Talkin’ Cubs Live – Cubs vs. Astros – 07/14/07

Ted Lilly (8-4, 3.67/1.09) vs. Roy Oswalt (8-5, 3.53/1.38)

Chicago is a buzz this morning with the recent submission of an application by Mark Cuban to purchase the Chicago Cubs. Carlos Zambrano’s comments after yesterday’s game fueled the fire and the talking heads are all debating whether or not Cuban would be a good owner or even be approved by the MLB front office to begin with. Whatever the case, it should be an interesting couple of months while the candidates are debated over again and again.

Back to the business at hand….if weather permits (40% chance of thunderstorms), the Cubs’ offense has a tall task ahead of them today and its name is Roy Oswalt. Ted Lilly is coming off a very impressive start against the Pirates and is 2-0 in his last two games with a 1.26 ERA. He has allowed 2 runs in his last 2 starts on 11 hits with 4 walks and 11 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings. Lilly is 4-0 in his last 5 starts and the last time he lost a game was on June 5th in Milwaukee. Lilly has done a good job at keeping the ball down and has shown very good command of late after a rough stretch in May and early June.

Lilly faced the Astros on April 9th at Wrigley (the home opener) and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings with 5 strikeouts and a walk. Lilly is 0-1 in 2 career starts against the Astros with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.

• Craig Biggio – 3-6, with 2 doubles
• Chris Burke – 2-5, with a double and a RBI
• Morgan Ensberg – 2-6, with a home run and a RBI
• Mark Loretta – 5-14, with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 3 RBI’s

The Astros ace, Roy Oswalt, will be making his first start of the season against the Cubs today. Oswalt is coming off his best two back-to-back starts of the season. He beat the Mets the last time out on July 8th and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 7 innings of work. In his last two outings against the Phillies and Mets, Oswalt allowed a combined 7 runs on 17 hits in 14 innings with 11 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Oswalt has been lights out against at Minute Maid Park this season (6-1 with a 2.48 ERA) but has struggled on the road (2-4 with a 5.68 ERA). He is 10-9 in 22 career games, 21 starts, against the Cubs with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP and is 5-3 in 10 career games, 9 starts, at Wrigley with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He posted a 1-3 record with a 3.33 ERA last season against the Cubs.

• Mark DeRosa – 5-11, with 3 doubles and a RBI
• Cliff Floyd – 8-21, with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 7 RBI’s
• Derrek Lee – 10-39, with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s
• Aramis Ramirez – 13-51, with 2 doubles, 3 home runs and 10 RBI’s
• Alfonso Soriano – 3-20, with a home run and 2 RBI’s

Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball….