Spring Training Game Nine: Cubs (ss) (4-4) vs. White Sox (ss) (4-3-2)
Game Time - 9:05pm CST
Coverage - TV: Comcast SportsNet - Radio: 670 The Score, MLB.com (White Sox feed)
Location - Cashman Field, Las Vegas
Tom Gorzelanny (0-0, 9.00/1.00) vs. Carlos Torres (0-0, 2.25/1.00)
For the sixth year in a row, the Cubs will participate in "Big League Weekend" at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. The Cubs annual trip to Sin City will have them face their Crosstown rivals ... who beat them rather soundly at HoHoKam Park, 15-3, last Saturday.
Alan Trammell will manage a Cubs' split-squad this weekend that will feature the likes of Tom Gorzelanny, Micah Hoffpauir, Kevin Millar, Mike Fontenot, Jeff Baker, Ryan Theriot, Matt Camp, Josh Vitters, Geovany Soto, Robinson Chirinos, Welington Castillo, Sam Fuld, Marlon Byrd, Brett Jackson, Kosuke Fukudome, Brad Snyder, Xavier Nady, Thomas Diamond, Blake Parker, Justin Berg, Jeff Kennard, Mitch Atkins, John Gaub, and J.R. Mathes.... Ryan Dempster will take the ball against the Sox on Saturday afternoon.
Tom Gorzelanny will make his first start, second appearance, of the spring tonight.
The Cubs play only two night games during the exhibition season this year ... tonight in Las Vegas and on April 2 against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Teams need practice under the lights before the games count.
Tom Gorzelanny, who figures to break camp in the Cubs starting rotation, gave up a pair of runs (a two-run homer by Josh Donaldson) in two innings of work against the A's ... with a strikeout and a hit batsman.
The other half of Ozzie Guillen's team played the Angels earlier today in Arizona. Paul Konerko, Mark Kotsay, Juan Pierre, Mark Teahen and Andruw Jones are among the South Siders that made the trip.
The Cubs will face Carlos Torres at the beginning of the game. The right-hander will make his first start of the spring, third appearance. In his first two games, Torres allowed one run on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts in four innings of work.
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Silva didn't fan anybody in his last start (3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 runs).
Rip, what?
ESPN says the Cubs are looking to extend Lou. http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=4990914
Say it ain't so, Joe.
Silva: this ESPN box score says Silva didn't fan anybody.
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=300311125&teams=chicago-cubs-vs-san-diego-padres
He musta pitched to contact. It amazes me that the ball stayed in the yard.
Rip, I just didn't know where the Silva talk came from ... he was not that good.
Silva was hit pretty hard and Sam Fuld helped him out big time...great catch in center that took at least a double away from Scott Hairston.
I thought that's what you said the other day. But since the game hasn't started I thought I'd start the conversation with yesterday's pitching performance of our newly acquired star.
We can see why Scales never made it to the ML level to stay: he can't hit enough to cover for his poor fielding. Watching him makes me crave for . . . (I can hardly say it) . . . Mike Fontenot at 2B.
Gotcha ... I thought I messed up the game preview.
Rip, The source for espn article was yesterday's State of the Cubs speech
by Crane (Clown) Kenney.
The guys on AM670 spent the afternoon
speculating on when Kenney would be fired for mispeaking on many things...
including a statement yesterday by Kenney that the Cubs new facility could be built without the ticket tax in AZ.
2 hours after that statement by Kennney,
the Cubs changed their public stance and said they would srand by anything the AZ
lawmakers deemed necessary to get it through. (In other words, speculation is
Kenney the Rickett's were extremely displeased with how Kenney handled it.)
I would take a boulder (not just a grain)
of salt on anything Kenney says in the future.
this is precisely why Cashner, Coleman, and Diamond should be given longer looks for the rotation...Silva's not fooling anybody. They said he was throwing batting practice, essentially. He's like Kevin Gregg, but without the hanging breaking ball that he could never locate, and more of a sinker (okay, they're really not the same, except both get hit REALLY hard)
Lou/Hendry will try to stomach Silva for as long as they can. They probably will DL him then release him at some point during the season.
I'm okay with Silva on the DL. My biggest fear is that they'll stomach Silva for as long as they can . . . on the ML roster! They'll be more broken windows on Waveland Ave than ever before. And I remember the good old days of Dave Kingman launching them onto Waveland and hitting the apartment buildings on the fly. Now that was pretty!
Here's something that will get everyone going ...
Paul Sullivan was just on WGN, he told Kaplan he thinks it is Jim Hendry that feels Castro is not ready ... not Lou Piniella. Sullivan said it could have something to do with service time and delaying the clock.
I could see that...Sullivan's article earlier today...indicated Lou really likes Castro...but couldn'tquite say so.
Tonight's lineup:
Theriot - SS
Fukudome - RF
Byrd - CF
Millar - 1B
Nady - DH
Fontenot - 2B
Soto - C
Baker - 3B
Fuld - LF
Nice patience in the second by Theriot and Fukudome
Cmon Gorzo...stay away from the walks.
Spring Training or not, I cannot stand walks. Make them earn it
Walked the bases loaded
Nice comeback by Gorzo...3KO's w/3 walks and a wild pitch....coulda been a lotworse.
Baker with a nice single to right, plated Fontenot ... 3-1 Cubs
Nice play by Baker on the ball up the line by Pierre
Good third inning by Gorzelanny
Jay Jackson is in the game
Ryan Flaherty is in the game.
NATION REPRESENT!
CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!
RECOGNIZE.
Thanks Jim...we needed that!!!
Larry Rothschild on "Talkin Baseball"
(ESPN 1000 Radio)...referring to Hendry bringing in a backend RHP for the pen.
"We're not just talking any reliever,but a special animal...(7th/8th inning guy)...it's going to be difficult to do."
His approach is to piece together the pen with what he has.
Of course it's about money and service time. Remember Kerry Wood's
rookie year, when he started in the minors, and some wag said "If the
Cubs have twelve pitchers better than Kerry Wood, they will surely win
it all this year!"
He came up in a week or so, and so will Casto.