Game One - Cubs 4 Astros 2
WP - Carlos Zambrano (1-0) LP - Roy Oswalt (0-1) Save - Kevin Gregg (1)
For the first time under Lou Piniella, the Cubs won on Opening Day. Alfonso Soriano set the tone on the second pitch of the season by Roy Oswalt. Soriano launched the 50th leadoff home run of his career on a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center.
Aramis Ramirez gave his team a 2-0 lead in the second with the 250th home run of his career. Ramirez hit a no-doubter into the Crawford Boxes in left. The home runs by the Cubs' big bats gave Carlos Zambrano some breathing room. Big Z, with help from his defense and a couple of miscues by the Astros, took care of the rest.
Carlos Zambrano posted his first career victory on Opening Day with six innings of shutout ball. The lone run Zambrano was charged with came after he departed...a swinging bunt off the bat of Michael Bourn that plated Miguel Tejada. In six-plus innings Zambrano allowed one run on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
The Cubs tacked on to the their lead with a manufactured run in the fourth inning. Mike Fontenot (3-for-4 with two runs scored) led off the inning with a double off the wall in left. Geovany Soto grounded out to first, but the productive out advanced Fontenot to third with one out. Ryan Theriot followed with a sacrifice fly to right.
Micah Hoffpauir came off the bench and added a pinch-hit, 2-out RBI single in the ninth.
Derrek Lee and Milton Bradley were a combined 0-for-7 with a walk but both turned in solid games defensively.
Aaron Heilman allowed the inherited run to score but he threw the ball well. Heilman came in with runners on first and second with no outs in the seventh and the Cubs up by a score of 3-0. Heilman threw one pitch to Hunter Pence that resulted in a 6-4-3 double play.
Kevin Gregg allowed the Astros second run in the ninth. While it was far from a perfect inning, Gregg picked up the save in his Cub debut.
One win does not make a season...but it is a good way to start a 162-game campaign.
Carlos Zambrano threw the ball extremely well on Monday night. He found a groove early and worked extremely fast. As with most of Zambrano's outings, at times he appeared like he was going to lose it...but Geovany Soto did a good job with calming his pitcher down and keeping him focused.
Soto was only 1-for-4 in the game but his defense was excellent. He kept everything in front of him and even threw out Miguel Tejada trying to advance from first on a pitch in the dirt to start the second inning.
After Soto threw out Tejada, Carlos Zambrano seemed to relax and just pitch. He allowed a couple of cheap hits in the third but struck out Ivan Rodriguez with the tying runs on base...and then he induced a ground ball to second off of Lance Berkman to end the inning.
Zambrano retired the Astros in order in the fourth and fifth. The only baserunner he allowed after a bloop single by Kaz Matsui in the third was a 2-out walk by Lance Berkman in the sixth...at one point Zambrano struck out five of seven batters he faced.
Carlos Marmol walked Lance Berkman with two outs in the eighth...but Senor Nasty made Carlos Lee buckle his knees a batter before. Marmol's slider was back to it's devastating self on Monday night.
Milton Bradley turned his ankle in the seventh inning. Kaz Matsui took a bloop single away from Bradley with an excellent catch in shallow right. Bradley appeared to be watching the play and stepped awkwardly on the corner of the bag. Bradley stayed in the game and almost made an excellent catch in the ninth.
Nothing is won, lost or proven in the first game of the season. However, the additions of Aaron Heilman, Milton Bradley, Kevin Gregg and Joey Gathright help notch the first win of the year.
Ryan Dempster is scheduled to face Wandy Rodriquez on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.
good Start! i'm going to check the standings!!!
the only thing saving Fukudome right now, is the fact that he bats lefty. Aside from that, I see nothing positive about him on the defensive or offensive sides.
what about moving Fontenot to the 2 hole (to maintain the righty, lefty,righty,left top 4) and Theriot to Fontenot's current spot.... and Fukudome to the 8 hole till he proves something...
This 2 hole position seems to be a Jim Hendry the dunce, face saving move..... cause everyone knows this is a disaster signing
There are two things saving Funk-0-dome:
Lefthanded bat, and $50 million contract. He only made $7 million last year; he's making $13 to do "his thing" this year.
Really, the only thing keeping him in the lineup is the contract. Lefthanded bat means absolutely nothing if you cannot hit your weight. And he has little power, too . . . .!!!!
This is definitely a great start to the Season especially with Soriano, Ramirez, and Little Babe Ruth hitting well. I liked seeing Lou bring The Hoff Power to pinch hit and give Gogglehead some insurance. I will admit that I am very scared when its the 9th inning and Kevin Gregg is closing the door...
With all the offseason banter about Soriano in the leadoff spot...was really great to see him start the game with a homerun!!
It was also great to see Hoffy pick up a pinch hit RBI in his first opportunity...and Fontenot rack up a 3 for 4 day. Brenly said it best on TV...maybe we should be calling it the Mike Fontenot trade rather than the Sammy Sosa trade!!
Gregg will lose the closers spot by Mid-May. Either Marmol gets his shot at closing or we acquire a closer. We really haven't had a TRUE steady closer since the days of Lee Smith. Think about it. After Lee we had Goose Gossage for a year and Mitch Williams for a couple of years, then solo years from Dave Smith and Bob Scanlan. Randy Myers provided a few decent years. The the closer carousel really took off with single year performances by Turk Wendell, Terry Adams, Rod Beck, Rick Aguilera, Flash Gordon, Six Fingered Alfonseca, Joe Borowski,and LaTroy Hawkins. We finally settled on Ryan Dempster for a few years. While he did a decent job, her was not a lights out bonafide closer. Then Kerry took a year. Now here we are with what I think most resembles LaTroy Hawkins. We need that ace closer to come in and seal the deal.
great win to open the season. I think the front office needs to admit that they made a mistake and either get what we can for fuk or put him on the bench. He has completely lost all confidence. he looks lost in centerfield and does not have a clue at the plate (anything on the outer half of the plate completely ties him in a knot). I would like to see theriot and fontenot at the top of the lineup followed by soriano or bradley in the 3 hole. Other than the HR by soriano, the top 3 in the lineup looked exactly like they did in the playoffs last year (no production). Not a good sign when you are waiting to get to the lower 3rd of the lineup to see someone that will take some pitches and hit the ball the other way to move runners.
I didn't get to see all of Soriano's AB's, but from what I did see and hear he looked pretty good at the plate last night. 2-5 with a HR and NO K's against one of the better pitchers in the NL. I'll take that from him in the leadoff anytime.
While I agree that Fuk looked a little lost out there in Center, That CF is the largest in baseball with a ton of ground to cover. Soriano I thought looked good in all his AB's Fuk, well give him a 10 game stretch at least. Lee, he just missed a HR by a little and again. Give him a while. Bradley, as long as he's happy and healthy he'll produce. The outfield skills will at least be tolerable looks like. Aram. He's a power hitter and well, showed some power. Fontenot, Theriot and Soto all looked good especially on D. Gregg still scares me but maybe if he put a skull and crossbones on the bridge of his goggles like Rick Vaughn maybe he'd scare me less.
All in all I thought it was a good win with pretty good pitching by Z. Lou I think pulled him at the right time before his head got in the way. Cotts looks like he should be pitching little league Heilmen looked good. Marmol was Marmol. Still a good win against a guy like Oswalt.
BTW, whats up with Sutcliffe? Seems he got a little mean streak going late in the game towards the Astros. Calling them old, which I agree with but weird to hear it from him.
What a start to a season. I know its only 1 game out of 164 but wow I'm impressed. If he stays healthy, Bradley is going to be a stud for us this year. I know its early but the Cleveland series in June, my family is coming up, In dedication to my boy. WHen it gets closer I'll remind everyone, to all the chicago fans here hopefully we can meet up and have a cold one, on me! Take care and boy am I glad this week is here. MLB baseball & The Masters WOW!!
I think as long as you maintain the LRLR combos in the middle of the order, the #2 hitter shouldn't matter too much. I just like Fontenot too much in that 6 spot the way he's been hitting, esp. between ARam and Soto. So I think if Fuk loses playing time, you just keep it the same except for Reed:
Sori
Reed
Lee
Bradley
ARam
Fontenot
Soto
Theriot
P
The astros announcers (aside from not being very good at all) had a decent point in keeping Theriot in the 8th spot; when you have a batter who can hit as well as theriot can in that spot, it puts much more pressure on the pitcher and the team in general. I think its important to have a strong 8 hitter and go with three rightys at the top of the lineup than keep that RLRLRLR and weaken the 8 spot that Theriot does so well in.
Good start last night! I don't know why everyone is so ready to throw Fukudome under the bus, but I was wrong about Rex Grossman too. Maybe we'll see Reed Johnson out there tonight. I hope Dempster looks half as good as Big Z. Bradley will hit one tonight. Go Cubs, just keep winning baby!!!
Why throw Funk-0 under the bus? My reasons are:
July '08 89 ab, .236 avg, 2 hr, 6 rbi
Aug '08 83 ab, .193 1 hr, 14rbi
Sept '08 45 ab .178 1 hr, 4 rbi
Not too productive after All-Star break:
.214 avg, .326 SLUGGING! 3 hr, 22 rbi.
Now, can a team thrive with that kind of production from a corner outfielder? How about a shortstop? A catcher. In other words, no matter the position, he doesn't hit enough to justify a roster spot.
Rex Grossman? YOU WATCH: Bears will resign him! NObody wants him, but the Bears traded away their only decent backup, and they'll say, "Well, he knows the system, yada, yada." lol
IMO, Dome is in the 2 hole only because (early on) Lou is giving Dome (and Lee in the 3 hole) the chance he usually gives veterans. Lou wants them to be very productive options there--but he likely isn't expecting it to work out in the case of Dome. I'm looking for one of our more likely, very good options (Theriot, Fontenot or Miles) to bat second before too long.
With Dome's early problems in CF too, he could be headed for a lot of bench time or a trade involving another contract that also turned out badly. I am hoping (like everyone) that Dome gets his act together--but he has to have a good April to keep playing regularly.
Lou's "I'll give veterans some extra consideration" approach can be irritating if the vets stumble, but it also means veterans want to be on his teams--a recruiting plus.
Astros have a lefty going tonight. Looks like Reed Johnson will play. I wonder who else might get a start tonight?
For what its worth, and since you looked up the numbers you probably know, Fukudome hit lefties better than righties. Weird, right?
As much as I am losing patience here, I hope Lou sticks with the F Bomb for now. Just not in the two hole.
Put Theriot there. The Soriano/Theriot 1-2 punch has been one of the things that has worked fairly well for the Cubs the past two years.
And I say Theriot because I like Fontenot behind the big boys.
Can't wait for tonight!
If you remember Henry Cotto, former Cub who went to the Yanks & Seattle and had a decent career. Cotto, a righthanded bat, hit righthanders at a .310/.325 clip, but lefties at just .256 or so. So how do you think the manager usually played him? Benched vs. righties most often . . . who can figure?
Yeah, I'm on Fukudome just like I was on Jacque Jones.
Did anybody hear Buster Olney's report about Harden yesterday on the Mike & Mike show? He said that Harden was throwing fastballs in the mid-80's. Very concerning. I've looked around but can't find any more information on it.
Anybody know anything else?
About Harden . . . .
Yes, he was only throwing mid 80's vs. Yanks and got lit up, did he not? The report I got was "that was the plan." The Cubs' staff didn't want Harden's shoulder at risk over a mere Spring Training game. Therefore he was working on curves, changeups, and a mid-80's "fastball."