Game Seventy-Three: Cubs (45-27) vs. Rays (42-29)
Game Time - 6:10pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: Comcast SportsNet - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 179
Location - Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
Sean Gallagher (3-3, 4.54/1.37) vs. James Shields (4-5, 3.91/1.18)
The Cubs will try to salvage the final game of the series tonight and avoid their third 2-4 road trip of the season. Sean Gallagher has yet to post a win on the road at the big league level but he has shown steady improvement for the most part this season....and there is no time like the present. The Cubs offense will have the tough task of beating James Shields and with the day game on Friday, Lou Piniella will likely sit Geovany Soto in favor of Henry Blanco.
The Cubs need the win to avoid their first 3-game losing streak of the season....
Sean Gallagher has pitched better than his 0-2 record in his last 2 starts. Gallagher has given up a grand total of 5 runs on 10 hits in his previous 2 outings (10 innings) with 11 strikeouts and 5 walks....but the offense has scored only 2 runs combined in both of those games.
Gallagher is 0-3 in 3 starts, 5 games, away from Wrigley with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP.
Tonight will be Gallagher's first career appearance against the Rays.
The Cubs will get their first look at James Shields. The Rays very good right-hander is coming off his 6-game suspension for his part in the Red Sox brawl. Shields has been horrible of late (10 runs on 13 hits in his last two starts, 9 innings, with no walks and 11 strikeouts) but has been just about unhittable at home this season.
Shields is 3-1 in 7 starts with 2 complete game shutouts (the Angels and the Red Sox) at the Trop with a 1,72 ERA and a 0,86 WHIP....10 earned runs on 37 hits in 52 1/3 innings with 39 strikeouts and only 8 walks.
The Cubs must make him work and implement the same game plan they used against Scott Kazmir. The best arms in the Rays' pen have been well-used in the first two games and like most pitchers, the more he throws the more runs he allows....pitches 16-30, 9.82 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP....pitches 61-75, 4.72 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP....pitches 76-90, 5.02 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.
Mark DeRosa is the only Cub on the active roster that has faced Shields....0-for-3.
Let's Talk Cubs Baseball....
Lets win this one!
Card's lost today
Tonight's lineup:
Fukudome - CF
Theriot - SS
Lee - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Soto - DH
Hoffpauir - LF
DeRosa - RF
Blanco - C
Fontenot - 2B
The Sun-Times update on Zambrano - MRI scheduled for Friday. Saw team doctors on Thursday, no diagnosis yet.
i like the lineup today except for the fact that fontenot is in it.. he is terrible
The best part about Fukudome is that even though he struck out he made Shields throw 10 pitches and set himself up for the next time he faces him. If more batters had Fukudome's capability to waste pitches, you'd see a lot more relief appearances.
Yes, Fukudome struck out, but a 10 pitch lead-off at bat to start the game, is everything you could ever want from your lead-off hitter. I hope Lou really sticks with this decision, even when Soriano gets back.
is it me or does it seem like the Cubs just haven't looked comfortable at all in this series or played with as much confidence?
I agree with all of your comments guys....
Rob, I think it might have to do with the dome....I saw somewhere some stats, and they weren't good for domes/artificial surfaces. The Trop has historically been a difficult place for opposing teams to play with the ceiling and all---it throws guys off.
Neil, I'm super concerned about this MRI deal, and why they held off taking it today......hmmmmm...kind of puzzling. Also, I've seen the rumors about Marshall taking a start or two, and I'm not thrilled. I'd be thrilled if it were in place of Marquis, but NOT our ace. I think you need someone that can shut the other team down, like, say a Veal---at least he has the potential to do so. I'd also have to think that Samardzija, given that he's on the 40 man, will at least be given consideration at the very least.
Johnson and Edmond's injuries concern me.....we're already struggling to score, and those guys put the ball in play recently for us and gave us a chance to win.
just a side comment....when Fukodome got caught stealing...it was probably better that way...Theriot would've had a GIDP anyway
Once again, if you take the 1st 4 innings of each game in this series... a total of 12 innings...
