Game Thirty-Five - Cubs 4 Angels 8
WP - Nick Adenhart (3-0) LP - Sean Marshall (3-1) Save - None
Sean Marshall's last spring tune-up started poorly and went down hill from there. Marshall struck out Chone Figgins to begin the game but the ball got away from Geovany Soto. Figgins reached and scored after a walk and two fielder's choice groundouts. Marshall settled down and put turned in a solid second and third inning.
After making six starts, seven appearances, this spring and allowing only five earned runs, Marshall was knocked out by the Angels offense after allowing eight runs, all earned, in 3 1/3 innings.
Sean Marshall could not make it out of the fourth after serving up a leadoff home run to Torii Hunter. Seven of the first eight batters Marshall faced in the fourth reached base and before he was pulled in favor of David Patton, he dug his team a 6-0 hole. Patton gave up back-to-back singles to Vladimir Guerrero (a bloop to right) and Torii Hunter (solid single to left), which allowed two more runs to score. On the day, Marshall allowed a total of eight runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
David Patton did not allow another hitter to reach after the Hunter single. He retired the last two batters in the fourth and sat down the Angels in order in the fifth....with two strikeouts. Patton struck out three (Kendry Morales, Nick Adenhart and Gary Matthews, Jr.), allowed two inherited runners to score on two singles in 1 2/3 innings.
Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome were the Cubs' offense until Micah Hoffpauir hit his sixth home run of the exhibition season in the eighth. Lee hit two doubles, drove in a run and scored another. Lee finished 3-for-3 on the afternoon.
Kosuke Fukudome was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Fukudome tripled with two outs in the fifth and scored on Lee's second double of the game. Fukudome recorded the first hit of the game but was picked off first by catcher Jeff Mathis.
Micah Hoffpauir continued his Cactus League onslaught. Hoffpauir added Scott Shields to the list of quality pitchers he's taken deep this spring. Hoffpauir's sixth was a 2-run shot to right with Aaron Miles on board for the ride. Hoffpauir has driven in 26 runs in 29 games.
The long spring training schedule is nearly complete...and on Tuesday it appeared like the team is looking past the remaining exhibition games to Monday in Houston.
Sean Marshall faced one of the best lineups he will see all year long on Tuesday. And for the first time this spring he pitched like a team's fifth starter. Whether Marshall was looking past Tuesday's start or not, after not being happy with his last outing against the Giants, he cannot be at all pleased with his performance against the Angels.
As mentioned Marshall did not start the game on a positive note and after Torii Hunter's home run, simply could not get it back together. Pitchers have games like the one Marshall had on Tuesday...and he probably will again this season.
Three of Marshall's five strikeouts came in the second inning...he struck out the side after allowed a leadoff single to Kendry Morales.
Marshall threw 71 pitches on Tuesday, 44 were for strikes.
David Patton could have sealed his Opening Day Roster spot if he would have shutdown the Angels and not allow them to tack on to their lead. He did not but after allowing the two hits and two runs to score, he shut the door. It could have gotten a lot worse. Patton threw strikes and did not allow a walk, which was huge. Patton threw 23 pitches, 17 for strikes.
Aaron Heilman did a good job in his inning of relief. He allowed a hit but no runs. He kept the ball down and threw strikes. Other than Luis Vizcaino, the bullpen performed much better on Tuesday.
Five pitchers threw a total of 5 2/3 shutout innings and allowed only four hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.
Kevin Gregg struck out the side in the ninth.
Carlos Zambrano will make his final spring start on Wednesday in Phoenix against the A's. Southpaw Dallas Braden is slated to pitch for Oakland. Wednesday is the Cubs' final road game in Arizona and the last game with a 3:05pm C.T. start time.
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Tribune is reporting that Chad Fox will start in Iowa:
http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/03/cubs-down-to-last-two-bullpen-spots.html
The 5 man race just went down to 4, and Lou added this nugget:
"There will either be a trade, an option.... anything but (putting one of them through) waivers," manager Lou Piniella said. "We're just going to pitch everybody and see what happens. We have some depth.
So, there you have it...It appears Patton will probably make the team, Samardzija will be optioned, Gaudin will be traded, and Guzman will make the team...well, at least that's my dream.
By the way, our offense is very inconsistent, and it's starting to worry me. I know it's just spring, but you should look at other rosters...their big bats are hitting .330-.360 on the spring. Our big bats have cooled considerably. Yeah, I know it's just spring, but being a huge Cubs fan...I'm always worried when things like this happen.
Aaron...you beat me to the punch on Fox. Will have more up later, good find.
I'm not, nor have I been, sold on Marshall as a starter. For a fifth starter, he's going to be average, and average for a team where the fans expect excellence, well...look how well Bob Howry handled that. Marshall's never really had a dominant performance. I can't even remember him having an above-average performance, which is weird, cause I can recall a lot of those from most of our other pitchers, even Bob Howry.
Not saying Marshall sucks, he's just, well, remarkably average. I'm just curious as to how long he'll actually last before the Cubs make a move.
Guzman just plaon scares me. In the past he has shown flashes of brilliance, but flashes is all we get. I'd much rather have an average consistent 5 guy like Marshall that you know what to expect every time out, then to get Guzman and have to hold your breath every pitch.