Game Seventy - Cubs 5 White Sox 4
WP - Randy Wells (2-3) LP - Jose Contreras (2-7) Save - Kevin Gregg (12)
There is never a dull moment for the Chicago Cubs. Friday afternoon on the South Side had it all. A two-run home run by Jake Fox, his second in as many days ... a three-run home run by Geovany Soto that proved to be the game winner ... Carlos Marmol's command issues that allowed the White Sox to cut the Cubs lead to one in the eighth ... a misplayed ball in left field by Alfonso Soriano and Andres Blanco ... an inning ending 3-2-3 double play with the bases loaded in the eighth and the Cubs up by just one run ... a controversial called third strike to end the game ... and Lou Piniella asking Milton Bradley to take off his uniform and go home in the middle of the sixth inning. And with all of that, the Cubs ended their four game losing streak behind an excellent start by Randy Wells. After not being able to post a win in his first seven starts, Wells won his second game in a row on Friday.
Randy Wells turned in another quality start and for the seventh time in nine starts he allowed two of fewer runs. Wells made only two mistakes ... a solo home run by Jermaine Dye in the first inning and a solo home run by Jim Thome in the fourth. Wells left after seven complete with a 5-2 lead. Wells allowed two runs on five hits with two walks, one intentional, and six strikeouts. Wells had struggles in only one other inning and pitched out of it. With two on and two outs with the scored tied at two in the sixth, Wells retired Paul Konerko on a groundout to short to end the inning.
Randy Wells tossed the all-important shutdown inning in the seventh after Geovany Soto gave him a lead.
All five runs by Lou Piniella's crew was scored on two swings of the bat. Jake Fox gave the Cubs a brief one-run lead with his second home run of the year, a two-run shot in the fourth. Fox launched the no-doubter over the left field wall on the first pitch from Jose Contreras.
Geovany Soto gave the Cubs the lead for good in the seventh. After Jake Fox's third hit of the game and an error by Paul Konerko that allowed Mike Fontenot to reach, Soto ripped a 0-1 pitch from Jose Contreras into the stands in left center ... the first time this season Contreras allowed two home runs in the same game.
Carlos Marmol's struggles continued on Friday afternoon. Marmol took the mound in the eighth with his team up by a score of 5-2. Marmol walked Gordon Beckham to start the inning before issuing a one-out walk to Alexei Ramirez. Jermaine Dye reached on a bloop single that was misplayed by Alfonso Soriano to load the bases.
Jim Thome drove in both of Marmol's walks with a double off of Derrek Lee's glove that trickled down the right field line. With first base open, Marmol intentionally walked Paul Konerko to re-load the bases before being replaced by Sean Marshall.
Marshall threw one-pitch to pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski that resulted in an inning ending 3-2-3 double play.
Kevin Gregg made it interesting in the ninth with a two-out walk to Josh Fields but he struck out Scott Podsednik looking to end the game.
Friday afternoon on the South Side took a turn for the worse in the less-than-half-season-long soap opera of Milton Bradley. After flying out to left in the sixth, Milton Bradley threw his helmet, beat up a Gatorade machine and then had a heart-to-heart with Lou Piniella in the tunnel. Piniella asked Bradley to take off his uniform and to go home ... the Cubs took the lead the following inning.
Piniella said following the game that he was tired of the actions Bradley displayed again on Friday. Piniella said he would explain further on Saturday but that Bradley would be in the lineup.
The Cubs evened their record at 35-35 on the year with a nice win on the South Side ... their first at the Cell since 2007.
Milton Bradley's reputation has apparently followed him to Chicago. The Cubs brought him into produce and paid him a lot of money to do so ... Bradley has not produced and Friday was a big example of how bad his signing has turned out to be. Less than a week after Lou Piniella told Bruce Levine that Bradley's rapport in the clubhouse had improved, Milton had another meltdown that pushed his manager to the point he was sent home.
Bradley has been a disappointment and it is up to him to turn it around ... or for the Cubs to cut their losses and make sure he does not reach the 75-game mark that would turn the third year of his contract from an option to a guarantee.
The job Randy Wells has done to this point of the season cannot be overlooked. Wells has given the Cubs another dependable arm ... and who would have thought that when he was recalled to take Carlos Zambrano's spot in the rotation.
The game was decided in the eighth inning. Carlos Marmol walked Gordon Beckham to start the inning. Scott Podsednik popped out to left but Alexei Ramirez walked on a 3-2 pitch. Jermaine Dye hit what appeared to be a routine pop out to shallow left but Alfonso Soriano got a late jump and ran into Andres Blanco. The ball fell to the ground and the White Sox loaded the bases, down by three with one out.
Jim Thome then lined a two-run double off Derrek Lee's glove that trickled down the right field line and rolled into foul territory. Beckham and Ramirez scored and the Sox were down by only one with runners on second and third with one out.
Piniella had Marmol intentionally walk Paul Konerko then lifted Marmol after A.J. Pierzynski was announced. Sean Marshall threw one pitch and got two outs ... Pierzynski hit a grounder to Lee, he threw home to Soto and covered first for the return throw. A rare 3-2-3 double play ended the inning.
The Cubs picked up a much-needed win but with the Milton Bradley cloud hanging over the win, Saturday could be very interesting.
Ryan Dempster is scheduled to face Mark Buehrle on Saturday afternoon.
I just finished reading the comments from Friday's game.
Sorry Neil, but I just have to say it --
Cubs fans? Or whining babies? I tend to go with the latter. Crying about every move made and hoping every move made is a failure. Grow up people! This is a team that has been to the playoffs 2 straight years and has played probably the crappiest baseball they can and still no one is running away from them.
If this was the end of the year I could understand some of the whining. But it is not even the All Star Game yet!
I see where Lou is playing Bradley tomorrow. Great move on his part. Telling him to get his ass out there and do the job or else he sits! This team needs some of the old discipline that managers used to deal out. I think Lou has been too easy on the players and I am thinking this is going to change. I still think Lou is a great manager and am hoping he proves it over the remainder of the season. I still believe! GO CUBS!
I second you there Gramps. Lets see if Lou can do what we all thought he could...by being firm and making his players feel responsible for their good or bad play. I remember Piniella saying that every year when he was a player with the Yankees he never had an automatic spot on the lineup but once he was given the chance to play he would earn his spot every year. That was possible because his manager and coaches fairly played the hot hand...he happened to be the hot hand every year. So there you go Lou; Fox,Hoff,[now smokin' Soto] and Lee are the hot hands...figure out a way to play them every day just as you did with Wells...PERIOD.
Gramps:
There is whinning because there are so many guys who suck REAL BAD right now.I wish it wasn't true but do you really think the following will turn it around?
The list:
1- Soriano The hugest disappointment in baseball yet he bats first.
2- Bradley A pscyhotic jerk off who's been on 7 teams in 10 years.
3- Fontenot Second base was his to loose, guess what? When Ramirez gets back at third, Fontenot is no lock to be playing 2b. Don't be surprised if he gets a rental in Iowa.
4- Soto He's fat, he likes weed and he reminds me of Chris Farley.
5- Fukudome Mister April
6- Gregg A heart attack waiting to happen.
7- Heilman Lame
8- Marmol He sucked vs the Netherlands
and pretty much every other game since.
9- Hendry Every move he has made this past offseason has backfired.
10- Miles. No bat, No Glove, No range,
I hate when he plays.
Gramps,
It is "fans" like you that put up with 101 years of losing. If you like losing, then I understand your position. Me, I like to win, and I like managers, GMs and players doing all they can to win, rather than just mailing in the effort.
I think Murphy's Law applies to you: "If you can be cool, calm, and collected while everybody else is losing your head, then you don't understand the problem."
Gramps,
Made the playoffs 2 straight years... Whoo!!!!! Who f'in cares? We got swept, disgraced and humiliated both times and might as well have not shown up.
Not to be sanctimonious or anything, but it seems you have been so softened by a LONG LONG period of losing that 2 playoff appearances constitutes success... Your bar is ridiculously low. Ridiculously low. It's complete Stockholm syndrome...
Gramps.
Some past generations of Cub fans sat content with losing. It's all they knew and all they expect. Anything more is dandy.
I'm 21. Became a diehard around 1995. That's 14 years of being a Cub fan.
In that time span, I remember:
1998: A playoff team
2001: A team that could have
2003: A team that should have
2004: A team that was supposed to.
2007: A team that put it together
and
2008: The best team in baseball.
That's six years of really good baseball in 14 years of being a fan.
Call me a whiner up and down, but I EXPECT to win. And I expect upwards of 150 million bucks to win a weak division.
Spare me.
Losing like this is no longer an option. The Cubs that have played this year are reminiscent of your Cubs, not mine.
Gramps makes some good points. While I have been critical and have spoken to the growing improbablility that this year's team can win the 60% of games required to total 90 (which likely means no playoffs), why assume (and worse) predict that nearly every move and every at bat will be a failure whether the Cubs are on offense or defense? Isn't it enough to harshly criticise bad effort, poor execution or faulty judgment after the at bats or the plays in the field?
There must be a misunderstanding that the one-game-at-a time hopefuls in our midst don't believe that individual at- bats and/or individual games or a season could turn out badly. That seems to result in pre-announcing many more failures than actually happen. One mis-guided purpose that often follows is having to inform the "no-clue" souls, "I told you so!" Repetition of that sort of comment is productive of nothing good.
Almost everyone here is fully cognizant that bad results are possible with every pitch and every swing. So please understand there is nothng useful in piling on negativity in advance. Carried too far, negativity is unsportsman-like-conduct, certain to undermine the enjoyment of perfomances and games that turn out positively and unnecessarily wastes energy in any quests to educate "the clueless".
Am I optimistic that the Cubs will reach the playoffs this year? No. Am I certain that being about four games out in the Central with 90 to go is insurmountable? No. Do I think we can win the next game? Yes (That's how fans think). Do I want the game experience tomorrow to be as pleasant an experience as can reasonably be expected for all? Yes. Does that include some debate, criticism and emotion where due during the game? Yes.
Gramps:
I think you see this with any truly passionate fan base of any team, just not the Cubs. I think the Cubs fans' whining gets overplayed due to the history of team struggles. But the rest of the guys are right: we have had good teams the last decade, and we expect to win, and we haven't.
Yes, its early, but its not THAT early. These aren't slumps anymore (Soriano, Fontenot), but some bats are improving (Lee, Soto, Fukudome continues to walk, and for hit balls hard for outs).
If you want to look at history, look at the recent playoff winners:
2002: Angels - Wild Card
2003: Marlins - Wild Card
2005: White Sox - Great pitching
2006: Cardinals - 82-84 regular season wins.
It's no guarantee the best regular season teams wins, its all about momentum, and that is something we should all see (that combined with pitching). This offense is talented enough to get hot, which IT WILL. We just need to realize we are not even playing to our full potential, with our best hitter out, and we are only 2.5 games from the division lead. It's not time to panic...yet. We'll see what happens a few weeks after Rammy gets back. Thats when it's fair to judge this team.
Go Cubs.
JimK...Thanks for your reasoned, logical
post.
I'm interested in seeing the Cubs do well....Just win...baby ...win.
The sideshows are compelling theater...
and impassioned commentory...I expect
to be very divergent.
Believe it or not...it might not take 90 wins to reach the playoffs...the odds get better if you are 90 and above in wins...but the way this division is going, I make no assumptions.
Today...this very day...to be a Cubs fan,
by definition...means we are rife with
frustration...subjected to unexpected
poor play....I don't think there is anyone on this site...that appreciates poor baseball. The disappointment this year is a palpable, living, breathing thing.
There are signs of the Cubs coming alive
...Fox,Micah Money,DLEE,Theriot, and recently Soto...are all in the hunt.
Hitting is contagious...as they say.
The starters...for the most part have been great. The bullpen iffy and the drama HIGH...How many extra inning games have we played?
There are just as many signs that this team could fall apart...(We all know these by heart).
We have all invested time and emotions in this team...we all come from different viewpoints and walks of life.
We ALL share a passion...Let's respect that.
2 days ago, I was ready to put the Cubs on the backburner...for mental health reasons.
Today, I can't wait to see the next
installment of "The Cubs Saga/2009".
GO CUBBIES !!! LETS WIN...WITH CLASS TODAY!!!
With Aramis in the lineup this is what I would like to see:
1 Theriot SS
2 Fukudome CF
3 Lee 1B
4 Hoffpauir/ Fox RF
5 Ramirez 3B
6 Soriano LF
7 Soto C
8 Blanco 2B
With Aramis in the lineup this is what it should be:
1) Theriot SS (especially now that his AAA hitting coach is in the dugout)
2) Lee 1st
3) Ramirez 3rd
4) Fox / Hoffpauir RF
5) Soriano LF
6) Soto C
7) Blanco 2nd
8) Fukudome / Johnson CF
I would love to have a lineup of this but will never happen:
Theriot SS
Lee 1B
Hoffpauir/Bradley RF platooning
Ramirez 3B
Fox 2B Fontenot sucks this year
Soriano LF
Soto C
Kosuke/Johnson CF
Pitcher
"According to Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs had conversations with the Indians earlier this month about reacquiring jack-of-all-trades guy Mark DeRosa. Wittenmyer says any potential move to bring DeRosa back to the north side depends "on the asking price and ownership's willingness to take on about $2 million in salary." Aramis Ramirez could come off the disabled list before the All-Star break, and his performance would also be a factor in any potential move."
Maybe they will pull it off and JH will admit he was wrong by trading him.
I'm sorry but unless Derosa is in the Cubs plans the next 3-4 years trading for him is a mistake especially b/c they will have to give up more than they got from him. Also considering his age (34) it seems to be going back towards what everyone complains about, getting old guys for large amounts of money who are getting on past their prime.
The only way I look at trading with the Indians is if they get Victor Martinez.
What I hear you saying, Suzy, is that there is no disturbing or discrediting behavior, and that the site's mantra of "Staying Classy" is very limited in its applicability. You also seem to suggest that "different walks of life" relate to coarseness of dialogue and maybe possibilities. I'm going to keep defining "Classy" more grandly and probably less vocally--as you advise.
I see baseball as a metaphor for life for players and spectators. For the record, I was, at 14, the youngest guy ever to join the Teamster's union in Indiana--picking coal out of frozen box cars in a lumber and coal yard during a Christmas break from school. I drove a double tandem dump truck ten hours a night, six nights a week during the building of the Indiana toll road in the summer of 1956. I got less than $500 total from my family for college (and a lot of kinds of support), worked 30 hours a week as a breakfast cook and waiter, earned two degrees and graduated with honors. I was blessed with some above average abilities academically and athletically--and I realize those are advantages not all have. I also realize that, back then, it was possible to work your way through college in four years--and today it isn't.
That work ethic, preparation and some luck enabled me to be about all that I wanted to be. One of my strongest passions has been encouraging young people to understand their possibilities--no matter their walk of life. That includes encouraging constructive behavior and knowing that, how you practice is how you play. I may do more of that on this site than I should. But I know what works on the real playing field, and it's difficult for me to avoid teaching--even in the Toy Department. I care.
I have one advantage over you Suzy. I was looking forward to the next game two days ago, and I am today also. Go Cubs.
JimK,
In no way did I say there is no "disturbing or discrediting behavior".
I rewrote my post several times and my reponse to you was measured....not because of you...but other posts since yesterday.
I hope you continue to interpret "Stay Classy" on a grander scale...it should be that way.
I share your working class values...as the oldest of 6...my family familiar
and on social terms with sports names like Thayer(Bears)/Ruettiger(Rudy) etc...
Knowing their values and stories gives you an idea of my own background.
I replied to your post Jim...because
you expounded my thoughts in a nicer way than I would have...
Re: your advantage in looking forward to
the next game...not as great as you think. My sex allows me to expound on one thing...and then change to another.
Either way...I always, always know what the Cubs are doing.
Let's get a win today...Go Cubs!!!
the Cubs lost Aramis Ramirez whi is a stud and a star, and have been struggling. That happens to every team who loses a star and when they returns they will start winning again.
For example the Phillies lost Raul Ibanez and have lost 9 out of 10 and the last 11 of 13. That could be the reason and I hope it is.
Gramps,
I completely agree with you.
I can't tell you the frustration of watching a Cubs game and not being able to enjoy it because someone is critical of almost everything. If a player who is in a slump gets a clutch hit comments are made like "About time!" "Well that was a fluke." or "He screwed up, he knows he is supposed to ground out there."...
The benefit of making and reading comments on line is if you start reading something stupid you have the option of just ignoring it if you want to.
I don't think playing whining police will help. (not saying you were) I have made stupid comments in the past about negative posts. I am enjoying this site much more by blowing off the stupid comments and enjoying the ones that have insight.
I'll stop whining when JH makes a logical move, when we stop acquiring players with previous injury/past their prime for lucrative amounts. I'll stop whining when the team starts to BE a team and not a lineup of dollar signs filling in positions, restricting us from using the hot player because the other makes more/needs more reps. I'll stop whining when every time we make the national attention we look like asses. I'll stop whining when we as fans stop pilling into the stadium like fools throwing our money at the problems we resent. I'll stop whining when we win, just win; nothing flashy, no compelling homeruns, just good solid baseball: scoring men in position, bunting the player over, stealing bases, and sacrifice plays.
Then I'll stop whining.