The Cubs have scored 2 runs in those....
Kapler was on our local sports talk show and he said Hendry told him that the reason they're waiting until friday to have the MRI on Zambrano was that no matter the result...even if it's nothing...they will skip his turn in the rotation maybe even twice. So they'll just wait till they get home.
With Cy Young going for they Rays, I am surprised the Cubs didn't just forfeit.
boy, Gallagher is battling hard... now if this freakin offense can just get 1 damn run
looks like its gonna be another close one.. We have to be patient and get his pitch count up he has his stuff tonight!
i think we may get shutout tonight.. we look terrible.. they are just guessing at what he is gonna throw
Shields went from 10 pitches to Fukudome in the 1st AB of the game, to 74 pitches in 5 innings... That is an average of 13 pitches per inning from that point on....
It looks like our hitters and the Cards hitters are taking a week off. That's especially bad when Soriano and Pujols are hurt. The Cards had 2 hits against Grieneke (sp) tonight in their third straight loss to the Royals. If we lose tonight, we will be 2 and 4 in our last 6.
Gallagher has been pitching well, and we really need to score a couple of runs for him tonight. Obviously when your pitcher goes 7 and gives up 1 unearned run you ought to win. Let's get the cobs out Cubs and score, score, score!!!
Make that 6 innings for Gallagher. Way to go Micah. Keep it going Cubs!!
Blanco bunted a way-inside high fastball to embarrassment. But at least he worked Shield's count to a 100...
WAY TO GO FONTENOT!!! Bad break on the ground rule double...
and good old Fonte knocked Shield off the mound. Way to go, Cubbies!
Nice Job Fontenot! Sure wish Blanco would have gotten the bunt down.
Kosuke with the bloop!
I love this idea of Fuk batting first. It's a blooper, sure, but he's the kind we'll hit opposite side for the past half of the season.
This will be Sean's winning inning.
Nice Job Theriot, come on Lee
DLee needs to get rolling or Lou needs to get him outta the 3 hole...my God he's been frustrating. I know that sounds stupid with his 3 hits tonight but DAMN!
By the way, even with all the discussions posted before... will any other GM seriously consider trading his ace to us? I don't think this Cubbie farm demonstrates any shining star except a few single A guys.
Teams like the A's and the Southside are competing, and they are the buyer, so it's hardly possible that they offer anything. The Padres? maybe, but Kevin Towers is no fool to take.
Yet, imagine this rotation:
1-Dempster
2-Lilly
3-Gallagher
4-Marquis
5-Lieber
We can't even get through NLDS with this...
I'm more realistic now. Maybe Randy Wolf will suffice for the time being (as an insurance). We'll see how the MRI tells us about Z.
Worst of worst, GM Hendry will need to deplete his farm for the one from the seller.
I hope the Cubs have a place for smelly cobs. Those rascals paid attention and gave us the score, score, score. OK pen, bring us the victory!
*and I meant "get to NLDS"
3 good pitchers are enough for the short 5 game series
I am happy with the crooked number put up by the Cubs, but with Lee and Ramirez coming up we should have seen a knock out blow. With Soriano out, they really needed Ramirez to step it up. Is it me or has it been over a week since he has hit a ball hard, let alone come through?
with the way this young Rays offense is going and now the bases loaded, this could very well get rid of the lead quite quickly...and potentially the game.
Wow, Marmol is all over the place
Hit two batters....
Judas Preist!
I see that Carlos got his fastball in control. It's really his devastating sliders which went wrong. He probably didn't cock his wrist right. I fear injury or fatigue that builds to it, but it's too early to tell.
I hope he'll have his breaking pitches back the next game. If not...
wow...that was fast
... and that was unbelievable... a slam against our third best reliever for this time of the season...and then a 3-base...
i gotta say...we don't say it much, thankfully....but Lou really lost this game for us....for crying out loud, he'd never let Lieber, Wuertz, Howry, or Cotts get away with walking two in a row, and barely throwing strikes...and much less hitting a batter....
Lou left him in too long because he relies too much on him
This is not good, especially heading into the series with the Sox.
What in the hell is Eyre doing? 3 batters faced, 4 runs given up. Brutal! These guys are putting on a real sh!t show.
Another SB, way to pay attention Eyre. For Christ sake, pull him already!
I gotta say now, this could mean the end of our season...getting swept by the Rays, awful managing, worse relief pitching, NO clutch hitting...For crying out loud....1 out, 2nd and 3rd, and our two "best" hitters are EASILY retired.....it doesn't get any worse than that.....
I almost chucked my laptop on the floor...this is ludicrous, embarassing....as I said....potential end of our season, especially with Sori hurt and Z down....it sucks
I think this series has put Cubbie swagger in complete check. Not a good feeling.
Aaron,
But then again, whom would you trust if there's no arm you can trust? You got to let the liability stay there. Marmol had problems like this before: walked a batter or even two but comes back and struck the side. He hit 2 batters, yes, and those were lead-off, but with the first HBP, no manager could tell if it was an one-time accident or a sign of losing control (in his case, breaking ball).
Wow, wow, wow. I can't wait to get out of tampa.
looks like the Rays just exposed our weakness in this series.....and why we won't even make it to the playoffs at this rate....C'mon guys, you can't argue that.....getting swept by the Rays is a VERY bad omen....having your manager actually state that if Z is gone, we're in big trouble. (wow, what does that tell your team?), not to mention, Lee and ARAM can't hit in the clutch to save their lives....add a depleted rotation, a bullpen that looks like a deer in headlights, and we're FINISHED....I'm not even kidding, or over-reacting either.....I've said all year our pen is our BIGGEST weakness, second would be the rotation, and third, lack of power....it looks like we're lacking all three now
Now, I must say that Eyre was completely overmatched. With Crawfold and Upton, who are very talented power hitters with speed, there's understanding of the pitcher's mistakes. But with the fifth and the six like Floyd hitting like that, it's unexcusable.
The whole meltdown is not a good sign, for we are not only in a losing streak, we have a hurt leadoff slugger and an ace plus a CF possibly heading to DL.
And then, without 7-8 quality innings from our rotation, how will our bullpen rest?
WTF !!!!!
They look like $h!t
This may be a reality check....that we aren't as good as we think and we need the chip knocked off our shoulder. Hopefully this is a wakeup call and things turn around against the Sox.
It's clear our guys needed specific instructions tonight. One of us should have called for one of Neil's shutdown innings. As we used to say on the farm, the pen has been an udder failure tonight. It's just damned disgusting.
Maybe this will turn out to be one of those humble pie nights that gets everyone focussed on their job. Carlos is still an all star, but I worry a lot that Eyre and Howry don't have much left.
I just gotta add, that when a predominantly veteran team (which we have) gets beat by an young, up-and-coming team....psychologically, it has a damning effect on the team....(see Mets last year)
Aaron, I know this sucks right now, but in no way is this the "Potential End of the Season". This will be the first time we have lost three in a row all year. Not to mention we will be the last team in baseball to loose 3 in a row.
Aaron,
Our bullpen is our strength. What really hampers their performance would be a rotation with a hole, and even two. From the very start of the preseason, I was hoping we go after a third man, but it never happened, and we relied solely on Hill and Marquis to do their job. It's just now a AAA guy (Sean) and some other call-up (whoever, I hope not Lieber).
Even without power, we still get on-base, which is fine. There's a different style but the same effective ballgame if Lou plays like this.
I think the only, the biggest, and the urgent problem is our rotation to solve.
All is not lost....
but the offensive stats of our team are extremely misleading.... 2/3rds of the lineup hits .250 or worse on the road....
I see that STL just got swept by the Royals. It's a f'n shame that we couldn't even gain another game lead in the central.
And Aaron, certain areas of our bullpen have been strong thus far...Marmol, Howry, Eyre(up until tonight), but the rest have sucked it up...Cotts(why he is still in the majors puzzles me), Wuertz, Lieber. The only reason their ERA's are low is b/c the give up all of the inherited runs.
Dorasaga,
Could you explain to me how our pen is our greatest strength?
this really brings back painful memories of years past....Remember the times we'd have great starting pitching, and a terrible bullpen, or the team couldn't hit....then, we'd have a terrible rotation, and excellent hitting, and a great pen....it was never consistent.....this year, I thought we might possibly have it all together...HOWEVER, we ONLY had TWO reliable guys in the pen----Marmol and Wood....one very young pitcher that was wild, but effective, and one oft-injured former starter-turned closer....You gotta be out of your mind if you think that's a recipe for success....THEN, your next pitcher in line---Howry, has a .330 BA against him and a 4-5.00 ERA...throw in Cotts, who walks everyone, and Wuertz who is his RH counterpart, and how does that pen scare anybody?!?
You also mention hitting...How exactly have we been a good hitting team the last few weeks? We've completely thrown out the patience that was present in April and May....When Soriano came back, patience went down slightly, then back up....when we lost Soriano, our patience went completely out the window....Don't believe me? Stats don't lie...just look at the stats the last 21 days
Long walks with the dogs tonight...Neil-Abby...
We will fight back, In nights like this I think of Soriano who has no fear and just the fact that he can be a one man show.
Believe...it will get better but we need to straight things now.
Did anybody see Edmonds throwing seeds at Dempster in the dugout during the 9th. That pisses me off. You're getting you butt kicked and about the get swept and he's messing around in the dugout. Not good to see.
Burn the film of this series. Check the guys for sand chiggers or something worse and make sure all of the engines are firing on the plane. And go home to a new series. Somebody said after the first two losses, "Cheer up, things could be worse!" So the guys cheered up, and sure enough things got worse.
Well time to turn it around against the white Sux tomorrow at home.
As pissed off as I am about this road trip i'm not jumping off the bridge. We weren't gonna go the whole year not loosing 3 in a row. Tampa is REALLY tough at home...and worse than we are on the road...we sucked, there's no denying that, but at least it's June 19th and not August 19th. We really do need to play better on the road and against quality teams until then I believe the jury is out.
Lee and Aram need to start earning their money!
silver lining is....we didn't lose a game to the Cards, Pirates, Reds, or Astros....HOWEVER, the Brewers have been putting on a show of late....While they lack pitching, IMO, to remain in it...How, exactly, are they different from us? Here's the funny thing....we have a slight edge in SP than they do...and I mean, slight...pen, we're about even, except for closer, but hitting-wise....WOW....81 home runs for us vs 92 for the Brewers....that's significant, because when you're down, as we've been lately, you have to have the power...We have had a few more extra base hits than them, but the gap is largely due to Zambrano's presence in the lineup when he pitches and pinch hits...otherwise we're even in that regard.
This game was terrible....Mark my words, if we don't take at least 2 of 3 against the Sox....it's all over for us
First team to lose three in a row after 72 games into the season. Some of you need to relax.
Someone actually said, this could mean the end to our season???? REALLY, the end to our season??? We got swept by a very good team, that is young with some great young pitching. Is it the end of the Cardinals season because they got swept by an awful KC team? No.
Good teams bounce back, lets see how we do this weekend.
Aaron,
Stats don't lie, but you are reading the wrong line of stats.
ERA fluctuates and can't compare because a lot of noise is in it, and we usually compares apples to oranges without looking at stuffs if only take ERA as something even important (blown saves? wins?).
BA is funny, because it's been around so long, and people forgot that it was deviced before we got computers (and even 2 World Wars). It only correlates slightly above 0.6 with run production. OBP is a close to 0.9 (VERY CLOSE) indicator of run production. OPS (combining OBP and slugging percentage) gives you a close to 1.0, which means perfect, match with run production.
Here's what we have:
Out of 198 qualified leaders of NL relievers, Marmol lists 2nd in WPA (Win Probability Added).
Wood and Eyre, ranked 29th and 26th, (0.72 and 0.66 WPA) the three combined gives us the second best in NL, slightly behind the DBacks, which in my humble opinion after following them since NLDS last season and comparing stats, is the best pitching team in NL.
Our team BA, which you disgusted, is actually BEST of Major League (including AL). Our team OBP (0.360) is FIRST among MLB as well, 5 points above Boston that comes second and 7 points above Texas.
Our team SLG (.440), that measures our power with noises of 2-base or other ground rule type of long hits, and which you disgusted too, is FIFTH among MLB--That is with Soriano out half of the season so far. And we are behind Texas (think Hamilton and Bradley), the Red Sox, Phillies (wow, what a slugging team they have), and Marlins by 8 to 20 points (460-448).
20 points is nothing because SLG can go up to 700 points total.
No matter how I look at our team, this is a winning team that deserves winning. It can get better, because it's a big market team with a national and loyal fanbase that most other teams don't have the luxury to have.
GM Hendry has all the resources to obtain a 3rd man down the rotation, and I still believe he should.
One last thing. You watch the games, even if you don't know how to distinguish "stuffs," "control," "gameplan," and a wise manager who switch pitchers when he finds fit, and if you only realized that we win in more extra-inning games than others throughout the league, you know we have one of the strongest bullpens.
Aaron you truly amaze me. We have one of the best records in baseball, we're in first place, then all a sudden, we lose 3 in a row for the first time ALL year, and now all of a sudden it is the end of the world and the season is over. Have a little faith man, Judas Priest! We are all up set we got swept (probably casue we aren't used to it this year), but like Cory said we were going to go all year without losing three in a row. Let's take it out on the Sux at home tomorrow.
*actually, I wasn't clear, but SLG goes up to 4.000 if you knock homeruns every plate appearance. OBP can only goes up to 1.000
Chipper Jones, for example, before he got hurt two weeks ago had a SLG of .700, and this was perhaps the best any batters could get in a long stretch, and so much less would a team get.
**Chipper had something like 768 SLG, but the detail doesn't matter, cuz it can go really up or low but rebounds quickly in a few games...
I think the Cubs spent too much time at the beach and Carlos maybe stayed up too late last night and shakey Eyre knew he was in over his head. The Hall of Fame trip and bad flying weather, Zambrano, Edmonds and Johnson problems, a young eager good Tampa squad, a great schedule from the league (no rest on Monday late arrival Thursday for early game Saturday against cross town rival), pathetic showings from your "scary three and four hitters" all contributed to the loss. That being said if Zambrano (or future top players) do not lose major time, this team will win the division or at least a wild card. I did not see hte game but it sounds like Gallagher pitched pretty good again.
stats do and don't lie...if that makes sense....
Yes, we have the top BA and OBP....However, the D'Backs made it all the way to the NLCS and gave up more runs than they produced, and happened to have a terrible team BA.....However, it's all about clutch.....timely hitting, and timely pitching.....
Even one of our best relievers---Wood, blew some crucial games early on....We all know that Wuertz, Cotts, and Lieber have good ERA's....Yet, why are they considered our worst relievers amongst many on here?!? It's because they allow inherited runners to score....It either goes to the starter's ERA, or amongst each other...which is why they all have similar ERA's if you look at it. Wuertz, Eyre, Lieber, Marmol, and Wood are all hovering around the high 2's, and low 3's....Cotts and Howry are above, usually because they give up runs right away....If they inherit runners, they give them up, and in Howry's case, Piniella has a longer leash for him, and lets him give up his own runs....
To top it all off, you state that we are a patient team....Yet, as we all know, it is all about what have you done lately. Isn't it? We have struck out an ASTRONIMICAL number the last two weeks, which is a great indication of impatience, and an even greater indication of where the team is headed. If you think having Soriano back is going to change that, then you're sorely mistaken...it'll only get worse.
Fukodome has struck out at an alarming rate the last few games, DeRosa and Soto are regularly striking out 2-3 times per game, couple that with Cedeno and Fontenot when they start, and you get the picture....it's NOT a good lineup right now....Here's why:
1) Fukodome is now leading off, but surprisingly, is striking out...so you immediately have an out
2) Theriot bats second, and hits ground balls more frequently than maybe anyone else in MLB, besides mabye Eckstein, which, if Fukodome even happens to get on base, he's probably going to GIDP, or end up as a force out
3) Lee is about as streaky as Soriano, but with less power the last few years...and he strikes out about as much as Soriano...not exactly a ringing endorsement
4) Let's face it, ARAM can't get it going this year in the power department....not a good projection for the rest of the year
5) Soto hits behind ARAM now.....He might have extra base power---more so than anyone else is showing lately...much less all season...but he also strikes out a TON, so even if ARAM or Lee happen to get on, lately he hasn't brought them in like he did earlier this year.
6) Hoffpauir...he's the only bright spot we have hitting-wise...yet, hasn't really proved clutch....especially last night. Can we really rely on an unproven LF that is only filling in for an injured Soriano? So, when Soriano comes back, we replace one bright spot with another bright spot---and we don't even know if Soriano will return with effectiveness. How does this help the team exactly?
7) DeRosa, as we know, is another anamolly when it comes to stats....His BA is relatively high, but can you tell me the last big hit he had. I mean, most of his hits come with nobody on base, or the game is already out of reach and it doesn't matter. Do I even need the mention the GIDP's...He's like a slower version of Theriot in some stretches.
8) We don't even have a CF right now...DeRosa made a key error yesterday in RF, and we know about his hitting (see above). Fukodome has been subbing in CF...So, I'm just going to insert Fontenot and Cedeno here...which is a joke...because both are playing as such lately anyhow
I can't see this team going far right now...They've done nothing in the last 21 games to show me that. Even their wins of late have been close. What does that tell you about the offense? And I'm not talking 8-7 games either...I'm talking 3-2, 4-3, 5-3, etc....not exactly scoring the runs lately, and this does NOT bode well. Edmonds, who was actually coming on for us of late is injured, and can we really rely on a CF who had previous attitude issues and an injury history? Who do we call up if he's injured...Patterson? Pie? Wow, that's a recipe for long term success right there, isn't it? (sighs) Who do we trade for a bat? We can't!! Especially when we need all the bait we can get for a front line starter....What really sucks is that we already needed a front line starter even before Z might be headed to the DL, so essentially, the guy we get (if at all) would only be replacing him........argggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhh
Again, this is why Hendry is a loser in my book...He's more re-active than pro-active. Last year, it was giving up the chance to have Hamilton when we desperately needed another OF'er, and this year, it was giving up the chance to land Ponson, or someone else in ST when we knew Marquis would suck... He never could've called Hill's collapse, and neither could any of us, so you can't blame him for that...Perhaps, we'd be a lot better off if he was more effective this year, and it'd be a less glaring weakness...but still, signing Lieber was a good long man option in the pen and nothing more....which is why we needed to trade Marquis and add another starter, keeping Marshall in the wings for back-up...But now, Marshall will essentially be replacing our ACE for the time being.....very puzzling isn't it?
17 games over .500 and the season is over? Cubs are 12-8 over the last 20?
Aaron, whatever medication you're missing, please renew your prescription. Either that or get off the bottle. Hendry has made some stellar moves. Reed Johnson? Edmonds (thought it kills me to say that), Fuke? OBP doesn't lie.
It's June 19th and we are in first place. The Cards didn't gain a game during the losing streak so what's the big deal? I think it is a good thing to lose a few every now and then. As somebody said, a little humble pie to make folks continue to work hard is a good thing.