Game Seventy-Seven - Cubs 2 Brewers 1 - 10 innings
WP - Kevin Gregg (3-2) LP - Mark DiFelice (4-1) Save - None
What a ballgame and the Cubs might have gotten a gift on the final call by homeplate umpire Bill Welke.
Ryan Theriot started the tenth with a one-out single off Craig Counsell's glove into right field. On a 1-2 pitch to Derrek Lee, Mark DiFelice uncorked a wild pitch that advanced Theriot to second. Lee flied out to right and his productive out advanced Theriot to third with two outs. Ken Macha then intentionally walked Milton Bradley that put runners on first and third with two outs.
Lou Piniella went to his bench for Geovany Soto. The Brewers decided not to hold Bradley on at first and Bradley took second on the first pitch of Soto's at bat. DiFelice then pitched around Soto before issuing an intentional walk to load the bases.
Jake Fox stepped to the plate with the game on the line. Fox was overly aggressive on DiFelice's first pitch and swung right over the top of the ball. Fox then changed his approach, settled down and looked at three straight out of the strike zone. After getting ahead in the count 3-1, Fox fouled off the next four pitches from DiFelice before looking at the ninth pitch of the at bat. Fox walked and Theriot jogged in from third ... Cubs Win!
The Cubs offense struggled all afternoon against Jeff Suppan. They managed only one run on four hits in seven innings. Carlos Zambrano drove in the Cubs' lone run against Suppan, a single to center in the fifth. The Cubs did not make him work. Suppan walked two batters and hit two others but threw only 90 pitches (48 for strikes) in seven innings. The Cubs finished 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.
In his return to the top spot in Lou Piniella's lineup, Alfonso Soriano was a weak 0-for-5 and left three on base.
Carlos Zambrano pitched his way in and out of jams all afternoon. While Zambrano did not have his best stuff, he was effective and allowed one run in seven innings of work. The only run Zambrano surrendered was on a bases loaded walk to Corey Hart in the fourth. The Brewers, like the Cubs, were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.
Aaron Heilman pitched a tremendous eighth inning. Heilman retired all three batters he faced on 16 pitches. Kevin Gregg picked up his third win of the year after his third two-inning outing of the season.
Gregg did an excellent job of pitching around Milton Bradley's mistake in the ninth. Jason Kendall hit a routine fly to right with two outs in the ninth. Bradley lost the ball in the sun and it appeared to hit off his head. Kendall hustled to second with the go ahead run. Gregg then hit Craig Counsell and put runners on first and second ahead of Ryan Braun.
Kevin Gregg jammed Braun on a 2-2 pitch and one of the best sluggers in the game popped out to Ryan Theriot to end the inning. Gregg sat the Brewers down in order in the tenth.
The Cubs improved to a game over .500 on the season with another dramatic walk-off win at Wrigley ... the Cubs sixth victory in a row at home.
The Cubs found another way to win a game at home and improved to 10 games over at Wrigley Field (23-13) ... for the year, Lou Piniella's crew is 12-14 in one-run games.
Carlos Zambrano bounced back nicely from his outing against the White Sox ... and even delivered a game tying single in the fifth. His single and RBI arguably kept him in the game as well, not due to his performance but his mental state. Zambrano appeared to be on the brink of 'losing it' until the fifth inning ... and after that he settled down.
Carlos Zambrano retired the Brewers in order in the first on three groundouts. In the second the Brewers went quietly on just eight pitches with two fly outs. Zambrano issued a leadoff walk to Corey Hart in the third and it appeared to cost him a run after J.J. Hardy squared off on a Zambrano fastball. Alfonso Soriano made a fine running catch in left center and took away an extra base hit from the Brewers' shortstop. Hart was already around second when Soriano made the catch and would have scored easily.
After a Jeff Suppan sacrifice bunt, his tenth of the year, Jason Kendall grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Brewers finally put a run on the board in the fourth ... but it could have been a lot worse. Craig Counsell led off with a single to right. Ryan Braun followed with a single to right center. With runners on first and third and no outs, Zambrano hit Prince Fielder on an inside pitch to load the bases.
Casey McGehee fouled out to Zambrano on the first pitch of the at bat. Then Mike Cameron fouled out to Derrek Lee on a 1-0 pitch. Zambrano went from bases loaded and no outs to bases loaded and two outs in three pitches.
Zambrano could not find the strike zone against Corey Hart. After throwing three straight out of the strike zone, Zambrano walked Hart on the fifth pitch of the at bat and forced in Craig Counsell with the game's first run.
J.J. Hardy popped out to Derrek Lee on a 1-0 pitch to end the inning.
Prince Fielder walked to start the sixth inning on four pitches. Zambrano appeared to be pitching very carefully to Fielder all afternoon. Casey McGehee singled to left center on a 2-2 pitch ... then Zambrano focused and recorded his first two strikeouts of the game. Zambrano mowed down Mike Cameron and Corey Hart. J.J. Hardy grounded out to Derrek Lee on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. Zambrano dodged another big inning after a poor start.
Another game-changing outfield assist highlighted the seventh inning ... and ended up being the difference in the game. Jeff Suppan led off with a single to left. Jason Kendall dropped a bunt toward Jake Fox and he bobbled the ball ... Kendall was safe and the Brewers had the go ahead run in scoring position again with no outs.
Carlos Zambrano struck out the pesky Craig Counsell and Ryan Braun lined out to right on a 3-1 pitch. Prince Fielder lined a single to center on a 3-1 pitch. Kosuke Fukudome charged the ball and threw a one-hop strike to Koyie Hill. Suppan was out by a mile, well more like three steps. Zambrano pumped his fist as the inning came to an end.
The Cubs offense was stuck in neutral once again. After Sam Fuld and Ryan Theriot combined to reach six times on Thursday night, Soriano and Theriot reached only twice on Friday ... both times it was Ryan Theriot.
Alfonso Soriano is beyond struggling right now and a lineup that consists of both Soriano and Milton Bradley has a lot of holes in it with the way the two players are currently performing. Soriano finished the afternoon 0-for-5 with three left on base and Milton Bradley was 1-for-3 with two walks.
Jeff Suppan hit Jake Fox on the second pitch of the fifth inning. Mike Fontenot (2-for-4 with a double) followed with a double to left. With runners on second and third and no outs, Koyie Hill grounded out to first. A right-handed hitting Carlos Zambrano followed and punched a 0-1 pitch into center. Fox scored and tied the game at one.
Alfonso Soriano popped out to Prince Fielder for the second out of the inning ... and Ryan Theriot flied out to center for the third out.
The Cubs have shown improvement over the past week after a horrendous performance last Sunday on the South Side. Lou Piniella promised lineup changes on Saturday during his post-game press conference and reports suggested Alfonso Soriano will be dropped to sixth in the lineup on Saturday.
Rich Harden and a new-look Cubs' lineup will face Braden Looper on Saturday afternoon ... the 4th of July.
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The umpire was inconsistent all day, member in the first inning in which Theriot was batting the bas was high and in. I think the Brew Crew got more called strikes or balls that were strikes than the Cubs.
Aramis Ramirez with a double and run in first at-bat for Chiefs.
Johnson 0-1.
Will have full recap in community blog for all 3 players when they are all finished.
Waldo:
Are you at the game?
No just watching on computer.
Iowa Cubs is on a rain delay and Guzman is starting the game
Wow. For a young guy you are very dedicated to the nation. Take a break, pick up a girl have some fun.
Are you married, Jim?
Haha
The Cubs may let me down but a baseball game beats a woman 5 days out of the week. I give mine the other two.
The key, Waldo, is to get a baseball lovin girl! Then you'd be the envy of the CCO.
Except for Aaron. He'd wouldn't be impressed by her ceiling, citing your bad scouting! =)
so, true...statistically you must analyze how many guys she's been with, and then what her "on base" percentage is...LOL...might've crossed the line there....
If she's been "on base" a lot, unlike baseball, you might want to stay away from her, and say, go the route of an Alfonso Soriano-esque girl. You know, the type that can get "on base" when they really focus, but don't get on much otherwise. Then, when they do...boy oh boy, they hit it out of the park, a mile, don't they? LOL
The same thing can be said of picking a guy...my friend...How long can they last...how far can they hit? What's
their era/ops/whip/ how often do they strike out or walk (away).
Do they use a heavy bat or light one.
Are they Natural or living in a Field of Dreams?
Are they good guys or think they are
"A League of Their Own" All this comes into play when a girl is trying to determine if a guy is MAJOR LEAGUE material.
lol...be careful Aaron
that's AWESOME...that's, perhaps the most analytical and smart post anyone has ever responded to on here...LOL...very good...you got me laughing, and I'm glad you took it all in good humor. People need to laugh these days
Very good, very funny both of you!
***Imagine a Husband that needs a set up guy and later at night a closer?
***I would stay away from a girl like Heilman...why...? because she would not miss a lot of bats!!!! ok im out of line there but its late!
Great win tonight this division looks ready to rumble. Lets see Sori out of the leadoff spot....two years later.
Tin-TIN:
What are you doing up?
Getting the baby some milk?
do you have a link for the box score?
It took some cajones to stand there and look at that last pitch. Congrats to Jake Fox, that was a mighty fine at bat.
We'll see how/if those lineup changes come around.
A few thoughts....
* I would love to see Hendry deal Bradley to say a team like Detroit.
* If it was up to me the line up would be:
CF Fuld
SS Theriot
1B Lee
LF Soriano
3B Ramirez or Fox
RF Fukdome
C Soto
2b Fontenot
Pitcher
Like it or not, Bradley is probably going to stay. He's going to start hitting and everybody will rejoice. What's the point of even trading Bradley? The only reason I would is if you get a huge player back like Dunn. But the reason Bradley was signed was to provide left hand pop. Fukudome in right will be great defensively but he is really struggling offensively. In the end, I see Bradley will more upside offensively to keep him around.
btw...Kaplan is reporting that the sale is going well...and his sources say the deal may be completed with Ricketts within 2 weeks...with MLB approval in early August...not in time for the trade deadline...but finally movement.
According to Kaplan, he met Ricketts at the game last night and thinks he will be "a great owner" and will change the way things are done....
Suzy, I heard Kaplan say that as well. From the way I understand it, Selig will have a 'conference call' with the other owners once the deal between Zell and the Ricketts is approved.
hey, you guys HAVE to see this jack-assery statement from Gregg:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-04-cubs-bits-chicago-jul04,0,4042827.story
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"Just getting comfortable," he said. "If you remember how the first part of the season went, I had some unfortunate breaks -- a couple of balls lost in lights and things like that. The ball is starting to bounce my way, I guess."
It helps that Gregg has walked only eight batters in his last 28 appearances after walking eight in his first 10 outings.
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Well said Paul Sullivan...well said...I think a better statement might've been, "well, it helps when you have dumb luck on your side, and those balls that were jacked out of the park landed in people's gloves today with the wind blowing in"...LOL What a moron. Both Gregg and Bradley deserve a one-way ticket out of town based on their play AND comments, excusing themselves of poor play. "balls lost in lights". What?!? Maybe once buddy...nice try. We all have seen how bad you suck
Aaron, don't worry. Gregg will not be back next year.
Also, I think I have asked you before. Would you go after George Sherrill? The Cubs must work on their pen and there are not that many available pieces out there. The internet rumor last week about Heath Bell was, well just that a rumor, and I do not see him going anywhere.
damn i have a man crush on him.
Neil,
George Sherrill's a bum. At one time, I thought he'd be good, but I didn't even check his stats before really. Then, I did my research as always, instead of believing the hype....DUDE IS A BUM!!!!! Worse than Gregg even. Check it out:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sherrge01.shtml
If Hendry goes after him, he'd be giving into the hype, just as he did with Soriano. And that's about all I have to say about that
I have the rehab starts under community blog now.
I got some goodies for ya from Bruce. U guys prolly heard it?
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After another bad day at the plate on Friday, Soriano admitted getting moved out of the leadoff spot might take some pressure off him and the team.
"If he [Piniella] has to change the lineup, it's OK," Soriano said. "The most important thing is I'm available to play. If he wants to change the lineup, it's fine."
Soriano was then asked if dropping down in the lineup would take some pressure off him personally.
"Could be!" Soriano said. "I hit down further down in the lineup with the Yankees one year, so it could be! We'll see what he does with the lineup tomorrow [Saturday]."
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at least hes taking responsibility
why is it greggs last year?
Cubbie12...his contract expires after this season....and most likely...
Marmol/Guzman are the closer next year.
Gregg is a free-agent at the end of the year as Suzy stated and many feel he will not be back next year.
yet another reason why I dislike Bradley and hate him as a player even more:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-04-cubs-bits-chicago-jul04,0,4042827.story
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Kosuke Fukudome had no problem with the sun last year at Wrigley.
"It is definitely difficult with the 1:20 p.m. games and around that time [of day]," Fukudome said through his interpreter. "I made an adjustment to make that play, and he should too."
Bradley is getting booed at Wrigley every time he exhales, though he insists it doesn't bother him.
"I'm getting used to it," he said. "Some guys they cheer and [with me] they boo. So it's my thing."
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Even our non-English speaking player is tired of his excuses...Isn't that funny?!?
Suzy, Aaron, Agustin..
You guys are great, haha.
Awesome.
You missed one Agustin: Swing man.