Game Seventy-Two - Cubs 0 White Sox 6
WP - John Danks (6-6) LP - Carlos Zambrano (4-3) Save - None
For all of the Cubs' problems this year they had yet to fall two games under the .500 mark ... until Sunday. The White Sox embarrassed the Cubs on the South Side and won the weekend series two games to one. The Cubs were shutout for the seventh time this season and twice in the last week. The woeful Cubs offense managed only four hits, one for extra bases, but walked four times. They had chances early on against John Danks and once again could not come up with a clutch hit. Lou Piniella's crew finished the afternoon 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.
It was a long day for the Cubs after arguably one of their worst efforts of the year. Carlos Zambrano did not step up and give his team any stability. After saying before the game that Interleague games bore him because he cannot bat, Zambrano allowed five runs, four earned, on nine hits with two walks, two hit batsmen and three strikeouts.
The White Sox pounded out 13 hits against Cubs' pitching and received gifts from the Cubs sub-par defense.
After showing signs on Friday and Saturday of starting to put together a little consistency offensively, the Cubs took several steps back on Sunday with a horrible day at the plate against an above average pitcher. Sunday got so bad that the eternal optimist, Ron Santo, started singing "Kumbaya" during the eighth inning and said, "You've either got to laugh or cry and I've been doing too much crying lately."
Following the game Lou Piniella said, "Not a good game for us at all. Not a good game. You don't mind getting beat like the way we did on Saturday but this was not good. We are going to have to sure up some areas."
The Cubs have lost 6 of 7 and finish the bulk of their Interleague schedule with a 6-8 record ... with a game remaining in September. Lou Piniella's crew will enter play Monday in fourth place in the division.
The Cubs had plenty of chances early before the game turned very ugly. In the first inning following a single by Alfonso Soriano and a one-out walk by Milton Bradley, Derrek Lee grounded out to second base. The productive out put runners on second and third for Jake Fox ... Fox struck out swinging.
Ryan Freel reached on a one-out bloop single in the second and advanced to second on a wild pick-off throw from John Danks. Freel stole third but Andres Blanco popped out to short on a 3-2 pitch.
The Cubs hit into double plays in the fourth and fifth innings before they loaded the bases in the sixth down 3-0.
Alfonso Soriano led off the sixth with a double to left, their first and only extra base hit of the game. Theriot grounded out to second, advanced Soriano to third but Milton Bradley struck out on a 3-2 pitch. Derrek Lee and Jake Fox walked to load the bases. Geovany Soto hit a smash to the hole at short, Alexei Ramirez made a nice stop on the ball and threw out Lee at third to end the inning.
The Sox blew the game open in the seventh and four of the last six outs the Cubs made were strikeouts ... basically they quit playing down by a score of 5-0. In two starts against the Cubs, John Danks allowed only one earned run (14 innings).
Carlos Zambrano could have really made a difference for his team ... but once again when his team needed him he put together one of his worst outings of the year.
Zambrano retired the Sox in order in the first and pitched out of a first and second two-out jam in the second. Early on Zambrano looked good after he found a rhythm. But that all changed in the third ...
Zambrano hit Scott Podsednik on a 1-0 pitch with one-out. Alexei Ramirez followed and lined a no doubter into the stands in left center. Ramirez's third homer against the Cubs on the year (second against Zambrano) and second of the series gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead. Zambrano was done at that point ...
A.J. Pierzynski led off the fourth with a single to center. Chris Getz flied out on a hit and run for the first out. Gordon Beckham did not. Ozzie Guillen called for the hit and run again on a 2-2 pitch to Beckham, the rookie delivered a single to right ... and the Sox had runners on first and third with one out.
Zambrano fell behind DeWayne Wise 2-0 before throwing a strike. On a 2-1 pitch, Guillen called for the third hit and run of the inning. Wise delivered an infield hit to Andres Blanco, who had broke to cover the bag. Blanco kept the ball in the infield with a diving stop but Pierzynski scored the Sox third run of the game.
Zambrano settled down long enough to pickoff Gordon Beckham from second and he retired Podsednik on a ground out to third ... a nice pick and throw from Ryan Freel.
After working out of another jam in the fifth, Zambrano recorded just one out in the sixth before being lifted. Chris Getz doubled to right (ended a 0-for-23 skid) and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Beckham.
Ozzie Guillen called for the squeeze on a 0-1 pitch to DeWayne Wise. Zambrano recognized what was going on and threw the ball wide of the plate. Geovany Soto could not make the play and the wild pitch allowed the Getz to score from third without a play. Carlos Zambrano then hit Wise on the next pitch, fired up the Sox and a couple made their way onto the field. The umps, Lou Piniella and Guillen defused the situation and nothing happened ... beside Ryan Freel getting hit by John Danks leading off the top of the seventh.
DeWayne Wise stole second with Podsednik at the dish ... then Zambrano walked Podsednik to end his day.
David Patton replaced Zambrano and was the victim of the Cubs' defense. Alfonso Soriano misplayed a ball hit by Alexei Ramirez into shallow left to load the bases. Jermaine Dye then hit a pop up into shallow left. The infield fly rule was called for the second out but Theriot lost the ball in the sun ... and dropped the ball. Wise scored the Sox fifth run on another ugly play. David Patton struck out Jim Thome to end the inning.
David Patton gave up three hits and no runs in 1 1/3 innings. Patton threw strikes (27 pitches, 16 for strikes) and made the pitches to get out of the inning without allowing any more damage. Patton must either be used in these situations to see what he is made of or released. The Cubs have 'hidden' him long enough this season ...
The Sox's sixth and final run came via a solo home run by Jermaine Dye off of Kevin Hart in the eighth inning ... another two out mistake by Hart.
Sunday was a bad game that completed a weekend in which their only win came under a cloud of controversy. For the record ... While Milton Bradley is not the only problem on the Cubs roster for the year they are eight games below .500 in games he's played.
Rich Harden is slated to face Zach Duke on Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Subscribe
How is a team supposed to have any offense if there leadoff hitter is hitting .235 with an OBP of .300 and the 3-hole hitter is hitting .232 with 16 RBI's!!!!!!!!!!! and a dismal 5 HR's.
Fukudome should be the leadoff hitter with his .383 OBP. Lee should be hitting 3rd and Bradley shouldn't be allowed to take batting practice. Hoffpauer and Fox should split time in left and right.
And Maybe Soriano goes back to 2nd. How much worse could his D be than what we have seen in Left.
If it is true that the Indians called the Cubs before they made the deal with the Cardinals than that makes it real hard to be a fan of this team. We have a Chris Perez type.
HEY LOU!!!!!!!
Fukudome CF
Theriot SS
Lee 1B
Hoffpauer RF
Soriano LF
Soto C
Fox 3B
Blanco 2B
Might get you more than 2 runs a game.
Jim:
I'm down with that lineup.
* Bradley needs to sit. Maybe he can make friends with someone on the bench?
* Soriano needs to be dropped. He is killing the team batting leadoff
* Hoffpauir needs to bat.
* Fox needs to bat.
What is wrong with this team? Bunch of little crybabies. No defense, no offense. Lou finally tells someone to knock it off, then has to say im sorry. Cmon. Throw the ball. Hit the ball. Catch the ball. Pitch the ball. Run the bases. im sick of the excuses. Watching this team play ball makes me sick
To me, still the most amazing stat of the year to this point is the RBI total of the psycho in RF.
16 and still HOLDING !!!!!!
UNBELIEVABALE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nobody could try to be that bad and be THAT bad !!!
The season is almost half over and he bats 3rd or 4th everyday.
How many times has he whiffed with man on 3rd with less than 2 out ?? Another one today. Pathetic.
How can you keep putting him out there day after day after day ??
I really believe Lou has gone soft in his old age.
and how many plays will the LF blow ?? day after day after day.
its disgusting.
I have enjoyed watching this site for a long time and I think it reflects the passion of all Cub Fans.
Oh how I wish we could have a GM that would put winning ahead of pride. His moves over the off season have not worked out. Yet he always waits to fix things.
I have seen other teams make a move earlier rather than later and it pays off in a big way. The Cards will get an extra month with DeRosa in the line up. That should mean additional wins for them and games we have to make up.
To me the best piece we have to move right now is Big Z. He will bring the most back right now. He also comes from an area that is a strength on this club and also has some depth. It will also free up some money for this year and the next few years.
After completing this move, you have to put Lou on notice. Get these players to produce or play those that will. Henry waited all season to let Dusty go, why do we have to go thru this again. Either Lou wants to play to win or let him go to New York.
Obviously Henry has to go if this does not work out. In a big market you are paid to win.
Passion, this team is missing it.
You say this team is missing passion but want to trade the one guy who shows the most passion on the team. I don't get why people on here want to get rid of Zambrano. I understand that he would bring a ton back but what how much of that pans out? I would stick with Z. Soriano needs to go. Talk about lack of passion. He just doesn't get it.
Z has passion, no argument here. But he cannot control it and neither can Lou.
Because Henry has backed us into a payroll corner with these contracts, you really have no choice if you want to improve. You also have to give something to get something.
All these other contracts are not moveable in the near future. In a Yankee world, you can eat these contracts, but we are not the Yankees today.
Z is the only big contract that is desirable to other teams. Remember the best rule I ever heard, "better to trade a year early than a year late." I also hate long contracts for pitchers.
We also seem to be able to develop starting pitching in our system.
The outcries of "Kill someone" or "everyone" and "I knew this from the start" are building. And I understand the heightened emotion, disappointment and disgust. But as the Happy Medium (that everyone wants to strike), I offer a few suggestions and comments that should shortcut the great depression and fault-finding--should the mediocrity continue. (My view is that it will.)
We can all understand (and predict with hindsight) that if three of our expected standouts fail to deliver, the Cubs can't win. Three of our bigs, Soriano, Bradley and Aram have failed to deliver--with Aram's issue being a major injury. Yes, the negatives don't end there, but they are lesser factors. If we aren't masochistic, we need look no further for on-field cuprits. It's useless to keep beating those dead horses.
Our management, mainly JH, failed to deliver. He was pro-active in the interest of finding post-season offense; but, with needing painful budget moves to be pro-active, he rolled the dice and crapped out. Moving DeRo, Woody and Marquis to resign Dempster, sign Bradley and Gregg and cover built-in payroll increases ended up being a big mistake. All together now, "The Cubs Got Worse!"
Sooner rather than later, it makes sense for the Faithfuls' sanity to say, "We've pounded JH to the point where it is pointless to pound him any more." Nothing useful is added by endlessly repeating condemnations that all know about.
Most of us have some "I told you so's" about this season. At the start, April 3rd in the Archives, in the season predictions, the "I told you so's were nearly all positive. The two big-time site essayists's (the A-man and the Happy Medium (and others) made these predictions:
(A-man)-- Cubs will win the Central followed by the Brewers and Cards, and (HM) Cubs will win 94 followed by the Cards and Reds. On the negative side were: ripsnorter (78-84) and Boseph Harden (82-80) SO IN THE BIG CONTEST, the only pessimists were ripsnorter and Boseph Harden--and they stand to be right, it appears. All of the rest of us were wrong. Not wrong but...just wrong. How nice that there is no external punishment for that.
Every news source picked the Cubs in the NL Central. Most picked Cleveland in the AL Central. Pecota picked the Cubs to win the division with 95 victories and the Indians to win their division--using more detailed statistical analysis than any five of us could muster. The stats lied.
The (easily forgotten point) is that the whole business of winning a division or winning it all is way too much of a crap shoot for anyone to claim genius and/or engage in obsessive hatred and self-flaggelation. So name names and beat ass for awhile--and then get past the self-indulgence and move on. (I'm lobbying to trade Zambrano and Soriano.)
There were some astute observations and (more focussed) accurate predictions too--some pre-season and a lot more after the 2-8 start and late in a disappointing April. Virtually all of us didn't like the DeRosa deal, announced on Dec. 31st. Some of us warmed to Bradley in Spring Training. I was a leader of that band (and Aaron had serious doubts). I had lobbied for Abreu, but Abreu's economics didn't fit (until the end of March when it was too late for him and Hudson). I was wrong about Bradley as well as one of the first to be right (so far) about Guzman.
I think the main takeaways from all of our predictions and from the disappointing season (still, so far) is to not dwell very long on personal genius and/or gloom in all of this. (Getting past personal stupidity and faulty judgments will not be a problem--human nature being what it is.)
Then, it also makes sense to plan for the future and watch for positives developing that will enhance the future. Baseball organizaions are, in fact, a continuum, as is life. I say, "Dwell on the future". As someone notable said, "Let the dead past bury it's dead."
JimK...while in agreement on the philosophy...the practice is a little tougher.
Jim Hendry's past moves keep haunting us on a daily basis in the here and now...
so the past is not quite dead here...but dealing death on a daily basis. JH is unable to bury the past by making new moves...and so the outcry will continue.
Until the New begins to take shape.
Don't you think that a "world class" manager such as Pinella would be a bit brighter than what we've seen this year. Like his track record has shown over and over and over again, when his honeymoon is over players stop playing hard for him, and Lou just rides out the string. This team needs a royal ass-kicking, and needs guys like Sandberg, Brenley, and Stone to deliver it in manager, pitching coach and GM roles.
At some point the manager needs to be accountable for the play on the field. For now, Lou is just penciling in the same 'ol names, and taking siestas during game time.
Jim....Re. Z, The "ton back" you mention is why I suggest trading Z. That plus it gets us out of one of the two longest-term contracts. Bucholz has ace credentials. I see some possibility that a Z deal, by getting us (a couple of star quality prospects and a couple of highly rated ones too) enables re-loading instead of re-building.
Bryan....Lou hasn't been as tough as I would like. He said he was about to make serious changes one game before the 4 game win streak. With the road-trip downer, I expect Soriano and Bradley's playing time to drop--especially Bradley's.
Unfortunately, both JH and Lou have contract extensions in place. Lou has about $3.5 mil coming in '10 and $4 mil in '11. I can see Lou retiring after this year because it's clear this season is taking a toll on him. He doesn't need the money, and he has a Yankee consultancy awaiting. If Lou wants to continue, it will be tough for a new owner to fire $7.5 mil.
I am almost certain that Ryne Sandberg will be the next Cub's manager. He is a P.R. bonanza and likely has all of the knowledge he needs. He does not have the get-in-your-face personality that some might prefer.
A good news OOOPS. The $4 mil option exercised on Lou's contract mentioned above is for 2010 and not 2011.