Game One Hundred Fourteen - Cubs 11 Astros 7
WP - Bobby Howry (4-4, BS 3) LP - Chris Sampson (5-4) Save - None
What a day and what a game at Wrigley Field on Tuesday afternoon. A combined 18 runs on 25 hits were scored between two long time rivals in an afternoon that can simply be described as a hitter's day at the Friendly Confines. The Cubs offense jumped on Wandy Rodriguez early and often and before the 3rd inning began Lou Piniella's crew was up by a 6-1 score. But the Cubs were unable to tack on to their lead and the always dangerous Astros' offense, led by Carlos Lee, scored 6 unanswered and led 7-6 when Reed Johnson stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Johnson led off the inning with a single to right center and advanced to 3rd on a double to right by Mark DeRosa on a ball that was misplayed by Hunter Pence. Kosuke Fukudome hit a deep fly to center that scored Johnson to tie the game at 7. Daryle Ward pinch hit for Henry Blanco and was intentionally walked by Cecil Cooper. Lou Piniella went to his bench for Mike Fontenot but once 'Little Babe Ruth' was announced, Cooper went to his pen for southpaw Wesley Wright....and Piniella countered with Geovany Soto, but he struck out for the second out of the inning.
Cecil Cooper brought in Doug Brocail, as a part of a double switch with Lance Berkman, to face Alfonso Soriano. With DeRosa at 2nd, pinch-runner Jason Marquis at 1st and 2 outs, Soriano quickly fell behind 0-2 before looking at the third pitch in the at bat. Alfonso Soriano then hit the next offering from Brocail into the left field bleachers for his 20th home run of the year and his second career hit off of Doug Brocail. Soriano made a curtain call as the Cubs mounted another comeback at home in a year full of dramatics at the old ballpark.
Ryan Theriot walked, stole second and scored on Derrek Lee's fourth hit of the game to give the Cubs a 4 run lead after 7 innings. This version of the Chicago Cubs never appears to quit.
Rich Harden was lights out early on and allowed only an unearned run in the first 4 innings. Harden gave up a pair in the 5th after a home run by Ty Wigginton and a 2-out RBI triple by Kaz Matsui. Harden kept elevating pitches and surrendered his second long ball of the afternoon in the 6th....a 2-run shot to Geoff Blum that cut the Cubs lead to 6-5.
Bobby Howry replaced Harden with 2 outs in the 6th after Harden gave up a 2-out single to Darin Erstad and issued his first walk of the afternoon to Humberto Quintero. Howry retired Mark Loretta to end the inning.
Howry took the mound to start the 7th and gave up a leadoff single to Kaz Masui. Two outs later and with 1st base open, Lou Piniella made the slow walk to the mound before Carlos Lee stepped to the plate. After a short discussion, the decision to pitch to Lee was soon regretted. Lee launched the first offering from Howry into the left field bleachers to give the Astros a brief lead....Lee's home run was the 11th given up by Howry on the season in 54 1/3 innings and Lee's 26th career long ball off of Cubs' pitching.
Kerry Wood made his first appearance since July 11th and was effective as he knocked off the rust and Carlos Marmol retired the Astros in order in the 9th to end the game.
A day after being shutout in a rain shortened 8-inning game, the big bats came out on Tuesday afternoon. Derrek Lee (4-for-5 with a double, 2 runs scored and a RBI) and Alfonso Soriano (3-for-5 with a double, a home run, 2 runs scored and 4 RBI's) led the way, but Reed Johnson was once again in the middle of the action (1-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI) and Mark DeRosa (3-for-5 with 2 doubles, a run scored and 3 RBI's) knocked in the first two runs of the game with a bloop double to right. What was lost following the win was the sacrifice fly by Kosuke Fukudome that tied the game.
Tuesday was a total team effort....
The Cubs picked up a much needed win against the Astros on Tuesday and improved to 22 games over .500 for the second time this season with their 42nd win of the year at Wrigley.
One of the many keys down the stretch for the Cubs is Rich Harden. He has shown how dominant he can actually be. Harden was up in the zone for a majority of the afternoon and the Astros' offense took advantage of his lack of command. Harden gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 8 hits with a walk and 8 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings on 93 pitches. Lou Piniella stated after the game that Harden told him he was tired during a visit to the mound. Piniella added that was the first time since Harden joined the Cubs he mentioned fatigue while he was on the mound. While Harden's bunt single in the 2nd inning added to the big inning, it probably had a negative effect on his performance on the mound.
The Cubs did not waste any time jumping on Wandy Rodriguez in the 1st inning. After Alfonso Soriano flied out to center, Ryan Theriot walked on 4 pitches and advanced to 3rd on a double to left by Derrek Lee (the rest on Monday night was apparently exactly what Derrek Lee needed). Aramis Ramirez tapped out to the mound on the first pitch.
With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Rodriguez hit Reed Johnson with a pitch to load the bases. Mark DeRosa worked the count to 2-2 then blooped a double down the right field line and drove in Theriot and Lee with the first two runs. Kosuke Fukudome flied out to left to end the inning.
Henry Blanco started the 4-run rally in the 2nd inning with a double to left. Rich Harden attempted to sacrifice Blanco to 3rd but reached after he beat out the throw to 1st by Wandy Rodriguez. Alfonso Soriano followed with a single to left, his first career hit off of Rodriguez (0-for-7). Blanco scored and the Cubs were up by a score of 3-1.
After a failed bunt attempt by Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee blooped a single into shallow right to load the bases with 1 out. Aramis Ramirez looked at four straight out of the zone and Harden trotted in from 3rd with the Cubs' fourth run.
Darin Erstad made a great leaping catch in left center before crashing into the wall to take an extra base hit, and at least two RBI's away from Reed Johnson. Soriano tagged and scored and the Cubs were up 5-1. With runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, Mark DeRosa drove in his third run of the game with a single to left that plated Derrek Lee. Kosuke Fukudome ended the inning with a fly out to the track in left.
The Cubs' offense beat the Astros at their own game and improved to 6-0 since July 23rd in games started by left-handed pitchers. Before Tuesday afternoon, the Astros bullpen had not allowed a run in 13 1/3 consecutive innings....on Tuesday, they surrendered 5 in the 7th inning.
Jason Marquis is scheduled to face Brandon Backe in the third and final game of the series on Wednesday afternoon.
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Scott Eyre vs Bob Howry.....
I think the wrong pitcher was released. Just on general principal that lefties are more valuable than righties...but add in the Eyre meant MUCH more to the team's clubhouse than Howry.
Further the numbers, I believe, support it....
As a lefty, if used as a situational lefty Eyre was doing the job. Against LH hitters Eyre's line was:
2.57 ERA; a .259 Batting Average Against; 7 hits; 2 runs allowed, 1 BB and 9 K's.
Against RH hitters Eyre got smoked:
14.54 ERA; a .421 Batting Average Against; 8 hits; 7 runs allowed; 3 BB and 5 K's.
I feel that Lou misused him in the end. When Scotty came back from injury in May, he was untouchable not allowing an earned run. Lou brought him back slow and used him situationally against lefties.
After missing time in July, he came off the DL and gave up 3 runs in his only post-all star outing. My issue was that he had been active for about 10-days and had not pitched. That's not too fair to expect good things..especially when you arent using him situationally against lefties.
Howry on the other hand......he's been healthy all year...but post-all star he's been getting SMOKED!
Since the break he is 1-2 with a 9.72 ERA!! 4 HR's allowed! a .351 Batting Average Allowed! HORRIBLE!!
It doesnt matter about situational hitting with him...lefties and righties are eating him up. Lefties are batting .299 against him while righties are batting .306!! 7 HR's to righties and 4 HR's to lefties!!
On a good note, his walk to strikeout ratio is very good with only 8 BB's on the year to 43K's. But, it's easy to rack up the K's and limit the walks when you blow the ball down the middle and those who dont strike out hit the cover off the ball.
