Cubs Giveaway the First Round of the City Series – Cubs 3 White Sox 4

June 22, 2011 By 34 Comments

Game Seventy-Four – Cubs 3 White Sox 4
WP – Jake Peavy (3-1) LP – Doug Davis (1-6) Save – Sergio Santos (14)

The Cubs lost another one-run game and ended up giving away the first round of the City Series. The difference on Wednesday night ended up being an unearned run in the fifth inning … and the Cubs inability to hit with runners in scoring position.

After three solid innings to start the game, the White Sox finally got to Doug Davis in the fourth and scored three of their four runs on a triple by A.J. Pierzynski and a suicide squeeze bunt by Brent Lillibridge.

Kosuke Fukudome (2-for-5 with a double and a run scored) reached on a two-out double in the fifth and scored the Cubs first run on a single by Starlin Castro (2-for-4 with a RBI). Castro’s two-out base knock cut the Sox lead to 3-1.

The Cubs defense gave the run right back in the bottom of the fifth. Blake DeWitt booted a routine grounder off the bat of A.J. Pierzynski that would have ended the inning with the Cubs still down 3-1. But the miscue allowed Brent Lillibridge to hit with the bases loaded … and Davis hit Lillibridge to force in the fourth run.

Carlos Pena (1-for-5 with a home run) led off the sixth with his third homer of the series (14th of the year) … and cut the Sox lead to 4-2. Jeff Baker (1-for-4 with a RBI) singled in Alfonso Soriano with the Cubs third run and chased Jake Peavy from the game. The Cubs loaded the bases against Chris Sale but Starlin Castro grounded out to third to end the inning.

The Cubs had a chance to tie the game in the eighth after Blake DeWitt started the inning with an infield single. Tony Campana ran for DeWitt, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out to third. Mike Quade allowed Koyie Hill (0-for-4, three strikeouts and three runners left on base) to hit and Hill predictably struck out with the tying run on third. Guillen then brought in Matt Thornton to face Fukudome and Kosuke struck out to end the inning.

Sergio Santos picked up his second save of the series. Santos retired all three batters he faced Wednesday. In 2 1/3 innings, Santos retired all seven batters he faced, five strikeouts, and threw a total of three balls out of the strike zone.

The Cubs six game streak of not being charged with an error came to a grinding stop at the Cell and their second error ended up being the difference on the scoreboard.

Doug Davis was lifted after allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in five innings. The Cubs pen did their job. Chris Carpenter, Jeff Samardzija and Sean Marshall retired all nine batters they faced and gave the Cubs offense plenty of time to tie or take the lead.

The Cubs actually out hit the White Sox (10-8) but not when it counted. The Cubs were a miserable 3-for-10 with RISP and left 10 on base.

Alfonso Soriano (1-for-2 with two walks, a run scored and a stolen base) had a good night at the plate. Soriano actually showed a lot of patience with the two walks (came in with only seven all season) and stole his first base in over a year.

The White Sox won their 17th straight Interleague series and the Cubs lost their sixth in a row. With Wednesday’s loss, the Cubs dropped back to 14 games under .500 with a 30-44 record … Doug Davis and Jake Peavy matched one another pitch for pitch until the fourth inning. The Cubs managed only one hit over the first four innings against Peavy and the Sox had tallied only two hits against Davis … but that quickly changed with one out in the bottom of the fourth.

Doug Davis retired Paul Konerko on a fly out to right. Alexei Ramirez singled to left on a 1-2 pitch, the Sox third hit of the game. Alex Rios single to left and the writing was on the wall that the game was about to get ugly.

A.J. Pierzynski ripped a 2-2 pitch into right center. Ramirez and Rios scored on Pierzynski’s first triple in over two years. With the ballpark still buzzing, Ozzie called for a squeeze bunt on the first pitch to Brent Lillibridge. Pierzynski scored and Lillibridge reached first after Davis hit him with the ball. The veteran southpaw waited to long to make the throw to first. Davis argued to no avail that Lillibridge was in the baseline.

Gordon Beckham followed with an infield single to the hole at short … the Sox fifth straight hit. With runners on first and second with one out, Pierre popped out to left on a 0-1 offering. Brent Morel put together a good at bat that resulted in a deep fly out to Reed Johnson in center.

The Sox scored three runs on five hits in the fourth and it took Davis 29 pitches to record three outs. After four, Davis’ pitch count stood at 72, 47 for strikes.

Jeff Baker and Koyie Hill went down quickly to start the fifth. Kosuke Fukudome put together another good at bat, this one resulted in a double to left. Starlin Castro ripped a 1-0 pitch into center that plated Fukudome with the Cubs first run.

Aramis Ramirez flied out to right on a 0-2 pitch to end the inning.

The Cubs gave the Sox the run right back in the bottom of the fifth. Doug Davis struck out Quentin and retired Konerko on a pop out to second to start the inning … but issued a two-out walk to Alexei Ramirez. Davis jumped out ahead of Alex Rios 0-2 but Rios worked the count back to 2-2 before knocking a single into left. With runners on first and second with two outs, Pierzynski hit a routine grounder to Blake DeWitt that he simply booted. The Sox loaded the bases after two out and the bases empty.

Davis got ahead of Brent Lillibridge 1-2 before hitting him and forcing in Alexei Ramirez with the Sox’s fourth run. Gordon Beckham flied out to center to end the inning.

The Cubs defense cost Davis a run but the veteran did not help himself … a two-out walk and a HBP were just as bad as the error by Blake DeWitt. Davis threw 29 pitches in the fifth … and after five he had thrown 101 pitches, 62 for strikes.

Carlos Pena led off the sixth and took three straight out of the zone from Peavy. After Peavy got one over, Pena launched his next offering into the stands in left center. Pena’s third homer of the series and fifth in seven games cut the Sox lead to 4-2.

Reed Johnson struck out but Alfonso Soriano singled to left. Blake DeWitt followed with a single to left center. Soriano advanced to third and scored on a single to left off the bat of Jeff Baker. With the Sox up 4-3 and runners on first and second with one out, Guillen went to his pen and brought in Chris Sale to clean up for Jake Peavy.

Chris Sale struck out Koyie Hill for the second out.

Kosuke Fukudome checked his swing on a 0-2 pitch from Sale and hit the ball right back up the middle. Sale put his glove up and kept the ball from leaving the infield. With the bases loaded and two outs, Starlin Castro grounded out to third on the first pitch to end the inning.

Chris Carpenter mowed down the Sox in order in the bottom of the sixth … and Jeff Samardzija did the same in the bottom of the seventh.

The Cubs best chance to tie the game in the eighth but once again Mike Quade dropped the ball.

Blake DeWitt led off the eighth with an infield single … a dribbler past Chris Sale that Beckham could not make a play on. Ozzie went to his pen and brought in Jesse Crain and Quade went to his bench and sent Tony Campana in to run for DeWitt.

With Jeff Baker at the plate, Campana broke for second on a 1-0 offering. The Sox called a pitch out that ended up being a wild pitch. Campana slid in safe at second unaware the ball had sailed over Pierzynski’s head. Baker ended up hitting a weak chopper to third. As soon as Morel threw to first, Campana advanced to third with one out.

For some reason Mike Quade did not pinch-hit for Koyie Hill and Hill did what everyone, but Quade, thought he would do. Hill struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch for the second out. Guillen went back to his pen for Matt Thornton to face Fukudome … and Kosuke struck out swinging to end the inning.

Sean Marshall retired the Sox in order in the bottom of the eighth.

Sergio Santos retired the Cubs in order to end the game.

Bad defense, the inability to hit consistently with runners in scoring position and poor in game management … no wonder this team is 14 games under .500.

Box Score from Yahoo Sports

Thursday is the Cubs first off day since June 2 and their last day off before the All-Star break. The Cubs open a three game series in Kansas City on Friday night. Ryan Dempster against Bruce Chen in game one.


Filed Under: Let's Play 2 - Game Recap Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • GrantJones7

    Im not really sure what else is left to be said about this season, the managment, Ricketts and Q.

    Im really lost for words on what else to say, between mine and others comments, i usually just stick to the minors now, its more promising

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Richard-Hood/100000706523521 Richard Hood

      Welcome to the club Grant.

  • http://chicagocubsonline.com/ Neil

    http://dailyherald.com/article/20110622/sports/706229728/

    The Cubs were down 4-3 in the top of the eighth, when Blake DeWitt led off
    with an infield single. Pinch runner Tony Campana stole second base and went to third on a groundout.

    So with a fast man on third and one out, Quade had a decision to make with
    No. 9 hitter Koyie Hill coming to the plate. The Cubs needed contact, but Hill struck out for the third straight time, this time against right-hander Jesse
    Crain.

    If ever a time for a pinch hitter seemed in order, this was it.

    “Crain had been so tough on those right-handers,” said Quade, whose team is 30-44. “At that point, with Campana on third, I wanted the best chance to make contact. Koyie had gotten some big hits, and … I wasn’t sure we even needed a basehit there. If he can put the ball in play, I feel like we had a shot, especially with (Crain’s) breaking ball. I thought we’d stay with a left-handed hitter there. It didn’t work out.”

    • Agustinrexach

      Go figure. What a genius, I’m starting to think Q was under qualified for the 3rd base gig in the first place…and he makes me beg for Kim. What an absolute disgrace of a manager, a zero to the left.

    • paulcatanese

      Neil,unfortunatly I feel the turning point in this game was the Campana stolen base. As you said he was un-aware of the passed-wild pitch on his way to second. If he had slid feet first into second he would have picked the pitch up going to the backstop wall and easily had third base with 0 out. I do not fault Campana for sliding that way as he does quite often. He may be underestimating his speed or is so anxious to make sure he beats the throw . I am not in favor of the head first slide by anyone and do not think he has to use it. The one time he was thrown out was because of the head first effort but was very close as replay showed, and a hook slide would have served the purpose better. In this case it took a ground ball to move him to third with one out, and everyone knows what happened after that.

    • John_CC

      This is just confounding:
      “The matchups were interesting with their bullpen, and that’s kind of
      the way it goes,” Quade said. “When you play the lineup that I played,
      some of the choices I have off the bench from time to time obviously
      aren’t available because they’re in the lineup. In at least two
      situations, Ozzie (Sox manager Guillen) had the last move that gave him,
      quote, unquote, an advantage.”

      Seriously, I cannot believe that Ricketts lets him talk anymore. Read this again: “When you play the lineup that I played,
      some of the choices I have off the bench from time to time obviously
      aren’t available because they’re in the lineup.”  — Really Coach? You mean you were at a disadvantage because you couldn’t bring in DeWitt to pinch hit because he already had 3 ABs as a starter?  Wow, that does suck, I never thought of it like that. You didn’t have a chance, did you?  Ah shucks, sorry fellas…

      • Romberg Rabbit

        Hope “Q” doesn’t wear shoes with laces…

  • Baron_S

    For many of us, the Cubs losing any game is painful..

    For guys like Neil n Brian, it must be more so….

    But putting a rational thought process to this — could anything serve the long term cause better than an extended losing streak from here on out???.

    another 4-5 lost in a row — go to 20 games under by the all-star break— the seats around Hendry(1st culprit), Quade and Kenney WILL be on fire…. media will be braying for their guts, rightly so..

    the only hope for change is ABJECT failure — a 100 loss season

    I just think that hanging on for a victory here and there is if anything, counterproductive to our long-term hopes as fans… surely there are none among us expecting a playoff berth in 2011…. at 14 games under .500

    • Romberg Rabbit

      Why is it painful?  I think a realization needs to be achieved.  Hendry destroyed everything that had anything to do with the “Cubs”, that we loved.
      This team is NOT The Chicago Cubs.  They should build a new stadium and Wrigley should be turned into a museum b4 they destroy it, completely, as well.Now Ricketts, the conservative, prick, “Fan-Boy”, rich-kid, has basically said “You are either with us, or against us” Hey Ricketts!  4Q!

      • Ryan7_21_05

        Wrigley is a landmark well 3/4 of it is they can not tear it down. They can’t touch it. Read the history of the field and u will see for yourself

        • Romberg Rabbit

          I fail to see what THAT has to do with anything I said…

  • Aaron

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0623-side-cubs-white-sox-chica20110622,0,498782.story
    Does this sound like an organization that knows what they hell they’re doing right now? In fact, Hill and Davis should be DFA’d immediately for their comments. Remember what I said during the game about the Pena AB and the high fives in the dugout for an out….with nobody on base and the Cubs still down?….yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

    And Pena all but indicted Quade….sorry, Quandryketts….saying Guillen’s mentality is to win at all costs…..

    and Quade’s lame excuse to not pinch hit for Hill. “Hill has come up with big hits”….WHAT?!?!?!

    WOW….I honestly hate this team right now, and I wish them nothing but the worst….as that will be the only thing that brings about change.

    • Ripsnorter1

      A ground ball to 2B ties the game. A SF ties the game. A suicide squeeze ties the game. A base hit ties the game. The first three of these are doable even with a marginal ML hitter. 

      Unfortunately, K.Hill is not even marginal . . . . .

      • paulcatanese

        Better yet Rip, he could have stuck whatever out and got hit with a pitch, and thenwe would have had two on 0 outs.

    • Ripsnorter1

      Aaron,
      Why don’t you get off of K.Hill’s back? He’s 0 for 22 this year with runners in scoring position. He’s our top clutch hitter, don’t ya see?  What have you got against such a valuable clutch hitter? I don’t get it.

      LOL

      Yup. Queer Quade makes some queer statements and some queer decisions as manager. “He has driven in some big runs for us, so I left him in the game.”   HAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

      • Ripsnorter1

        How can anybody not agree with this statement:

        The Cubs have the dumbest manager in MLB.
        There is an abundance of evidence.

        • roseyc

          Hendry and Quade dumb and dumber

  • gocubs

    This Quade guy is a straight up joke.  Straight up joke.  If he makes it through the season, I will have lost what little faith I have left in the Cubs.  This is just unreasonable.  He has got to go asap.    

    • EqDoc

      I just don’t understand how this is allowed to go on… 

    • Ripsnorter1

      He’s staying for next year–he has a contract and P.K. Ricketts will not eat any more money. He’s broke already. 

      This P.K. Ricketts/Jim Clueless/ Queer Quade mismanagement may result in an unmitigated disaster of Titanic proportions–I mean to say, financial bankruptcy of the Cubs. The fans have about had it with buying tickets for a 103 year losing streak. Ticket sales will plummet further for next year, and P.K.Rickett’s financial situation will worsen, and that will result in further cost cutting measures which will further turn off the fan base until the payments for this boon-doggle will exceed the revenue. I predict that P.K. Ricketts will rue the day he bought this franchise. 

      I love the Cubs–I can’t help myself–but couldn’t we just once get a real owner with real management? Enough of hiring clowns! WE WANT A REAL G.M.!!!

      • Romberg Rabbit

        I’m with you, except for the “Queer” remark.  WTF?

        • Ripsnorter1

          His decisions are very queer. 

          That’s all I meant.

  • paulcatanese

    Quade,”some things to like”,whats to like? You lose, their is nothing to like. I wonder if Quade liked the squeeze play, and the fact that Hill,who is in charge of the call there, did not signal with his arm to Davis, throw to first, no play at home.Clearly Quade has no computer to tell him of matchups or history of his hitters, as he would know without any doubt at all that Hill was not going to make contact with Campana on third. And how can he say that anyone ,anyone on the bench would have made better contact. And boy did I agree with Aaron, the team does not,I repeat, does not show appreciation for a fly ball to right field by Pena.

    Their losing games, dosent that sink in at some point? I said earlier, bring Mike Ditka in to manage, he knows more about baseball than Quade, and I can see him kicking JH’s butt right up to Ricketts chair and then him too. The impersonation of an owner, gm, and manager has got to go.

    • paulcatanese

      Left out would not have,in regards to contact above

    • John_CC

      Baseball Reference is such an amazing site, if you look at the advanced stats you can learn a lot about a hitter.  I wonder if Mike Quade has a computer and email address, I’m sure even the “dump” that is the Wrigley clubhouse has an internet connection. I wish someone would forward MQ this page: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hillko01-bat.shtml
      Down in the Situational Hitting you find that the percentage of baserunners that scored on the batter’s play for K. Hill is 11%.  He has exactly 3 sacrifices on the season. 

      Paul, I have a new theory on Quade.  The minor league mentality of trying to be a teacher, looking for teachable moments, accentuating the positive, all that stuff is so deeply ingrained in Quade from a career of being a minor leaguer that it’s all he knows.

      For all his faults, Lou was a winner. Period. He won when he played and wanted to win when he was manager. Remember how pissy he would be after a string of bad losses? I really miss that, simply because you knew he really cared. To me, Quade appears resigned to his fate as yet another failure on the long list of failed Cubs managers.

      • paulcatanese

        I agree John, Quade does have the minor league mentality as when he said he was going to stress fundementals from spring training on. Everyone knew at that time it was not going to happen. He must have believed that the vets already knew all of them and had to concentrate on the rookies. I believe they were the only ones who would pay attention to him. Also think the vets dont pay attention to him at all and still look at him as a “third base coach”.

        Quade does not have any respect from the vets and the rookies are losing it fast. Just because they are just up from the minors dosent mean they dont know what the kind of deal they are getting.

        I watched Lou as a player and was one that put winning above all else. It was too bad that the lack of front office support for him just was not there. Lou also realized the caliber of players that he had to work with were just not winners and then soon became dis-enchanted with the lack of performance. He just gave up and wanted out, I give him credit for that. He felt with management “this is what you gave me and they will not perform 100%, I’m outa here”.

        Quade,as I have said earlier,plays not to lose, but not to win, big difference, the agrression to make things happen does not exist with him.

        • paulcatanese

          On the Hill at bat,we would have been better served if he stuck his head over the plate and got hit at least that would have been contact.

        • Bryan

          Not that it matters anymore, but Lou (during his last 1 1/2 years) was no bargain either.  He put players in/out of his doghouse, and truly “quit” on the team (as he did in Tampa).  The Cubs truly missed the opportunity big time years ago when they didn’t hire Girardi…a huge miscue on Hendry’s part…that can be added to the long list of his miscues.

          • paulcatanese

             I can agree with that, but if one could get into his head I would imagine I could see that as competetive as he was the players would have to live up to his standards and that just dosent happen with modern players. That must have really got to him and he just flat gave up. If players were not commited 100% he would have no use for them. If anything he was behind the times and could not adjust to what he saw that was supposed to be baseball. He really should have left the game earlier than he did.
             
            Giradi, I don’t know. It’s one thing to manage the Yankees where a manager has something to work with incl. management             and another to come to Chicago and try to put anything  that would resemble a team on the field. I like Giradi and think he really got a break by not being hired by the Cubs. And in the same vein I think Sandberg got the better end of it by being passed over for the job.
            Front office interfence would have destroyed any resemblence of credibility that either had before coming to manage Chicago.
             
            As I say, I like both of those guys and would love to see either of them here With the Cubs. But lets face it, do you or anyone else really think they would have made a difference? We all see now what the ownership and general manager has done with this franchise, and I really would not have wished that job to either. There too well liked to be put in a situation that would have the press and Cub fans booing them becuase of results that they would have no control of.

      • paulcatanese

        Speaking of managers, did you notice that Soriono just realized that Quade was his manager and decided that he should impress him last night? Stolen base, two walks,a run,and a hit? He heard hustle wil get you in the lineup.

  • roseyc

    Hill must have pictures of the whole Cub organization in some menage a trois because why is he on this team is beyond me and beyond ridiculous

  • Kingdomusa

    Same old mistakes. Leave Koyie Hill bat with a runner on 3rd….Pitch to Kornerko in the 1st 2 games of the series, pinch hit Campana too early & lose his best asset of spped for the later innings. It all started with the Pujols “double trouble” debacle of back to back walk-off HR’s. quade has a little league mentality & another “by the book” Lou Pineilla mentality. Nothing will improve the Cubs til there is change so we all better go to church & pray that our owner gets some baseball saavy on the team. Enough of Hendry, Kenney, & Quade.
    Youth has served the Cubs well so lets get some new blood both on & off the field.

    • John_CC

      If I pray for anything, I will pray that the owner gets some balls too, not the baseball variety but rather the testicle variety.

  • Ryan7_21_05

    im tired of reading that they should tear wrigley down, and build a new field. parts of the stadium has been marked as landmarks. They can’t touch the stadium. The playing field can be changed not the stadium. Am I the only one that knows this or what. The stadium will stand forever. If they want another field they must build it at a different location. The only problem with that is where will they build it on the north side. There isn’t anywhere they can. So our Cubbies will play at wrigley unless they are moved out of Chicago. And that’s not going to happen.