Game Sixty-Six: Cubs (41-24) vs. Braves (32-33)
Game Time - 7:05pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: ESPN, Comcast SportsNet - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 185
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago
Ryan Dempster (7-2, 2.90/1.13) vs. Jeff Bennett (0-3, 3.47/1.28)
The Cubs will try to keep their home winning streak going tonight behind Ryan Dempster. The Braves were scheduled to send rookie Jair Jurrjens to the mound tonight but he twisted his ankle walking down the dugout stairs at Wrigley following Tuesday night's game. Jurrjens will be replaced by Jeff Bennett, could be heading to the DL, and the Braves' lineup will feature Chipper Jones.
Ryan Dempster received a no decision in his last start against the Dodgers. Dempster threw the ball extremely well for the first 4 innings, the wheels came off a little in the 5th and he could not find the strike zone in the 6th....Dempster left after 5 1/3 innings. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and only 1 strikeout. Dempster was in line for the win but Bobby Howry served up a long ball to Jeff Kent in the 8th....Kosuke Fukudome drove in Ryan Theriot with the winning run in the 9th.
Dempster's innings per start have fallen over his last 2 outings. He completed at least 6 innings in every start from April 25th to May 26th (7 starts) but since his near complete game gem on May 15th against the Padres (0 runs on 6 hits in 8 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and 1 walk), his walk to strikeout ratio has tightened (11 walks and 16 strikeouts) and he has not been as sharp. Dempster must cut down on the walks and give his skipper innings tonight.
Dempster has been very good at Wrigley this year....a 7-0 record with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.
Against the Braves, Dempster is 1-10 with 2 saves in 24 games, 13 starts, with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.
- Yunel Escobar - 0-for-2
- Jeff Francoeur - 0-for-3
- Chipper Jones - 9-for-35 with 2 doubles, a home run and 6 walks
Jeff Bennett will make his 4th start of the season tonight and his first away from Turner Field. Bennett is 0-2 in 13 road outings, all out of the pen, with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP.
Bennett faced the Cubs six times back in 2004 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers' bullpen. Bennett did not post a record with a 1.17 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.
Only a handful of Cubs have faced Bennett in his brief big league career.
- Derrek Lee - 3-for-4 with a double and a home run
- Mark DeRosa - 0-for-3
Bennett has very good stuff and the Cubs have struggled in the past against pitchers they had little to no history against....let's hope the advanced scouts have done their job.
Let's Talk Cubs Baseball....
Tonight's lineup:
Soriano - LF
Theriot - SS
Lee - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Fukudome - RF
Soto - C
Edmonds - CF
DeRosa - 2B
Dempster - P
Hey CCO! Game time can't come fast enough.
I don't know about you guys but I would have liked to see the Marmol/Chipper matchup last night...but I'll gladly take the final result any day.
**I have an idea... why not start Lilly from the second inning instead of the first? Maybe Marmol gets the first, Lilly takes us till the 8th and Kerry then does his job?
**With Pujols down we should try to get some distance from the Cards. Let's win one today!
Metal Gear Solid 4
First place Chicago Cubs.
Pizza loving Pepsi on my desk!
Great day!
INJURY BUG BITES CARDS:
Wainwright to DL (Ouch)
Pujols out "at least 3 weeks" with calf strain; typical recovery for Grade II strain 5 to 8 weeks. Methinks he is out until All Star Break, minimum.
It would be bad karma to gloat or comment, just reporting the facts, Cub fans.
Excellent at bat by Lee
KOSUKE!!!!
All after a 2-out walk by Derrek Lee
Theriot with a big 2-out double!
I hope Dempster does not throw at anyone. I think Bennett made a mistake....but I could be wrong.
Soriano looked like he was in a lot of pain.
I hate to be first to say it...Soriano gets hit by a pitch on his left arm/wrist. I pray it isn't serious!!!!
Expect Dempster to throw at Chipper. Soris' finger looked bad.
For the record, I did post last night after the Cubs victory. For whatever reason, it did not register.
Hopefully it's just a bruise for Soriano. We can't afford to lose him now. We need to take advantage and extend our lead in the Central with Pujols out.
The Cards have to cool off sooner or later.
Pat and Ron just reported Soriano is on the way to the hospital to have an xray on his left hand.
Braves starter goes less than 3 for two night in a row!
Edmonds can still go get em... for the price, it looks like we got a helluva deal.
*fingers crossed* for Soriano's hand...
There's the retaliation Hit by Pitch on a fastball to McCann. Way to go Demp to stick up for your teammate!
If you're on Gameday, check out Ridgeway's Mug Shot. Stoner!
Does anyone know what's up with that wrecked car that Comcast showed a bit earlier?
ESPN just said that Soriano has a fracture in his left hand.
Minimally displaced fracture on the ring finger, near the knuckle on Soriano's left hand.
Now ESPN says Soriano possibly out at least 6 weeks.
Does Hoffpauir have the arm for right field? I 'm curious if he can replace one of the corner positions.
By the way, I just saw Hart opened the game with the guest. Curious we got demoted in exchange of Hoff?
I really hope that we don't have to lose Sori for a long time. The good thing though is that we have enough depth to do really well even if we do lose Sori. I wish all the best to him.
hmm..Soriano out possibly 6 weeks...I wonder if Mr. Bonds wants a job...
All the Soriano haters will now get their dream OF devoid of power: Reed "BTS" Johnson, Jim "ain't dead yet" Edmonds, and a guy that is on pace for 15 HRs in Fukudome.
Better hope like hell nothing happens to Aramis or Lee, and that Soto can keep up his production, because we just lost a lot of pop for the next 6 weeks.
Damn.
NATION REPRESENT!
CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!
Great win for Demps tonight!
Sori out 6 weeks makes me feel sick.
Jason B, you gotta chill man. Power isn't everything. This offense has depth. The BoSox are doing fine without Big papi, and I think the Cubs will be fine as well. On the optimistic side of things, maybe now we can see how theriot does in the leadoff spot...
I would bet that Hoffpauir is called up and Hart is sent down, then either the Cubs call up Murton, or they're going to call up Patterson if they don't use Theriot in the lead-off spot.
If any of those options fail, you'd have to think trade, but who knows?
btw....Dunn or Griffey will be made available....I've always liked Griffey and the way he plays...might not cost much in his late 30's, so who knows? Hell, I'd trade Colvin straight up for him
Great game! Soriano will be missed, but good teams pull together to overcome losses like this. Dempster looked great and I was glad he drilled McCann in the ribs. You have to stand up for your guys. And kudos to McCann for not making a big thing of it. This was just like in the old days. The players settled it on the field without umpires issuing warnings. They should let the players do this all the time. Our guys look great! GO CUBS!
Well put Gramps...and I agree. I did not want to see Dempster go head hunting and get tossed. I should have phrased my comment better.
If Hoffpauir can play LF, or if they call Murton up, that is a lot better than sticking with Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds in the lineup for 9 innings together.
But I have a feeling they will say that Hoffpauir is a RF, and won't play him in LF. As far as Murton, he has been buried in AAA, so I don't know why Lou would go and use him at this point, even though I think he is still a .285-.290 hitter at the MLB level.
My worry is that Hendry goes the Jody Gerut route.
just wanted to add a little bit.....
top candidates to get called up:
1) Hoffpauir
2) Murton
3) Patterson
4) Torres
5) DuBois
You might be thinking...DuBois?!? Well, he's never been given a full opportunity in the majors, and he's only played 12 games, and has 5 bombs with 11 RBI. I say, why not? All of these guys are worthy candidates, though if I was looking for power, I'd go Hoffpauir, DuBois, Patterson, in that order. Patterson, btw, has 10 steals without being caught. Murton and Torres have OBP's above .400....well, check it out for yourself, and see what you think.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&did=milb&cid=451
The news isn't good, but it is the 4th finger on his left, non-throwing hand. I'm thinking the doctor's report will be better in the morning--maybe 4 weeks. I don't recall who they were at the moment, but there have been some sluggers who didn't grip the bat with the bottom two fingers of their lower hand.
I'm recalling that Hoffpauir has already played left field in Wrigley. I also like our flexibility, including some names mentioned and putting DeRosa out there and having Cedeno at second.
Had softball tonight so I didn't catch the game till the 4th inning. That really really sucks about Soriano, he finally looked like his legs were 100 percent and he was starting to heat up again. I am saying he will be back before 6 weeks. He is a quick healer, plus it happened on the left hand not the right.
Like Gramps said, good teams pull together and get through this. We lost Soriano earlier and we were able to pull through. I honestly think we will be okay. We will miss Soriano, yes, but we will be alright.
Hey guys, as I mentioned in the report about the injury. The Tribune is reporting Hoffpauir will be called up. Lou said after the game there will be two roster moves but did not indicate which two players.
Aaron, Torres and DuBois would require a 40-man roster move as well. The Cubs 40-man is full and unless they put Soriano on the 60-day DL they would have to release a player. If they do, I would think Jake Fox is the odd man out. He is back in Double-A not doing much.
Another possibility would be to release Chad Fox or put him on the 60-day DL.
Thanks for the link Aaron...I have to tell you that Patterson's #s look impressive; that is except for the 6 errors.
It is kind of funny that experts keep trashing this farm system but we sure have plenty to choose from.
My bet is that they bring Hoff because they were still going to anyway.
Great win today and tough loss because Soriano was looking healthy for the first time all year.
Dempster...I am starting to believe you are for real...good job!
My wife is a physical therapist and said that where this happened and with him being right handed, he could/should be back before 6 weeks. (Though she is going to double check for me tomorrow)
Well, now we will get an extended look at the Hoff. I wonder if it will be Murton or Patterson as the other one brought up.
The one thing I do know for sure, it is time for Ramirez and Lee to step up!!
Let's go Cubs!!
Neil,
You were dead on about that, sorry, I forgot to mention that in my post....I guess I never really thought about those two moves...I was actually thinking Petrick and Pignatiello could be the odd men out. However, it appears Fox is done, as he was demoted to AA earlier this year, and Chad Fox really doesn't seem to be coming back at all. It'd probably make more sense, now that I think about it, because Piggy and Petrick are still fairly young. Another possible DFA could be Sam Fuld. He's been coming on of late, but at AA, and he's in his late twenties I believe, so his early season slump appears to have taken him out of favor with the club. From an organizational standpoint, it'd make sense to DFA Fox and Fuld, as both are considered OF's, and typically, teams like to keep a balanced number of pitchers, IF's, and OF's on the 40-man, so if you take Chad Fox and Jake Fox out, and replace with two OF's, it creates an unbalanced amount from what they have. For instance, teams typically have on the 25-man rosters: 5-6 OF's, 5-6 IF's, 2 catchers, and 12 pitchers. As for the 40-man, they'll keep about 22 pitchers (about 1 replacement for every one on the 12-man staff---mostly due to injury concerns with pitchers), then they'll have a back-up catcher in the minors, so that's 25 players, then about 9 IF's, and about 6-7 OF's. Typically, if you look at team's 40-man rosters, you'll see a lot of versatile players that can play both IF and OF, which helps in time of injuries. Hoffpauir would be classified as both, as would Ward, DeRosa, and Patterson.
Therefore, it'd be a good idea if Hoffpauir and Patterson were added for flexibility reasons. However, you're adding 2 lefties in that situation, which is not a good idea. If we did that, we'd potentially an entire OF of lefties in Hoffpauir, Edmonds, and Fukodome, and on the bench in Patterson and Fontenot. Blanco, Johnson, and Cedeno would be the only righties---hardly any power out of that group. Thus, my previous statement about why DuBois should be given a chance....big power, limited speed, not much of a glove....hey, one out of three isn't bad. We're missing power, and Johnson would solve 2 out of the 3 we don't need, so anyway, you get my point. Murton will never provide power, and he hit a lot of IF hits and GIDP's during his time up, so he's hardly a good choice