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Game Twenty-Nine: Cubs (17-11) vs. Cardinals (18-11)
Game Time - 7:15pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: WGN - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 187
Location - Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Rich Hill (1-0, 3.79/1.42) vs. Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.79/1.01)
The Cubs open a 6-game road trip tonight with the first of three against their archrival the St. Louis Cardinals. Tony La Russa has his team in first place in the central division, a half game ahead of the Cubs, after the first month of the season. The Cardinals were counted out by many before the year started....and many of the experts, despite setting a franchise record for wins in April, still feel the Cardinals will not be able to keep up the pace throughout the season.
The Cardinals are benefiting from great pitching and the Cubs offense will have the challenge this weekend of figuring out what other teams were not able to in the first month. While Tony La Russa will send the trio of Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer to the mound, Lou Piniella will send three pitchers that need to step up for their team....Rich Hill, Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis. The Cardinals' trio posted a 8-2 record in April with a 3.11 ERA (38 earned in 110 innings) while the Cubs' trio sported a 3-5 record with a 5.08 ERA (44 earned in 78 innings).
Lou Piniella should have his team more than ready to play tonight after yesterday's meltdown but it will be interesting to see if Lou's lineup tinking continues tonight.
Rich Hill's last turn in the rotation was skipped and he should be well rested for his start tonight against the Cardinals. Lou Piniella said he did not want Hill facing a Brewers' lineup that hits southpaws rather well and instead he will start the first game of the series, and the road trip. Tonight is a big game, not only for the Cubs....but for Rich Hill. Lou Piniella needs to see a solid outing from his young left-hander, Hill has all of the tools, but has not shown the ability to throw strikes on a consistent basis this year.
Rich Hill is not a fifth starter in a Major League rotation....unfortunately because of his poor performance, he has been relegated to that role.
Rich Hill has not pitched since April 23rd in Colorado when he turned in a decent outing in a 7-6 Cubs' win. Hill allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts. The most concerning stat for Rich Hill in his first 4 starts....14 walks and 14 strikeouts in 19 innings.
Hill is 1-0 in 4 career games, 3 starts, against the Cardinals with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. His start against the Cardinals on July 27, 2006 at Wrigley started the turnaround in his career, hopefully tonight will provide the same result.
- Chris Duncan - 2-for-6
- Troy Glaus - 1-for-3 with a home run
- Cesar Izturis - 0-for-1
- Yadier Molina - 0-for-4
- Albert Pujols - 2-for-8 with a home run
With Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder on the DL for the majority of the past two seasons, Adam Wainwright has become Tony La Russa's number one pitcher. Wainwright, like the rest of Dave Duncan's well-coached staff, out performed expectations in the first month of the season. Wainwright has completed at least 7 innings in each first 5 starts and is coming off a complete game victory against the Astros. Wainwright allowed only 3 runs on 5 hits (all solo home runs) with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Many experts have voiced their concern about Wainwright being overworked in the first month of the season, but he has yet to show signs of any wear and tear.
At Busch Stadium this season, Wainwright is 3-0 with a 2.19 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP while holding opponents to a .200 batting average.
Wainwright has never beaten the Cubs in 13 career appearances, 4 starts. He is 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP....and the Cubs have hit him to the tune of a .333 batting average. After a rough start to his career against his team's biggest rival, Wainwright started to figure them out. In his last start of 2007 against the Cubs (September 14th) he allowed only 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings. The Cubs won the game 5-3 (the Cubs won 3 of 4 from the Cardinals in St. Louis that weekend) but Wainwright turned in, by far, his best effort in his young career against the Cubs.
- Ronny Cedeno - 2-for-6
- Mark DeRosa - 1-for-4
- Mike Fontenot - 2-for-3
- Derrek Lee - 3-for-11 with a double
- Felix Pie - 1-for-3
- Aramis Ramirez - 7-for-18 with 3 doubles and a home run
- Alfonso Soriano - 2-for-8 with a double, a triple and 2 walks
- Ryan Theriot - 6-for-13 with 2 doubles
Let's Talk Cubs Baseball....
Trips to the Northside
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I agree with sending Hart down and bringing up someone to try and bolster the bullpen but why Chad Fox instead of someone like Ascanio or Cotts? If we want to get serious about solidifying the bullpen for the postseason it'll be interesting to see if Samardijiza gets a chance sometime this year. I know we're trying to mold him into a starter and don't want to rush him. But, I think taking the same route the Yankees are taking with Joba Chamberlain could provide us with a similar boost.
