Game One Hundred-Three: Cubs (55-47) vs. Marlins (54-50)
Game Time - 4:05pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: Comcast SportsNet - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 183
Location - Land Shark Stadium, Miami
Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.31/1.39) vs. Ricky Nolasco (7-7, 5.24/1.35)
The final game of the season against the Marlins could be a wild one. With Leo Nunez making a spectacle of himself on Friday night, Carlos Zambrano hitting Hanley Ramirez in the third inning on Saturday and Nunez plunking Aramis Ramirez in the 10th inning, then getting stared down by Koyie Hill, there could be several fireworks this afternoon. While Ryan Dempster must stick up for his teammates, winning the game and the series must be priority one for the entire team.
With Carlos Zambrano leaving the game in the fourth inning on Saturday night, the Cubs will need a long, effective outing from Ryan Dempster in his second game back from the DL.
Aramis Ramirez will likely be out of the starting lineup today. The Cubs indicated he was fine after being hit in the 10th inning Saturday night but he had to be helped off the field. The Cubs should give him the day off for precautionary reasons if nothing else.
Lou Piniella wanted to give Ryan Theriot both Saturday and Sunday off but ended up using Theriot after Carlos Zambrano left the game in a double switch. Look for Piniella to give Theriot the afternoon off and for Andres Blanco to be at short once again.
While the offense must do their job against Ricky Nolasco, it all begins with Ryan Dempster ... and one win at a time.
Ryan Dempster will make his second start this afternoon since returning from the DL. There are no two ways about it ... Dempster was horrible in his last start. The Astros knocked around Dempster to the tune of six runs, five earned, on nine hits in five innings. Dempster did not walk any batters but struggled with his command and made one huge mental mistake ... but that was then and today his team needs him to step up and pitch the way he did a year ago.
Dempster has won just one game on the road this season. He is 1-4 in 10 starts with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.
This afternoon will be Dempster's first start of the year against the Fish. He is 2-1 in 12 career games, two starts, against one of his former teams, with three saves and a 2.57 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP ... last year 1-0 in two starts against the Marlins with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.
- John Baker - 0-for-2
- Emilo Bonifacio - 0-for-4
- Jorge Cantu - 1-for-5 with a walk
- Ross Gload - 1-for-1
- Wes Helms - 5-for-10 with a double
- Jeremy Hermida - 1-for-3 with a walk
- Nick Johnson - 1-for-3 with a home run
- Hanley Ramirez - 2-for-8 with a double and 2 walks
- Cody Ross - 2-for-6 with a double, a triple and a walk
- Dan Uggla - 0-for-6
The Cubs will face Ricky Nolasco for the second time this season ... but he is not the same pitcher the Cubs faced at Wrigley back in May. After a demotion to Triple-A in late May (1-3 in four starts in May with a 12.23 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP), Nolasco has come back to the bigs and has been lights out.
Ricky Nolasco was 3-1 in five starts in June with a 1.91 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP then followed up with a solid July (2-1 in five starts with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP).
Nolasco is 4-3 in nine home starts this season with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The last time he lost at Land Shark Stadium was on June 7 against the Giants. He is coming off a no decision against the Braves ... two runs on seven hits in seven innings with a walk and five strikeouts.
The Cubs' fourth round pick in 2001 (dealt to the Marlins in the Juan Pierre trade) loves to pitch against his former organization. Nolasco's only career loss to the Cubs came in his outing back in May at Wrigley ... 2-1 in three career games, two starts, with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.
- Jeff Baker - 0-for-3
- Milton Bradley - 0-for-3
- Mike Fontenot - 1-for-3
- Kosuke Fukudome - 0-for-3
- Derrek Lee - 1-for-3 with a home run
- Aramis Ramirez - 2-for-4 with a home run
- Alfonso Soriano - 4-for-10 with 2 home runs
- Ryan Theriot - 2-for-3
Let's Talk Cubs Baseball....
What about Z? DL for him?
Makes you wish you had Hart back.
Nice to see the Cubs overcome Gregg and Smardzjiza last night.
Don't think Z is going on the DL.
Zambrano said he was fine and Lou 'joked' he might get a little action out of the pen in the Reds series.
No one knows for sure if Lou was joking or not. But that would be on one of his throw days/bullpen session.
I'm looking at a much better pitched game today vs. yesterday and a Cubs victory in about 3 hours flat. The score could be about 5 or 6 to 3, and my (other) guess is that Soriano, Fox, Grabow and Marmol have productive outings.
The Red Sox image is tainted more today (following the revelations that Manny and Papi were juicing it up during the Red Sox surge to greatness). Two clubhouse workers were fired for possession/use of steroids in the last couple of days. One, a guy named Remy, is the son of a Red Sox announcer.
My Z--Sox trade "get", Josh Reddick, was called up from AA and played RF and LF yesterday (not at the same time). He had 2 doubles, a walk and a strikeout in 4 AB's.
Today's lineup:
Fuld - CF
Theriot - SS
Lee - 1B
Fox - 3B
Hoffpauir - RF
Soriano - LF
Fontenot - 2B
Hill - C
Dempster - P
Can anyone recall if Lee, Fox, Hoff and Rami have started in the same game? I love this lineup today...But if Fontenot doesn't get it going I hope we can get a 2B before Sept 1.
Tired,and very disappointed in baseball
re roids and drugs. "Remy" was a good infielder with the Bosox at one time...
would be very surprised if the elder
had anything to do with them.
Publish the whole list...and finish it off.
Re your Bosox trade...Z for Reddick
straightup?
No. It was early in July, and I had RSP, Buchholz, AA, LHP Doubront and the P.R. sleeper, 3rd baseman Jorge Jimenez coming too--and Guyer A-OF and Chirinos A-C going. The "if" was if we were falling further behind. I would have substituted RSP Michael Bowden for Bucholz if I had to.
That makes more sense.
To bad Fox can't play 2nd.
They have not.
Look for fireworks today.
Fox should be behind the plate for Hill...guess Lou doesn't trust him there.
Baker at third.
We still need a bat at 2nd/short so Theriot can be rested.
Suzy, Fox is at third in the lineups I have seen, not Baker.
I saw that Neil...was just saying he should be replacing Hill...so there's no confrontation...and Baker or someone else at third...that's all....I really like this line-up otherwise.
Gotcha, misunderstood.
I absolutely love this lineup...
Side-note RE: our minor league system
Look out for David LeMahieu at Peoria right now. He's tearing it up. Additionally, Jeffrey Antigua (watch out for him too....he's part of the duo we were supposed to be on the lookout for in the next couple of years along with Larry Suarez-who is struggling right now), but Antigua was brought up to Peoria, and pitched today with EXCELLENT results. He's a lefty, throws hard, and supposedly really good make-up. Suarez was supposed to be in the mold of Zambrano, but has struggled mightily this year.
Also, Justin Bour, a first baseman drafted this year has done VERY well at Boise, and Hak Ju Lee has also done a fantastic job. Bobby Wagner tore up AZL league pitching, and is now in Boise, and has done fairly well in his limited time, while DJ Fitzgerald (recent draftee that tore up AZL pitching and bypassed Boise altogether) was recently demoted to Boise in favor of LeMahieu.
Given their success, I'm not as upset about dealing Harrison as I previously was, but it remains to be seen how those guys can handle the upper rungs of the system.
Anyway, thought I'd share that with you all.
oh, and Felix Pie is now batting .242 with a .302 OBP...how is Joey Gathright?!? LOL....just sayin'...
By that note, it's also worth mentioning Ryan Freel is starting to heat up for the Royals. I think his AL batting average was between .210 to .220, and now it's around .245 after today's game. He's still not stealing or anything, but it looks like that was a definite necessity for his career. It doesn't really seem like ANY of these trades are working out for Hendry.
Cards lost to Stros 2-0
OK. The Cards just lost. Lets go boys.
why is this game not on mlb extra innings??????????
I ask the same question...
It has got to do with the late start and the fact that ESPN has exclusive rights to broadcast nationally on Sunday nights.
Lee just too aggressive ...
is this game blocked out in chicago?
DLee with another hit, aggressive again but it worked ...
Excellent route by Cody Ross to save a run.
Cubs really need this game, and a bunch in Cincinnati too. They need to stock pile some wins before heading to Colorado.
Hoffpauir kinda sucks nowadays. I guess all that sitting on the bench has finally neutralized his power...and contact. Ronny Cedeno 2.0, thy name is Micah.
Hoffpauir in his last 23games: 36At-bats, 6 runs, 3RBI, 7 hits, 1HR, 2 walks, 5K, avg/obp/slg: .194/.256/.361
...
yeah, he sucked.
But today, he's facing one of the best pitchers in NL East. Ricky is the smarter player who has great control and some nasty command on breaking pitches that can make batters stand there like a fool.
The best way to beat him is to knock in some longballs. Let's go, Blue!
My guess is Hoffpauir will go down when they activate Soto on Friday. Let him get his stroke back. Fox actually hits righties better than lefties.
I don't wanna fall for DLee again because once he has me he may stop hitting but boy....he can play ball
Boy, Cody Ross realy knows his field...
so Neil, tell me, what is the CCO record of hits in one page? I thought it was 202...
Make that an AFLAC trivia question!
Me: 3,007 hits.
really? where do you check that?
Nay, just throwing out random guess.
I'm sure Neil has a google analytics working for him...
Number of hits on one article, I have never tracked. I know my daily hits/pageloads and that is all.
Agustin you are close. On June 2 against the Braves, 213 comments
http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2009/06/2009cubslive50.php
Excellent throw by Koyie Hill!
I love listening to the WGN feed on MLB.com. Occasionally, like just now, you pick up some interesting conversation on an open mike during the commercial break.
Wow Neil 213 is tough to do but we will break it any given sunday. Hey gongrats. Neil this site has allways rocked but it also has become better as time goes by.
**I remember when the only two posters were you in one computer in the kitchen and Abby in another in the living room!LOL!!! Just kidding...keep it up and keep Abby's dog safe until the playoffs!
Good stuff, thank you for the laugh ... and Mego is safe for now. Although he did not like Gregg blowing it last night.
I liked tonight's line-up....on paper.
Excellent catch by Koyie Hill!
Damn. I was hoping Demp would make it through the 7th.
LET'S GO OFFENSE! LET'S GO!!!
so far the Cubs have struck out 31 times in this series...no bueno
You didn't mean LET"S GO DOWN IN 6 PITCHES OFFENSE! LET'S GO!!! Did you?
That was a pretty short lived hot streak for Soriano.
Soriano cooling off a little? Soriano you are justheating up wake up dude!!!
Great job by Ryan tonight.
aaron heilman is the next bob howry
exactly
Bradley would've had that.
The Marlins always pitch well against the Cubs.
Cody Ross with another gem in center.
Have I ever mentioned I hate the Fish?
Hey guys, just got to turn the game on. Has there been any retaliation for last night?
No Trevor, just good pitching and good baseball.
**Great inning by Angel**
No. A pitcher's duel.
J-A-K-E.
JAKE FOX!!!!!
that took a split second to get out! Wow!
Jake is fine representative of Indy's Cathedral H. S. I wasn't expecting 2-1, but I sure hope we make that lead stand up. Better yet, TACK ON!!!!
We still need to get around 10 runs before Gregg comes in.
Pat Hughes says "Fasten those seat belts"
Is it too crazy to give guzman a chance to close? I think it might be worth a shot.
PULL HIM NOW!!!
How many times do we have to see this f'n shit?
SHIT!!!!
GET RID OF THAT SOB.
We got big problems.
Kevin Gregg is a multi-millionaire due to his baseball skills. Surprising but true.
Absolutely worthless. Un-friggin'-believable.
Who said it last night?
TROJAN HORSE!!!
Yeah, that was me... And I regret that I've heard the prophecy...
Speechless?!?!?!
I wanted to say let Marmol close it. And Gregg was just terrible. What a terrible loss!!
Not sure Marmol instills much confidence these days either.
The back end of the bull pen hasn't inspired much confidence lately. This doesn't bode well.
How many f'ing games is Lou going to let this piece of sh!t pitch! He is f'ing terrible!!!!
I think at this point you have to put Guzman in closer. Who else? Greg lost his closing job far as i am concerned. I swear if Lou trots him out there again in the ninth.
The prophet says to the Trojans before they took the horse in,
"Whatever inning is, I fear Gregg pitches even while one out left."
Lou Piniella post-game press conference:
"What do you want me to do? Gregg's our closer."
Don't expect a change anytime soon folks.
The two balls that were hit were home runs were a disgrace. A nothing curveball down the middle and a nothing fastball even Nancy Reagan could pull into the bleachers. Hopefully some pitching options will come available through the waiver wire.
Thats 10 HR allowed by Gregg in 50 innings this year.
You know. After last night. It was quite obviously his former team knew his weaknesses intimately well. Lou shoulda sat him.
I wish I could find my comments from earlier this year when Gregg was blowing games, when I was told it wasn't a big deal, because it was early. Then, I responded that I just felt bad, because I was actually rooting against Gregg to actually blow games early on so Piniella and Hendry would learn their lesson and get him out of there. I said then that it'd be best for him to blow games and get it over with early, than to wait to make a change deep into the season where it can really hurt. Guess what? This one really hurt, and on a day when the Cards lost, we needed this badly.
Gregg should NEVER be a closer again. He wasn't even good enough to be considered a "has been". He is indeed a "never was". I believe that is his 7th blown save this year, and he has given up a TON of home runs for a closer.
Do I think Marmol would do a better job? Possibly. It certainly wouldn't hurt to give him a try, would it? I know he'll walk people, but he doesn't give up many bombs at all, and when you need a strikeout most, he'll get that for you. I love Guzman more in that role, but then who sets up for Marmol? Gregg? LOL...that'd be laughable....we wouldn't even have any save situations for Marmol if that happened. I hate Gregg with a passion. He was practically run out of town in Miami, and Hendry makes him a priority?!? LOL
next to Bradley, he's the biggest turd on the team.
Bummer, because Jake Fox showed up and hit a nice bomb to put us on top. ACtually, we've seen that before, right? Several games we've come from behind, turn it over to Gregg, and he blows it, taking away any momentum we might've gained in the series. Unbelievable.
I really hope Piniella wakes up tomorrow and realizes his mistake in having Gregg as closer
Aaron, I distinctly do remember you saying you hoped Gregg would blow enough early saves for Piniella and Hendry to learn their lessons. Many of us totally agreed with you because we saw, as you did, there would be critical games in the future where he would fail. Well, it has come true, but management's stubborness and false pride will alibi and say he's their guy while he takes the Cubs down the tubes. It's a pitiful situation which never should have happened.
By my count, the Cubs have 17 Blown Saves this year. I don't know that we lost all those games (like last night)but what would our record be with a reasonable number?
many of those blown saves have turned into 14 inning games which has burned up what pathetic bullpen we have.
Gregg and Heilman are the worst!!
Aaron - you know it, I know it, everybody knows it that Gregg sucks. But it took Lou a couple of months to figure out that Fox needed to play more, likely costing us a bunch of wins
I am sick and tired of hearing Lou say "what do you want me to do"! He's the f'ing manager, he should know what to do. He and Gregg both HAVE TO GO!!
Right now, the only established option we have other than Gregg is BJ Ryan. And that's putting a lot of stock in the fact that a move to the NL won't just make him better than he was this year, but also make him better than he was back when he was a closer for the Jays. Because the regression he went through between '06 and '08 was extremely notable.
Other than Ryan, they need to either send Samardzija or Stevens down or take Atkins or Berg and have one of those four start closing for Triple A and get one ready for next year. Because there aren't any options other than Ryan right now.
Isn't Ryan still throwing in the high 80s? I don't see him even helping the team this year, let alone closing.
And we shall hear him act like nothing happened saying that a little girl could have hit a HR off of him tonight...and If Lou brings him again in the 9th he simply does not care about wining. Thanks Kevin Gregg, finally you can win a game for the Marlins.
I'd be all for putting Guzman as closer. Keep Marmol in the fireman/setup role. Put Gregg in when there is nobody on base. Or better yet, put Gregg and Heilman together and ship them far, far away.
As so many have posted before, Gregg continues to prove he is NOT a big-time closer. He just does not have the ammunition it takes to come into close games like these last two and shut the door. Just one example, I saw Valverde shut down the Cards today on tv with electric stuff. We know bonafide winning caliber closers when we see them and the Cubs don't have one right now. Don't you know it felt good for the Marlins to show him and eveyone else just why they were so very happy to get rid of him. If Piniella gives the same old song and dance with some lame alibi for Gregg, I think I'll get sick at my stomach. We all know what it takes to close effectively and Gregg doesn't have it. Aaron, you have spoken the loudest about this for weeks and weeks and you have been absolutely right. Kevin Gregg is a loser but the Cubs will likely keep running him out there and the results will not change against decent clubs. This is a disastrous loss and Piniella should be livid!
where can the press conference can be seen?
Marmol's problem is dedication. I was in Chicago Friday night with some friends from the area on a bar crawl, and we were talking about the Cubs during the game. I brought up a point that we weren't going to win this series because "we didn't have Blanco and they didn't have Gregg". It was funny at the time, and then we got on the topic of who should replace him. When I asked about Marmol, I was basically told that if it is a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, or there's a special occaision on any other night at a bar, and the Cubs are in-town, Marmol is out there, he's most likely blitzed out of his mind, and he's around until they close the bars at 2 in the morning. Heck, my friend told me he saw Marmol at the bars on the Saturday night before the day/night doubleheader just going nuts with the shots.
At first, I thought it was just the WBC that screwed up Marmol's timing and delivery. But now, I see it a bit better: he's immature and has no dedication to the game. When you can stay out until 2 in the morning the night before a day game, there is something wrong there.
At this point in time, moving Marmol to another team for a marquee player may be a great idea if the Cubs don't get a guy on the team that can keep these guys in check like they had with Wood and Blanco.
That was supposed to be a reply to Aaron's post.
Ok I've have been trying all year to stay confident in Kevin Gregg and I thought he had turned the corner, but after these last two games I'm jumping off that bandwagon forever. I know pitchers have bad streches but come on.......I guess I'm just letting off some steam and I'm hoping that Wells and the rest of the guys can go into Cincinnati and put this game in the rear view mirror and not look back
L-O-U continues to use "Blown Save" Heilman--he leads the league, folks, and he ain't even a closer!--and Home Run Gregg in save situations. Pretty hard to win a division like this, and impossible to win a playoff game with L-O-U calling the shots. Hey, L-O-U, when are you going to send Fox back down to the minors?
neil what did lou say in the conference?
I did not hear it...sorry.
What a killer loss. Nice job, Gregg. Had a chance to win a series at a place you've stunk in the last several years, start the road trip on a great note and move back into first place in the Central.
Must win tomorrow ... this can't be the start of a downward spiral
Wow...fell asleep at tied score what a bummer to wake up to.
Folks....in all reality this isn't a playoff nor WS caliber team. No way, in so many respects, can this team compete against the Dodgers, Phils, RedSox, etc.
And I'm so over the LOU postgame "what do you want me to do" mentality.
The only guy on the team that can do
it with consistancy right now is Guzman.
Yes Suzy but even he would have to go through growing pains and would blow some games before he tugs it in. We are kind of tied up. Same deal with Bradley will happen to KGregg...they will play them because they are paying them, not bbecause they deserve it. I would DFA Heilman and Gregg today and use the young kids...what the hell? atleast they will loose the games because they are scared not because they are bad and maybe next year we have a good bullpen because some of them might actually step up. Horrible loss.
Suzy, I had to leave for a bit and missed the Fox homer and then the meltdown again by Gregg.... I'm so happy I did. Just listening to the replay on WGN was enough of a downer to ruin my afternoon. Gregg does not have the pitches needed to be an elite closer; thus, he will win a few but blow saves in critical situations, taking the Cubs right out of contention. If the powers that be had figured out a way to fix Marmol's command issues, he might close, but I agree with you that Guzman would win more than Gregg. BUT, it just won't happen....maddening!
If we go with Guzman at closer, the big thing to keep in mind is that he's probably not going to do much better than Gregg this year. In fact, he may do about the same as Gregg this year. They'd be best off doing what the Rangers did with CJ Wilson (a pitcher, mind you, the Cubs did have the tools to obtain last season at the deadline that Hendry passed on because he wasn't that impressed with him): gradually working him into save spots in September and letting it roll naturally into the closer spot next Spring.
We didn't deserve to win with scoring two runs anyway.
This is more on the offense than anything else. We really need a bat through waivers..
Better luck tomorrow. I'll chalk it up to Miami -- we're never good here and the offense has been good of late.
I'll judge tomorrow.
Just looking at the numbers, Gregg entered this game tied for second with Kerry Wood and Tampa Bay's transitional closer in Blown Saves with five. Today's Blown Save ties him with Brad Lidge for first in the majors. With Lidge, his team's power displays are obvious; they score when they want, so him blowing saves isn't quite as bad. But statistically, Gregg just passed Wood as far as closers who put games out of reach for their team, since Wood's offensive support is about as anemic as ours.
Player TEAM SV SVO SV AVG
H Street COL 28 29 0.966
H Bell SD 26 27 0.963
F Cordero CIN 23 24 0.958
R Franklin STL 24 26 0.923
T Hoffman MIL 23 25 0.920
M Capps PIT 21 23 0.913
J Broxton LAD 24 27 0.889
F RodriguezNYM 24 27 0.889
R Soriano ATL 16 18 0.889
M Lindstrom FLA 14 16 0.875
M MacDougal WSH 7 8 0.875
B Wilson SF 27 31 0.871
K Gregg CHC 21 25 0.840
R Troncoso LAD 5 6 0.833
C Qualls ARI 19 23 0.826
B Lidge PHI 20 26 0.769
L Hawkins HOU 10 13 0.769
J Valverde HOU 12 16 0.750
L Nunez FLA 9 12 0.750
M Gonzalez ATL 9 14 0.643
J Hanrahan PIT 5 10 0.500
R Madson PHI 4 8 0.500
C Sampson HOU 3 6 0.500
C Marmol CHC 3 7 0.429
C VillanuevaMIL 3 8 0.375
J Beimel COL 1 6 0.167
A Heilman CHC 1 6 0.167
We do have options for late inning relief, and a trade may be doable. The options include Marshall, Stevens, Grabow, Marmol and Guzman. I think Marmol would be less wild pitching in the closer role, but it doesn't matter to me how he and Guzman are lined up. Stevens is unproven, but his curve ball and low 90's fastball are a nice mix with our hard throwers. He's looked pretty good. Marshall and Grabow are competent lefites.
If you want to be daring, we can probably get Woody back for Gregg, a mid-level prospect and $10 mil or so of Woody's contract spread over the next two years. The question would be, "Is Woody worth $5 mil a year?" I'n not sure he is. The other question would be are we playing well enough to contend after the next 3 series? If not, I would not trade for any veteran who may be on the downslope.
Lou has talked of sitting some regular position players and then saw a pick up in team play that left the changes undone. He should move Gregg and Heilman to mop up duty in favor of a 6th through 9th reliance on the five guys named above for the next 10 games. Lou does manage with a bias for veterans, but I see important changes coming soon in our pen.
How about the team stats?
TEAM SV SVO SV AVG
CIN 24 29 0.828
COL 30 40 0.750
PIT 22 30 0.733
STL 27 37 0.730
SF 28 39 0.718
NYM 27 40 0.675
FLA 25 38 0.658
CHC 26 40 0.650
PHI 26 40 0.650
MIL 29 45 0.644
ARI 23 36 0.639
SD 27 43 0.628
ATL 25 40 0.625
LAD 30 49 0.612
HOU 25 44 0.568
WSH 16 38 0.421
Surprising results. Cinc and Pitt up toward the top and LAD toward the bottom.
What does that mean? Not sure, except the Cubs still suck in this stat.
Team Blown Saves basically just tell you how often the pen has let the game get tied.
Walk-offs count toward the stat also