He had a horrid start in April with an 8.03 ERA, but had a very good May with a 1.76 ERA but fell off again in June and has just gotten worse!
They should have either released Howry...or held em both and sent Cotts back down. Either way releasing Eyre was a mistake....
couldn't agree more about Howry...thought I'd include stats too:
In terms of:
Appearances- Howry ranks 2nd (54) to Marmol (58),
IP- he ranks 8th (54) and 2nd among relievers to Marmol (62)
Hits allowed- he ranks 7th (68 hits), and that even includes Gaudin, who was a part-time starter in Oakland.
Home runs allowed- he's tied with Dempster for 3rd (11 allowed), and he's pitched in about 1/3 the innings that Dempster has
Walks- the only thing he's done fairly well in comparison to other relievers, as he's only given up 8 walks
K's- he's 4th in the pen (41 K's)
I never really looked at his stats before in comparison with our other guys....mainly just ERA and such, but given all of this information...he is HORRIBLE, and I hope he is DFA'd tomorrow. I completely agree that between the two...if you get a better clubhouse guy, you keep him, especially for situational lefty cases. I'm still beside myself that a reliever that gives up over a hit an inning, is 3rd on the team with home runs allowed INCLUDING starters, and aside from Marquis, Lieber, Wuertz, Kevin Hart, and Eyre, he's the ONLY guy in the pen to allow more hits than innings pitched. Lieber is on the DL, and started one game and was our long man, so that's expected, Wuertz was optioned, Hart was optioned, and Eyre was DFA'd.
Just given those stats, I'd say he needs to be gone, and anyone, even those lacking experience in the minors, would be an upgrade from him. Perhaps even Chad Fox would be an upgrade, who knows? I'm hoping that move gets made for sure that Howry is DFA'd
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/teamStats?statGroup=pitching&categoryId=71602&stype=homeRunsAllowed&dir=de&season=2008&seasonType=regular
It's gonna happen!
I'm going to attend N.C. State on August 18th. Hope I can get my bachelor's degree in Electronics!
Wasn't Dempster everyone favorite punching bag in March and now you all love him? Historically Howry has been solid and I think (though I didn't go back check the stats) he was lights in August and September last year. I'm not saying he's going to repeat that this year, but odds are he would outperform Eyre down the stretch. Cub fans (and many baseball fans in general) are all about "what have you done for me lately"). Fortunately, these folks never become General Managers.
I meant "lights out", not "lights".
You were great Cubs. Stay super as long as possible. This was a great day. The Marlins, Rays, and Cubs won.
People in Miami ask why I like all 3 teams. The answer: Marlins because I was born there, Rays because they are from the same state, and Cubs because they have the greatest rooters. If I ever travel to Chicago, I will enlighten Neil and the gang at CCO.
Marlins finally beat Jamie Moyer. He drops to 10-1 now vs Florida. I know how it feels to go 0 for 10 or worst against a pitcher. Don't worry, the Cubs will beat Randy Johnson and end that ugly 0-13 streak. I feel it in my [need I name every body part].-LOL
You have great rooters in Chicago. You have more power and maturity than the Brewers. They fight amongst themselves. Don't get it a tirade with those fan, you're better than that. I hope I am becoming an enlightment to your team.
You're almost there! Don't let it befall you. I can truly and madly sad that. Only I wish you were in a bellen viewic form like your great CCO creator, Neil.
Neil, you are great. Keep up the good work. The Cubs have a great chance in the greatest year of the history of baseball HORSEicallity. The Cubs should HORSE-check the Cardinals coming up.
If you ever feel dreary or unchanted, please take a 20-minute meditation session THREE days per week until cured. Hope I was a help to these great creatures reaching out for delightful fortitude within this great universe.
The Candle has spoken.
Peace out to all my hippies!!!!
Who knew Dr Phil masqueraded as a hippie from south Florida and posted messages on an MLB team blog site? I did not, & I'm not sure I'm ready to say I'm thankful he does since most of this psycho drivel posted by the Candle is 1) wierd & 2) nonsensical.
"This is the year" & "feeling it", etc, etc is babble. All I need to see is the Cubs are #1 in Batting Avg in the NL, #1 in team pitching in the NL, & #1 in runs scored in the NL. Facts will illustrate why it's "our" year, not some magic dust in the outfield (remember that guys), or blowing up a ball (yeah, that one too), or attempting to bring in a goat, blah, blah, blah....
Go Cubs, let's get some runs!
Just to help along the "oust Howry" drive.....
By the numbers
Has allowed at least 1 base runner in 10 of his last 11 appearances
Has allowed at least 1 earned run in 6 of his last 8 appearances
Has a 9.72 ERA over his last 8 and 1/3 innings pitched.
1 of only 2 pitchers that has infuriated fans enough to have come after him from the stands.
That my friends, is God awful and there is no evidence that his 96 mph fast ball he had is coming back. So, what you see (90 mph pin straight fastball) is what you get.
Candle,
Hate to bust your bubble. True fans only root for one team and one team only. Its too easy to jump from ship to ship otherwise. It doesn't really matter which team, just pick one. Since the Cubs are your "number 3 team", then, sorry, I can't consider you a true fan of the team.
I suspect that the debate in JH's office is not over Eyre vs. Howry, but rather how do we replace both of them for the stretch and post season runs. Both have been good in the past, but both have not pitched well this year. And these tough decisions come down to who gives us the best chance to win.
Barring a trade, we will likely have 4 starters-- which leaves Marquis, Marshall, Cotts, Samardzija, Gaudin, Marmol and Wood in the pen. A couple of the pen names could change--especially if Marshall and Cotts come up short from the left side over their next few appearances. It's not impossible that some team's 40 man roster lefty would fall to the Cubs in a (required) waiver deal, but that seems like a long shot. A player not on a 40 man roster can be traded without the waiver process (I think), but finding someone (usually a veteran trying to make it back in the minors) is also a long shot. The Met's right handed starter at AAA, Tony Armas, is an example of such a player. He is 4-5 and 2.52 with 20 W and 88 SO in 102 IP. A lefty reliever with similar promise doesn't come to mind but may be out there somewhere.
Candle asked once if he should stay or go. I'm with Dave that he should go since this site is about informed views of baseball and the Cubs--and not about folk in need of cultural and philosophical renewal or amateurs who aspire to being gurus of the mystical crafts.
Candle - keep up the good work.
to candle haters - come on. give the candle a break. true cubs fans aren't mean and nasty like some new york mets fans and just saw on a blog site. you can like as many teams as you want and still be a cubs fan. maybe not a true cubs fan, but there's nothing wrong with people showing their love for the cubs even if they attend other games and root for other teams. I still root for the barrett's, murton's, mad dog's and gallagher's that are no longer with the cubs. the cubs are my only #1 team, but you gotta have some respect for the other guys.
Gary - seriously? fans have tried to attack two of our players? I have not heard that yet and am in shock! Shock! is there any articles or sites out there that have some of that information?
The fan that came after Howry was actually one of my favorite moments that year. Howry just stood there like "Bring it" and he is a big guy really. I think Bob was going to take the guys head off.
I saw Guzman made his first appearance a couple days ago in the minors..Maybe he will be fasttracked up?
I think Guadin is going to eventually take over Howry's spot.
This is more then a early season slump for Howry. Usually by now he's out of this muck. He needs a bout a week without pitching. It's got to be becoming a mental thing on him too at this point.
Give him a week off and see what happens. Maybe that will get him out of it, maybe. Or at least a less demanding role.
Guadin will become the go to guy.
7th guadin, 8th Marmol, 9th Woods.
Watch, for the rest of the season. Which will lead to.........
Them three wearing out and will be gased before the playoffs start.
For the best bullben in the league we sure got some holes.
As far as Candle, leave him alone. Candle your always welcome in my book.