I think having a veteran reliever is what theyre aiming for.
Maybe Lou is tired of all the kids with their good stuff but no command or little thought behind pitch selection.
Fox, if hes healthy and has command will work as he understands pitch selection. Just a thought.
Chad Fox also has a very nasty slider. He was the Cubs closer before Dusty let him go to many days in a row and he blew out his elbow. What about Ceda??
Has anyone heard anything about Scott Eyre?
Fresh arm maybe????? and a veteran. I know I would like to see a lefty. Like maybe Cotts
He's a big fan of the fastfood drive-thru.
lol
A report about Eyre in the Sun-Times the other day said, "a couple of weeks" on Eyre.
New day! I feel Piniella is just a click away from another tirade. Hopefully we make a statement against the Cardinals this weekend and get some distance.
Dear Cubs...we want to sleep better tonight. Thanks.
Wow, the Brewers have some interesting pitching stuff occuring with Turnbow being cut and Gallardo tearing a ligament. Time to turn it on Cubbies!
Tonight's lineup:
Soriano - LF
Theriot - SS
Lee - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Fukudome - RF
DeRosa - 2B
Soto - C
Pie - CF
Hill - P
Len Kasper just stated during the leadoff man that Kevin Hart will join the Iowa Cubs starting rotation.
Soriano swung at the first pitch, but he least he hit it to right field.
What is Lou doing!!???? Soriano is still leading off!!??? Why is Johnson not leading off? I don't care if Wainwright is a righty, Johnson is still batting over .300 and has the patience to lay off the 1st pitch! What about moving Pie back to the minors, starting Fontenot at 2nd, and moving DeRosa to RF with Fukudome in CF (when Johnson isn't in there)?
Also, who agrees with me that the Kerry Wood at closer experiment should be over and we should have Marmol in there?
A brief pause from the game. Maybe Lou wants Hart and Marshall starting, and Hill and Marquis playing elsewhere. But it will be a miracle in my view if Fox and/or Eyre pitch 10 effective innings in the bigs again. There must be a trade in the works.
Lou has a short fuse tonight. Good night Rich Hill.
Best Move Pinella has made this year! Now he needs to move Soriano down in the order!
Hill has all the physical skills to dominate but has proven time and again that he is a mental midget. I just don't see how he's going to make it.
With the quick hook tonight, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hill on the plane to Iowa tomorrow. Maybe Gallagher will be on his way up.
I wonder if Hill will be sent down. Piniella said before the game how important tonight's start was for Hill.
Now they are swinging at everything again. DeRosa and Soriano.....2 pitches, 2 outs. Ramirez...3 pitches and Fukudome 4 pitches. Just for the record.
That was embarrassing. Double to the pitcher, single to Ryan and Pie could not throw Wainwright out at the plate.
Offense is swinging at everything. Hope Piniella brought a lot of boots with him to St. Louis.
Rich Hill basically has the same stuff as the Barry Zito of today (without the great years before), with horrendous control and discipline...
Soriano is setting a tone by swinging early in the count. Another reason to move him down in the line-up.
The rotation needs a shakeup:
Hill needs an Iowa area code.
Unless there is a trade:
Zambrano
Lilly
Leiber
Marshall
Marquis
That is the rotation I would go with too!
Jim, I know you are upset right now. But in all due respect, Ryan Dempster has been one of the bright spots of the pitching staff.
1st time poster... is it just me or was Zambrano's at bat the best of the game so far
Maybe Lou will put Z in LF and pull Soriano. Atleast he didn't strike out with runners on.
I've been saying that Wuertz is a going to be an asset, and tonignt was OK. It's too easy to be angry tonight, but Pie will soon be in Iowa and Johnson will be playing every day.
Let's remember that a team with our first seven position players (before Soriano) are good to outstanding. And we have six pitchers that are keepers. It's not as bad as it seems the last half dozen games. And this game can still be won.
Based on today's moves I sense it's good bye Hill and Marquis, and hello Marshall and Gallagher, with perhaps Hart coming soon after he stretches out.
Oops, forgot about Dempster. I would give Marshall the shot over Leiber at this point in the season. However, Leiber is probably the guy in the long run.
JimK, I agree with you. This isn't too bad, and we're still right there in the race with a long way to go. And Gallardo's injury will kill the Brewers.
Time though for Lou to get rid of the head-cases (Pie, Hill, and likely Marquis), and bring in some fresh hungry talent. And you gotta believe this Soriano/lead off situation will change by next week if he doesn't produce in St. Louis.
I agree with Neil... Dempster has been great. I would sit Lilly before Demp. Good to see Liber in for long relief tonite. Maybe he should've started the game. Wasn't he our last 20 game winner? And the only reason why he lost so many that same season was because he didn't have the run support that he would have now.
I agree with Andy's post above too... Marmol should've been the closer from the start of the season.
As a player you certainly know where you stand with Lou at all times. Hill has got to be thinking "good bye".
Matt, welcome and I agree. Z looked very good at the plate.
Man time for Wood to go, guys like Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Bruce Sutter never blew saves. Maybe giving him more than 7 chancs to get the closer thing down might be a good idea.
Someone needs to light a fire under Mr. Hill's arse.
Why didn't Izturis field the ball like this for the Cubs?
Neil:
Oooops, I forgot about Dempster in the rotation.
Atleast Bridgeport got beat tonight!
WOW!!!LOL...I'd get shallacked if I said some of those same comments you guys are saying...but anyway...
I agree, Dempster was definitely overlooked in that assessment. I think we're much better off with this:
Z
Lilly
Dempster
Lieber
Marshall
Marshall has done nothing but produce with the Cubs in both the minors and with the big club. I think he deserves a shot while Hill is traded or figures it out in the minors. By the way...I don't know if any of you have paid attention to AA, but Veal has really come around of late and threw like 7 shutout innings last night. True, his command hasn't really been there, but if he can just throw strikes, that'd be a HUGE boost to our team. Hill just has such a funky release that if he's even a little off, he's either lit up, or can't find the zone. It's really difficult to coach someone like that.
Our pen has suffered thus far with a large workload and a few tough outings...Perhaps Rothschild can work with Turnbow? He couldn't be any worse than Chad Fox, right?
I do agree with the notion that they should have gone with Ascanio rather than Fox, but whatever.
I still cannot believe Soriano is still in the starting lineup. What a selfish player. His injury and the events thereafter only solidified my opinion of him as a prima-dona Sosa-esque, me-first sort of ballplayer. You see all these other guys coming back from injury take rehab assignments...but no, not Sosa.....I mean, Soriano...You think Tulowitzki is going to refuse an assignment when he comes back? It's a smart thing to do, and it doesn't hurt your team like it is now...We were doing just fine without him anyway.
Felix Pie looks like a Corey Patterson clone...
Soriano looks like a Sosa clone
Looks like Lou wants to stretch Lieber out a bit tonight, as well as saving the pen.
Nice double play....3-6-3.
Changes are coming....and remember there are 2 spots left on the 40-man roster with Mateo being outrighted to Daytona today.
Soriano...would you get a darn hit already. A leadoff guy batting .150. C'mon!
Maybe McPhail still wants Hill.
Gene...we sure missed the boat on that. Perhaps we can still unload Hill and Pie for Roberts...then move DeRosa to LF and implant Reed in CF. Now that would be a magnificant lineup.
I comletely agree with Aaron on puting Marshall in Hill's spot. He is the same pitcher but bigger and better command.
Bryan/Gene...man I would love that. Can you imaging the lineup chaos with Robert, Johnson, and Theriot with Lee, Aram, Fukdome, DeRosa and Soto. That would indeed be nice.
well, so much for our season if anything is wrong with ARAM
Would like so see a bit more power from fukudome.
Roberts would be nice, but the old PTBNL would work.
by the way...I believe Daytona has switched Mark Reed to LF, and he's batting better than he did last year...Perhaps he can be like his brother Jeremy Reed....anyway, he's only got 31 AB's, but nevertheless is batting .353 and .432 OBP....Who knows? Just thought you guys might be interested. Also, another surprising star for us in the minors has been James Aducci who has 99 AB's with a .333 avg, and .450 OBP, and while he doesn't have much power...he stole 20 bases last year, and has decent speed.
Also, James Russell (draft pick from last year out of Texas) was promoted to AA, and pitched really well tonight, giving up just one run. He had a 2.30 ERA prior to that, and last year in his abbreviated stint in the minors, didn't give up a run at all in 9 innings. He's more of a control pitcher, which we need more of in our system.
Other than those guys, we don't appear to have much in-house options either for CF or pitching help. I'd be interested to see if anyone else has insight as to who might be able to help us this year.
Aaron, James Russell is who I have been keeping my eye on.
wow...I officially hate Soriano
Man, 5 know I still got it enough to strike out Soriano. Just keep feeding him low and away breaking stuff. Like taking candy from a baby!
Howry----Good Night ya'll
yet another reason to hate him
Piniella is going to have a meltdown. I agree with Bob, Soriano should have done a rehab assignment.
Neil, that's exactly what I was saying too...what a selfish prick...he's EXACTLY like Sosa...except gets hurt more
is there a petition available to send Soriano out of here?
I CANNOT STAND HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blown save, Soriano. IS that possible?
I cannot believe what I just saw in the 7th inning. Words cannot describe Alfonso Soriano right now.
Also, for all of Bobby Howry's problems this year. He just threw his best inning of the season.
boy, Bob knows his stuff, and he said it best...just don't hit anything to left...LOL, you gotta love that.
Everyone knows Soriano can't hit, can't play...everything is going his way right now with hits toward him and pitches in the dirt....teams have the report on him.
He's now lost two in a row for us, by the way....misplaying a crucial flyball for Wood yesterday, and yet again for Howry, not to mention his piss poor attempt at catching the ball behind shortstop.
WOW!!!!!!
speechless
wow...
for $136 million -- thats a lot of screwups...
For those of you who call Theriot the littleleager take a look in left field. Soriano looks as if he hasnt't played baseball in months.
Neil, you got that right...that was a 1-2-3 inning for him, minus 2 Soriano miscues and one on Lee.
kudos to Howry for just getting out of that jam. I still cannot believe Ward or anyone for that matter is not in LF right now.
Moreover, Brenly was mystified...as was I that Cedeno was taken out instead of inserted at second base. What this would mean is that you could eventually throw Cedeno at third with ARAM down, Fontenot at 2nd to pinch hit, and DeRosa in LF...That move was very curious.
I would've definitely yanked Soriano right away there
yep, two straight hits, only we have captain GIDP coming up
my bad, I thought DeRosa was next
Don't worry...many on this site promise he'll snap out of it in June, and contribute his couple solo homeruns.
As said earlier in the day, this may be the worst contract the Cubs have ever made. Soriano is through. Send him to the minors until he can hit atleast AA ball. Not only does he suck, but he takes the damn momentum and chemistry from the team. This is the problem with these large contracts....clubs won'd sit these primadonas.
I hope Lou throws a lid tonight on this team.
No worry....Pie and Soriano are due up in the 9th.
Game over!
Bryan,
Couldn't agree with you more...He changes the chemistry....as I mentioned yesterday, he seems to make the whole damn team impatient at the plate....and just look...I know it's only two games, but our OBP sucks with him in the lineup...it just makes me want to vomit after watching his performance today. If he is in the lineup tomorrow...I swear Lou does not have the smarts it takes to win a championship. He should sit his ass on the bench!!!!
If he's so willing to throw Hill under the bus for a piss poor start, then he should throw Soriano under the bus for two straight GAMES worth of embarrassment not only at the plate, but costing the team in the field......PERIOD! END OF STORY
We have six more years of this crap in LF???? The club absolutely needs to send him down to the minors to work on things....and in the meantime Hendry can hopefully negotiate for an A level prospect for him.
This is major league talent in LF? The guys a joke. Let's hear from those Soriano supporters tonight!
Soriano has eaten enough humble pie now with the strike outs and misplaced fly balls to like being reborn as a humble 6 hole hitter delivering 35 home runs and 20 outfield assists for the next several seasons. If Soriano doesn't find a spot in the lineup that is team suited and where he can relax, I'm afraid he will not regain his productivity. I hope he didn't re-injure his legs again on the blown outfield play because we need what he can give us when he is focussed and not fighting it.
Atleast Reed knows how to get on in any way.
I wasnt able to watch the game so far. What kind of dipshit play was Soriano involved in tonight?
Wow.
Redemption.
What a Soap Opera...
Minor Redemption
HAHAHAh! oh my god....... that is unreal. NOW LETS WIN THIS ONE!!
Trevor you took the word right out of my mouth.
Unbelievable. He actually hit the ball out. There's our $136m in action. Please!
Baron,
You said it...minor redemption and NOTHING more. He lost the game for us in part, yesterday, and he had two miscues which allowed them to jump ahead 3-1....
it'd be 3-2 right now without his miscues
The pen picked up the dreadful starter very well tonight. With all the miscues and two non-contributors, one of them (Soriano) now knows there is a God who didn't want him to suffer any more.
A two run homer in the 9th ties the game at 3. It would be so sweet to win this one.
FUK-A-DOME
I know how we're gonna win this...we'll be up 4-3 in the bottom of the 10th, and pujols is gonna hit a flyball to left, soriano misplays it, the ball goes all the way to the wall, then soriano throws out pujols at the plate to win the game.
i don't like that beginning with Ankiel's drive...hopefully he can retire poop holes, or we'll be in trouble
Justin - if that happens, you and I are going to talk lottery numbers.
These Cardinals announcers on mlb.tv are neanderthals.... they keep saying the cubs have Marmol and CHAD FOX in the bullpen... i think they mean Kevin Hart -- but they said it like 5 times....
WTF
Chad Fox? -- i am the neanderthall......
Neil, when did he get called up?
Baron, he was called up today. Hart was optioned.
If Fox does the job, this will be as weird a game as I can remember. I have felt and said that Fox would not have 10 successful innings in the bigs again.
Well, he just got 1 successful inning in the 10th. What the hell do I know.
This game has a very Twin Peaks feel to it
JimK - well said about the humble pie for Soriano. Hopefully you are dead on. Also... as a Soriano fan I thank you for your respective comments on his embarrassing night.
It is pretty obvious he is rusty and should be working that rust off on a rehab assignment. I will stick to my guns and say I like him on this ballclub. I just hope JimK is right that he will OK a drop in the lineup after tonight for the betterment of the team.
forgot to mention... the fact that he is working the rust off at the expense of the team frustrates me. That is quite selfish. Hopefully this all pans out.
I also agree with another poster from above that his patience at the plate is contagious at the top of the order. The 1 and 2 hole hitters dictate the momentum of the lineup.
man, Miles reminds me of podsednik, and Counsell...three very pesky guys that we just can't seem to get out
I still blame this loss on Soriano...just like yesterday
We should have lost this game tonight--and we did. But there were some things redemptive about the game--even theraputic. We learned that there can be redemption (if only for a while) if you fight to overcome even gross adversity. We say to ourselves, a break our way and a timely hit or two and we win. As bad as the screwups by a couple of guys were, we were never out of the game! I think we win tomorrow because we didn't quit tonight.
I think I just heard Lou say, "If you don't perform you sit. Understood?" And the answers were a chorus of yeas. "We now know that this is a team game, and I will direct this team's efforts in ways that gives us the best chance to win. Understood?" And the answers were a chorus of yeas. Then Lou said, "Does anyone disagree with what I'm saying? The answer is, No sir!" And the answers were a chorus of "No Sirs!" And Lou said, O.K. give everybody a high 5, and let's get 'em tomorrow!"
Soriano had 3 RBI's. Cubs scored 3 runs.
We didn't lose because of Soriano...we lost because everyone else (except Soto) had a mediocre night at the plate.
I can't put a lot of credence in the talk that Soriano striking out somehow causes everyone else in the lineup to suddenly forget how to hit a ball or draw a walk. I don't buy that for a second.
It is a team game...largely comprised of individual actions:
A pitcher and a catcher are a team..."a battery"...but if the pitcher is wild, and can't throw a strike, and walks 4 batters in the first inning, it really isn't the catcher's fault, and it really shouldn't cause the next guy from the bullpen to forget how to throw a strike.
Soriano bats leadoff once a game. After that, he may come up 2nd in an inning, 4th in an inning, etc... You can't hit 2-run HRs batting leadoff with no one on base. Soriano will hit a certain number of leadoff HRs this year, just like he did last year. When that happens, the other team gets quickly demoralized, and the opposing pitcher is rattled and loses confidence. So while not a conventional leadoff man, he is still a very effective one.
The Cubs will rattle off 5 of the next 8 games with a win, and Soriano will hit a couple doubles, and maybe a HR or two, and everyone will forget what they were upset about.
I'm really tired (of losing) and I didn't read the comments above, so if anyone has already said this, i apologize for redundancy:
JON LIEBER NEEDS TO BE IN THE ROTATION!!!
Just got home like usual and that homer DID NOT MAKE UP FOR THAT TRAVESTY IN LEFT FIELD NOR THE OTHER AT BATS SORIANO PUT ON DISPLAY TONIGHT!!!!
I live and die with every pitch like some of you do and I myself was ecstatic when we signed Soriano but now he's nothing more than all the rest of the curses we true Cub's fans have to bear!!
I thought yesterday was tragic....i'm sick of this crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jason B.,
Great post. I fully agree with you. We have a good team and every team goes through adversity. The good ones come out on top. I hate the mentality that blame has to be put on an individual when a team loses a game. Some things stand out more than others, but a team loses as a team and wins as a team. GO CUBS!