Game Thirty-Six: Cubs (20-15) vs. Diamondbacks (23-13)
Game Time – 2:40pm C.T.
Coverage – TV: FOX Saturday Game of the Week – Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 183
Location – Wrigley Field, Chicago
Ryan Dempster (4-1, 2.72/1.07) vs. Max Scherzer (0-1, 5.40/1.20)
After winning the first game of a series for the first time since April 23rd, Lou Piniella’s crew will try to take the second game against an impressive rookie. The Cubs will get their first look at Max Scherzer who turned a lot of heads in his big league debut out of the pen but struggled in his first start in the Majors. Ryan Dempster will try to pickup his 5th win of the year after getting tagged with an unearned loss his last time out.
The Cubs played an impressive game on Friday against the best team in the National League….now it’s time to put together back-to-back wins. Ryan Dempster followed a successful first month of the season with a very good outing against the Reds….it’s just too bad his defense cost him the win. Two errors led to 5 unearned runs as the Cubs lost to the Reds 5-3 last Monday. Dempster statistically had his best start since April 9th in the loss. He set a new season high with 7 strikeouts and set a new season low by walking only 1 batter. Dempster must put together a similar outing today in order to keep his team in the game….and hopefully pick up a win.
Dempster is 4-0 at Wrigley this year with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP….and most importantly, his team is 5-2 in the 7 games he has started.
Today will be Dempster’s 10th career start, 14th game, against the Diamondbacks. He is 1-4 with a save in his previous 13 games with a 6.04 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP.
- Chris Burke – 1-for-3
- Eric Byrnes – 0-for-1
- Stephen Drew – 1-for-1 with a double
- Chris Snyder – 1-for-3
Max Scherzer was the 1st round pick (11th overall) by the Diamondbacks in 2006. After only 20 minor league starts last season at 3 different levels (7-4 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP), Scherzer made his big league debut on April 29th against the Astros in Arizona.
Scherzer retired all 13 batters he faced in 4 1/3 innings of relief with 7 strikeouts. Scherzer hit the high 90’s consistently with his fastball and impressed Bob Melvin enough to be placed in the starting rotation. However, his first big league start did not meet expectations.
Scherzer was rocked by the Phillies and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks in 4 innings.
While the Cubs offense will face Scherzer for the first time….the impressive rookie will also make his first big league appearance on the road. The Cubs must be patient and make him work. He showed a lot of command problems his last time out and Lou’s crew should be able to use their new-found patience to their advantage.
Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball….