Game Fifty-Nine - Cubs 9 Padres 6
WP - Jason Marquis (3-3) LP - Bryan Corey (1-1) Save - Kerry Wood (16)
The Cubs came from behind for the 8th game in a row and earned their first series win on the road since April 7th, April 9-April 10th against the Pirates. Lou Piniella's offense was once again the difference in a poorly pitched game from both teams. Jason Marquis was credited with the win but turned in one of his worst outings as a Cub. Marquis walked more batters than he gave up hits, worked around his command problems and his manager's temper long enough to pick up his third win of the season. Kevin Hart walked two batters in the 8th, including one with the bases loaded, in his first game back in the big leagues. Hart was tagged with 3 earned runs on 2 hits with a pair of walks in just a third of an inning. Piniella used seven different pitchers to pick up the win.
The Cubs and Padres allowed 15 runs on 21 hits with 13 walks in a game that never quite found a rhythm. Four of the seven walks issued by Cubs' pitching came around to score.
After a very slow start against Wil Ledezma, the Cubs offense chipped away at the early 3-0 deficit and tied the game in the 5th inning. Geovany Soto hit his 10th round tripper in the 6th that broke the 3-3 tie. Mark DeRosa added a 2-run shot a batter later and Alfonso Soriano hit a 3-run homer in the 8th that turned out to be the difference in the game.
The Cubs stayed aggressive on the bases all night. They executed two double steals and swiped a season high 6 bases. The 'Big Three' recorded at least one RBI and for the game, six different Cubs drove in runs.
With the win, Lou Piniella's crew improved to 17 games over .500 on the season and to within a game of the .500 mark on the road....12-13.
Lou Piniella was very animated on Tuesday night, especially toward Jason Marquis. To say Marquis was awful would be an understatement. Piniella tagged him earlier in the season with the 'one bad inning' line but Marquis' performance could simply be described as 'a bad outing'. A better team would have ended the game before the offense had a chance to chip away at the lead.
Marquis struggled through the first two innings but did not allow any runs. He retired Kahlil Greene to start the 3rd but walked Wil Ledezma. With Jody Gerut at the plate, Marquis thought of throwing over to Derrek Lee, but Lee was not covering the bag with the pitcher running. A balk was called then Marquis walked Gerut after 5 pitches.
Tadahito Iguchi flied out to center for the first out, Ledezma tagged, advanced to 3rd and scored on a wild pickoff throw to 1st by Marquis. After the error, Piniella shouted toward the mound, "What the (blank) are you doing?" Marquis walked Brian Giles and gave up a 2-out single to Adrian Gonzalez....Gerut scored, 2-0 Padres.
Marquis walked Paul McAnulty to start the 4th. Michael Barrett followed with a single to right center. With runners on 1st and 3rd and no outs, Kahlil Greene drove in the Padres' third run with a sacrifice fly to center. Marquis issued a 4-pitch walk to Jody Gerut with 2 outs but Iguchi grounded out to short to end the inning.
Marquis' best inning came in the 5th. He retired 3 of the 4 batters he faced and struck out McAnulty to end the inning and his outing. Marquis gave up 3 runs on 4 hits with 5 walks and 2 strikeouts in 5 innings.
Michael Wuertz and Scott Eyre kept the Padres off the board in the 6th and 7th innings. Kevin Hart could not find the strike zone and made the game a lot closer than it needed to be. Neal Cotts allowed an inherited run to score on a single to right by Edgar Gonzalez. Bobby Howry allowed another inherited run to score on a ground out to the hole at short. With the score 9-6, and runners on 1st and 3rd, Howry struck out Brian Giles looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
Kerry Wood gave up a leadoff double to Adrian Gonzalez in the 9th but struck out the next two batters he faced and retired Michael Barrett on the first pitch, fly out to right, to end the game.
Wil Ledezma faced the minimum the first time through the lineup. Alfonso Soriano recorded the Cubs' first hit, a double to left, to start the 4th. Ryan Theriot walked on 4 pitches and Derrek Lee struck out on a 3-2 pitch....both runners were moving with the pitch and advanced into scoring position. Aramis Ramirez grounded out to short and Soriano scored the Cubs' first run....his 40th RBI of the season.
Reed Johnson started the 5th with a double down the left field line. Mark DeRosa walked but on the 3-2 pitch, Johnson stole 3rd. Ronny Cedeno tapped back to the mound, DeRosa advanced to 2nd....the stolen base by Johnson kept the Cubs out of the double play. Soriano was intentionally walked to load the bases with 2 outs. Ryan Theriot walked to force in the Cubs second run and Derrek Lee tied the game with an infield single to the hole at short.
Geovany Soto, Mark DeRosa and Alfonso Soriano's home runs were responsible for the Cubs other 6 runs. The offense continued taking pitch after pitch and found themselves in hitter's counts all night.
The Cubs are winning games, but Lou Piniella is not happy....this is a good thing because complacency is bad, especially in baseball.
Ted Lilly is scheduled to start the series finale on Wednesday night against Greg Maddux. Lilly better bring his A-game....because the Old Professor will.
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I really hope this is the beginning of the end for Marquis. The guy eats innings, but there is a difference between eating innings and sucking for 200 innings. I hope Marshall gets a look soon or Hill figures things out. This team is not going to stay this hot, obviously, and Marquis WILL lose these games more often than not. I don't even care if they simply DFA him, it's just that we have better options in house that need to be expoited to give this team the best chance to win day in and day out.
Other than that, it is great to see EVERBODY continue to contribute. Last year it seemed like one or two people had big games to win, but this year it seems like just everyone is putting together phenomenal seasons. Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Fuk, SOTO!...even Theriot! DeRosa has been such a great sigining. I just hope Dempster can keep it up.
It is easy to be so confident in this team because every player, hitters and pitchers (for the most part) are doing there jobs so well. This is going to be such a fun summer! Go Cubs! Let's keep it going!!!
I actually fell asleep last night during the 3rd inning. I apologize and promise that won't happen again. Thanks again for the recap.
A nice win for the northsiders last night, and it proves again as to how potent this offense is, and that this team can produce runs from anyplace in the lineup. With that said, and echoing some of Lou's postgame concerns, the pitching of Marquis is very troubling. I was at the last game at Wrigley that he started (frustrating to watch though we got the win), and last night I made a point to count how many hitters he got ahead of in the count. Over five innings I only counted 3. And even in those 3 cases Jason tends to then nibble to give back the count advantage. He has no strike out pitch anymore, and can't locate most of his pitches on any consistent basis.
What truly amazes me (similar to basketball after the starting "5") is that with all the hundreds of players in every teams farm system, that the pitching talent in the #4 and #5 spots falls off dramatically. Is there no-one in our farm system that can out-perform Marquis on a regular basis (especially for the $7m he's "earning")? Atleast Gallagher throws strikes, and battles. This stuff with Marquis just has to stop, as EVERY game for him is an adventure. For those who watch our minor league system a lot, is anyone a potential starting pitcher call-up (besides Hill and Marshall who are "still trying to figure it out")?
Some of the recent games are definitely one's that we certainly would have folded on and lost over the prior years. So it's great to get win #9, and continue to pound the offense.
But yesterday just reinforced again the need for a quality #2 starter for the rotation. Marquis is just bad, and he's only "eating" 5 innings a game, so there's no upside. How he can state on the postgame that he "feels good where he's at currently" is astounding. This guy should truly be released, or pawned as quickly as possible for some opposing teams food vendors or bats.
If Lilly can't get it together very soon, this team will have some significant rotation issues, despite the great offense keeping everyone afloat (and happy).
And Bryan, I personally don't know who's ready for a rotation call-up. I was hoping early in the season that Samaradzjia would be a key addition (and add some mental toughness), but I believe his numbers and performance level have been mixed so far.
Bryan and Cary,
I am really hoping Hill can turn it around in his next couple of starts and get back to the club, if he can get back to last years form that would be a huge boost for the rotation.
One name that might be woth a shot here soon, is Randy Wells, he is 4-1 with a 2.35 ERA, with 37 K's and 12 BB, Opponents are only batting .201 against him, and in his last three starts he has only given up 2 runs on 11 hits.
Whenever Marshall gets healthy that's gotta be it for Marquis. He's lucky he only gave up three runs. You're facing an absolutely atrocious offense with one good hitter. The inning he got in trouble was a microcosm for his issues. Walk the pitcher, walk the leadoff man, balk, get a (deep) fly out, throw the ball away trying to pick off a guy that never runs, walk ... and then you get to face their only hitter who thankfully only singled.
Great offensive night in a park where it's tough to hit bombs, and good work from Howry and Woody. I wish Hart would have done better, but I still think the bullpen has the right parts. Hart and Wuertz will get better. Eyre and Howry are dealing now, and we know what we have with Wood/Marmol.
They'll get a rest tonight. Lilly's gonna go 7 or 8 strong...
Maybe we'll get lucky and this will be Marquis' normal second half of the season, then he'll have a great acutal second half. Though based on Lou's actions, it could be a lot to ask just to keep him around til the second half. It looks Samaradzjia will need a little more time, unfortunately due to his terrible numbers last month, and I really don't want to rush him.....too much. Hopefully Lilly will step it up, I loved watching him pitch last year.
For two nights in a row Lou has let his pitcher hit an inning before he is being pulled from the game.
I understand letting Big Z hit but Marquis too?
Anyway it worked.Both got hits before beingsat down.
Intresting move.
One more thing,,,,,,
When we play interleauge with a DH do we STILL let Big Z hit in the DH spot?
That would be classic!
Bardo
Inuendos and Outuendos: Yes, Agustin, this 10 game sequence will far outdo "Kissing Your Sister". I won't add a category for the current 10, but if I did it might be "Weekend Guest in Your Sister's Sorority House." Or even better, a Week's Vacation in January on a Maui Beach With the Love of Your Life. (Yes, I get a lot of the women's vote.)
As several are referencing above, there are concerns in Wrigleyville. In our last 6 wins, opponents have averaged more than 5 runs a game. We need a top pitcher or candidate to win short series. My #1 choices are candidate lefty, Jon Sanchez and pitcher Derek Lowe.
No deal is easy for a top arm, but the Giants do have the lefty Zito (and several prospects) to go with Lincecum and Cain. Sanchez is only now rising toward likely # 2 status, and the Giants have infield position player needs that we can help meet. I would part with Cedeno, Hoffpauir, EPat and Rhee for Sanchz and lefty AAA long reliever Geno Espineli or short reliever Alex Hinshaw (now up and doing well with the Giants). If that is betting the farm, so be it.
After watching Bedard on MLB.TV last night, I think he is too much like Lilly with an extra mile or two on his fastball. Sanchez is a power pitcher who could be a lefty counterpart to Z.
While the Dodgers and Jays are still in Division contention, they are more likely than not to fade from playoff contention. So Lowe and Burnett could become available and would help. The contract and/or agent situations with both could be deal breakers. My #1 choice is Agustin's former team batboy, the Rican Rocket, Jon Sanchez.
Anyone have a list of the possible trade candidates for SP around the league.?
Marquis is truly sad to watch, particularly at his salary level. It is really brutal to watch him.
I like some of the initial "options" presented here today for starting pitching. Are there any eye-opening arms in our own system worth watching/promoting?
Jim --
I tried to give it a go a few weeks ago...
Just click here.
Now Sabean has done some dumb deals in the past so maybe he'd go for it, but if I'm SF there is no way I'd deal Sanchez alone for Hoffpauir, Epatt, Cedeno and Rhee. SF already has many prospects in the mold of those guys in Velez, Schierholz, Ortmeier, Bowker, etc. I can't see Bedard going either if for nothing else than Seattle would like pretty bad if they let him go after dealing a ton of talent for him in the offseason.
I think Burnett and Lowe on the other hand are very realistic targets and I'd love to see either in a Cub uniform even if only for this year. I give JimK credit for coming up wuth those ideas in the offseason as I know he mentioned both those guys a number of times.
Another interesting stat tit-bit.
Of the top 4 batters in our line-up, only 1 hits better with RISP than with Bases Empty -- Guess who?
Alfonso Soriano... He has a .270 avg and a .750 OPS with Bases Empty, and a .352 Avg with a 1.126 OPS with RISP.
All the other 3 hit worse with RISP than Bases Empty...
Yet Soriano is the lead-off guy and its working...
Go Figure!!!
Bardo--as far as the pitchers hitting and then being removed...the thinking is why waste a pinch hitter. Especially in the case of Zambrano being such a good hitter. In the case of Marquis, he is nowhere near as good as Z, but still abover average for a pitcher..plus with the addition of another pitcher on the roster we were short on players anyhow.
I also had the same thought about Big Z batting in the DH spot....you know he will at least approach Lou about it.
Jim....go back a few blogs...I posted a complete list of free agent to be starting pitchers.
As for the comments about trading with the Dodgers and Jays...I dont see either fading any time soon. The NL Worst is weak, and as much as the Dodgers have tried to eliminate themselves...the first place D-Backs won't allow it. In May the Backs went 11-17 (for a first place team!) yet only lost a 1/2 game of their lead. The Jays are a decent squad, The BoSox will have a tough time with the loss of Papi, and the Rays have got to fade at some point.
Maybe we do just need to bring Greg Maddux home for all of this to start with. Then give Hill a few turns to see what he can do, and if he cant step up go spend the money in July on a true top tier pitcher.
David...My take re. a Giants deal is that Cedeno is a likely .280, 10 HR guy who is a good SS, and that Hoffpauir is a .290 guy capable of 15 to 20 HR and playing excellent defense. EPat seems OK in the field and another .280 bat. Rhee is a very young excellent prospect. The Giants are deep in older pitching prospects, including lefty starters Jesse English and Ben Snyder at Fresno.
I'm guessing you think I over value our guys or that they have yet to prove themselves. You could be right, but they are performing pretty well. If I am close on our guys, the deal helps the Giants and the Cubs.
The guys you mention the Giants now have include an infielder, Velez, who is hitting .207; a prospect Bowker who is more an OF who is hitting .240; an OF, Ortmeier who is hitting .219 and a decent prospect OF, Schierholtz who is hitting .304 at AAA. These guys don't appear to solve the Giants infield problems nearly as well as our guys would.
JimK,
We may just have to agree to disagree on the player values. I think Velez has shown more in the minors than Cedeno ... in '06 at AA, Velez hit .318 with 14HR, 20 triples, and 64 steals. In '07 at AAA, he .298 with 1HR, 9 triples and 49 steals in only 376 AB's. That's a ton of speed. He struggled in the majors this year, but has been great at AAA since his demotion. I think the other SF mentioned hitters are capable as the same stuff as the mentioned Cubs hitters. Sanchez on the other hand has a chance to be a annual 15+ game winner with 180-200 K's for years, a solid #2 starter and worthy of a top tier hitting prospect in return (I'd say someone like a Josh Fields).
Don't get me wrong, I think you're right on in thinking that Sanchez is the type of player we should try to acquire ... I just don't think we have the players to get a deal done for him. If we can, more power to JH.