah Hoffpauir drove in the first run of the game with a fielder's choice ground out to first that Kevin Hart turned into an error ... and added another RBI in the fourth. Jeff Baker doubled in two runs in the Cubs three-run first inning.

The Cubs defense put together a solid game. Derrek Lee started an inning ending double play from his knees in the fourth. Micah Hoffpauir turned in a diving catch in foul territory in the eighth ... and Sam Fuld continued to make plays in center look very routine.

The Cubs won for the 82nd time on the year and improved to 7-3 in their last 10 on a night they were officially eliminated from the NL Wild Card race ...

Game One Hundred Fifty-Six: Cubs (81-74) vs. Pirates (59-96)
Game Time - 7:05pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: WGN TV - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 187
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Ryan Dempster (10-8, 3.68/1.33) vs. Kevin Hart (4-8, 5.38/1.70)

Updated - 6:05pm C.T. - Kevin Gregg Done for Season

According to a report from ESPN Chicago, Kevin Gregg will not pitch again for the Chicago Cubs this season. Gregg is a free agent at the end of the year and many do not think Gregg will be re-signed by the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs begin their final homestand of the season tonight with the first of four against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs have just seven games remaining before packing it in for the winter ... then the work will begin for the Cubs' front office.

The Cubs are one win away from posting their third consecutive winning season. Not the way most figured the Cubs would finish the season but a goal still that must be accomplished.

Lou Piniella's crew is 9-2 against the Pirates this year but Pittsburgh is coming off a very successful series against the Dodgers. The Bucs took three of four from Los Angeles at PNC and are looking to finish the year on a positive note.

Derrek Lee is expected back in the starting lineup after missing the final three games of the Giants' series. Kevin Gregg passed his tests on Sunday and is expected to be available out of the pen for the remainder of the season. Gregg's time with the Cubs is reportedly coming to end ... he is not expected to be re-signed this winter.

Tonight is all starts with Ryan Dempster and just winning a ballgame ...

The last CCO Radio Show of the 2009 season ... The CCO Radio returns on the Cubs final off day of the season. The Cubs put together a solid road trip (6-4 record after dropping the first two) and open their last homestand of the year on Tuesday with the first of four against the Pirates.

Need your Cubs fix? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD on the CCO Radio. What moves do you think the Cubs should make in the off-season? Call the CCO Radio and state your case. Want your voice and opinion to be heard? Call the CCO Radio tonight and discuss everything Cubs with the CCO.

A quick show reminder...The CCO Radio will air live tonight at 7:00pm C.T. on Blog Talk Radio. To listen to the 60-minute call-in show live, click on this link and go to Blog Talk Radio. The podcast of the show will be available around 9:00pm C.T. and can be accessed through the player on the right side of the CCO or through Blog Talk Radio.

While the Cubs spend their final off day in Chicago preparing for the final seven games of the regular season, the rumor mill is already churning.

Many feel the Cubs will make more trades this off-season than free agent signings. With close to $116 million committed to ten players for 2010, it makes sense that Jim Hendry would have to focus on acquiring pieces via the trade route. It is doubtful once the Ricketts Family takes control of the organization that Jim Hendry will be able to open up their checkbook to atttempt to repair the damage he did a year ago.

Reports over the weekend indicated the Ricketts Family could take control of the team before the end of October, which is two or three weeks earlier than first thought. Dave Kaplan said his sources mentioned an October 26 date while Bruce Levine is hearing eleven days earlier ... October 15.

Here is the latest from the mill, including more on 'Moving Milton' and a Zambrano for Peavy deal?

Game One Hundred Fifty-Five - Cubs 1 Giants 5
WP - Matt Cain (14-7) LP - Randy Wells (11-10) Save - Brian Wilson (37)

After an excellent start to the four-game series against the Giants, the Cubs could not complete the sweep on Sunday afternoon behind Randy Wells. The Cubs' offense managed three hits against Matt Cain in eight dominant innings ... and one of the three was a double by Randy Wells. The Cubs showed little to no patience against Matt Cain. They swung at too many first pitches, worked only three three-ball counts, walked twice, both in the eighth inning and stuck out eight times against Matt Cain.

Matt Cain set a new career high with his 14th win on Sunday and improved to 5-2 in his career against the Cubs.

The Cubs lone run came with two outs in the ninth inning. Jeff Baker doubled to left on a 2-2 pitch from Sergio Romo. Bobby Scales followed with his second triple of the year on a 3-2 pitch from Romo. Baker scored and Bruce Bochy went to his pen.

Koyie Hill walked against Jeremy Affeldt and put runners on first and third with two outs. Brian Wilson struck out pinch-hitter Reed Johnson to end the game.

For the first time on the road trip, the Cubs' pitching staff allowed more than three runs in a single game on Sunday afternoon.

Randy Wells struggled with his command early on, gave up single runs in the first two innings then lost the game in the sixth. Wells settled down after the second but the rookie right-hander appears out of gas ... the Cubs should really think about shutting him down for the last week of the season. Wells gave up five runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings with two walks and a strikeout.

Sean Marshall allowed an inherited runner to score, the Giants' fifth and final run of the game. Jeff Stevens and Justin Berg combined for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball to finish the game.

Eli Whiteside had one of his best games of the season. The Giants' catcher drove in two of his team's five runs with a pair of doubles in four trips to the plate. The weak-hitting Whiteside had driven in eight runs on the year before Sunday and both doubles were his first two-baggers of the season.

With the loss, the Cubs finished the 10-game trip with a 6-4 record (and a 37-44 road mark in 81 games this year) and are on the brink of officially being eliminated in the NL Wild Card.

Game One Hundred Fifty-Five: Cubs (81-73) vs. Giants (82-73)
Game Time - 3:05pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: WGN TV - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 175
Location - AT & T Park, San Francisco

Randy Wells (11-9, 3.00/1.27) vs. Matt Cain (13-7, 2.99/1.20)

The road portion of the Cubs' 2009 schedule comes to an end this afternoon. One of the reasons for the Cubs playing out the string is their struggle away from Wrigley Field. While the Cubs are 14 games over .500 (44-30) with seven left to play at the Friendly Confines, on the road Lou Piniella's crew has posted a 37-43 record ... and the best they can hope for is to finish the year five games under the breakeven point.

Saturday's win gave the Cubs a 4-1 record in the season series against the Giants. And for the Cubs to pull off a rare four-game sweep on the road they will have to beat one of the best young pitchers in the National League.

Derrek Lee is expected to be held out of the lineup once again this afternoon. Lee aggravated his sore neck stealing second base in the ninth inning on Thursday night ... then was tapped on the top of the head by Angel Guzman congratulating Lee for scoring on Jeff Baker's go ahead two run homer. Reports on Saturday night indicated Lee could return on Tuesday when the Cubs open their final homestand of the year.

Kevin Gregg's season could be in jeopardy ... as well as his Cubs' career. Gregg is a free agent at the end of the year and reportedly the Cubs will not try and re-sign the much-maligned reliever. Gregg is dealing with inflammation in his rib cage. Gregg is expected to throw today and how he feels after his session will determine if Gregg will be available for the final seven games of the season.

Today it all starts with Randy Wells and just winning a ballgame.