Game Ninety-Nine: Cubs (52-46) vs. Cardinals (45-51)
Game Time – 7:10pm C.T. WGN TV, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 187
Location – Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Ted Lilly (10-4, 3.58/1.07) vs. Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.18/1.49)
The Cubs played a good game on Tuesday but that was yesterday and today they will face the same Cardinals team that is determined to get back in the Central Division race. To use an old cliche, “whenever the Cubs and Cardinals get together you can throw the records out” and that will be the case again tonight. Lou Piniella will likely be without the services of Mark DeRosa and with the injuries that appear to follow Cliff Floyd and Daryle Ward on the DL, a report in the Tribune on Tuesday night mentioned Jim Hendry’s hand could be forced to make a deal before next Tuesday’s deadline. So while the Faithful await the next possible addition to Lou Piniella’s crew, the Cubs must take care of business tonight and it all starts with Ted Lilly. Ted Lilly has won his last 6 games in a row with his last defeat coming back on June 5th in Milwaukee but he is coming off his shortest outing since his loss to the Brewers. Lilly lasted just 5 innings against the Giants and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings with one of those runs being a solo home run by Barry Bonds. Lilly also struck out just one that afternoon at Wrigley, his lowest strikeout total of the year. Lilly had a 30+ pitch count at the end of the 1st inning and could not find a rhythm.
Lilly lost to the Cardinals at Wrigley on April 20th, his only career appearance against the Cardinals. He gave up just 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 innings with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.
After a horrible start to the season, Adam Wainwright has been lights out of late and is finally pitching the way the Cardinals thought he would. Wainwright was 1-2 with a 6.14 ERA in April, with one of his losses coming at the hands of the Cubs on April 28th. He faced the Cubs in back-to-back starts at the end of April and gave up a combined 13 runs on 19 hits in 9 2/3 innings with 9 strikeouts and 6 walks. But after his starts against the Cubs, Wainwright has gotten better every time out.
Wainwright posted a 3-2 record with a 5.00 ERA in May and allowed more than 2 earned runs only once in 5 starts. In June, Wainwright was 2-3 with a 3.69 ERA and was very inconsistent but threw a gem against the Royals on June 13th….a 1-hit, 8-inning shutout. However in his last 3 starts he is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA and that includes an outing against the Phillies in which he threw 7 shutout innings and allowed just 6 hits.
Wainwright is 0-1 in 11 appearances against the Cubs, 2 starts, with a 8.50 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP….but he is not the same pitcher he was the last time he faced the Cubs.
- Jacque Jones – 5-10, with 2 doubles and 2 RBI’s
- Derrek Lee – 3-7, with a double and a RBI
- Aramis Ramirez – 4-12, with a double, a home run and 4 RBI’s
- Ryan Theriot – 4-7, with 2 doubles and a RBI
Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball….