May 26, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 9:42 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Cubs (29-21) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| Pirates (24-26) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 0 |
W: Damaso Marte (4-0)
L: Jon Lieber (2-3)
Boxscore
The Cubs, who have a record right around .500 against teams not named after illegal downloaders, lost a series to the team they’d dominated so well. In Chicago’s defense, it took 11 innings for Pittsburgh to win. The loss dropped the Cubs into a first-place tie with the Cardinals.
The extra-inning heroics once against went to Jason Bay, who ended the game in walk-off style for the second consecutive time. His team has a day off, giving him plenty of time to perfect his next trick: the old hidden ball gag.
The Pirates have Memorial Day off, before moving on to Cincinnati and sending out Ian Snell against Johnny Cueto at 7:10pm EDT.
May 22, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:45 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Cubs (28-19) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Astros (27-21) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 5 | 9 | 0 |
W: Shawn Chacon (1-0)
L: Sean Gallagher (1-1)
S: Jose Valverde (14)
Boxscore
The Cubs continue to search for a fourth and fifth starter for their rotation. Sean Gallagher was up for the audition today, and things looked promising when Derek Lee homered in a three-run top of the first. Of course, Gallagher hadn’t pitched yet.
Actually, Gallagher did fine until the third when Carlos Lee homered and gave the Astros the lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The Astros moved a game closer to the Cubs and are now only 1.5 games back.
The Cubs have a day off, hoping to regroup after losing yet another series to a team in their division. The Astros host the Phillies with Kyle Kendrick starting against Roy Oswalt at 8:05pm EDT.
May 21, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:33 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Cubs (28-18) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Astros (26-21) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 4 | 8 | 1 |
W: Chris Sampson (3-3)
L: Ryan Dempster (5-2)
S: Jose Valverde (13)
Boxscore
Sure Ryan Dempster had only one bad inning. Sure there was just one pitch he would like to do over. But when I saw Hunter Pence drive one deep with the bases loaded, I couldn’t help but smile.
Things don’t seem right with the world when Dempster pitches well. Earthquakes, famines, long lines for gas–all those things because Dempster hasn’t been Dumpster so far this year. Okay, the latter wasn’t his fault. The two-mile long line for gas I saw on my drive home was thanks to a radio station having a gas sale. The savings? 88¢. And people were waiting in line with their cars running. *cough*morons*cough*
Anyway, back to the game. Pence’s grand slam was all that the Astros would score, but that’s all they needed. Chris Sampson scattered hits around, but pitched into the seventh allowing just two runs. The bullpen took over, and Jose Valverde turned in another lights out performance for the save. Ever since a game in April where he completely sucked, he made an adjustment and has been one of the best closers in the league. Good for him.
The two play again tonight when the Cubs send Sean Gallagher against Shawn Chacon at 8:05pm EDT.
May 19, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:53 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Pirates (21-23) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Cubs (27-17) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 4 | 4 | 1 |
W: Jason Marquis (2-3)
L: Phil Dumatrait (1-2)
S: Kerry Wood (10)
Boxscore
The Pirates again failed to reach the elusive heights of a .500 record yesterday, falling to the Cubs. Things seemed to be lined up for them, what with them facing the notorious Jason Marquis, but it wasn’t in the cards.
Phil Dumatrait started well for the Pirates, but that second time through the Cubs lineup did him in, and provided Chicago with all the runs they needed.
Chicago moved to 10 games over .500, holding a 2 games lead in first place, while Pittsburgh fell to a 4th place tie with the good-for-the-last-week Reds.
The Pirates have an off-day, while the Cubs travel to Houston, sending out Ted Lilly to face the Astros’ Brian Moehler at 7:05pm EDT. I believe it’s ESPN’s Monday night baseball game.
May 17, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 6:37 pm
The Reds faced Fausto Carmona today, and Slyde on Red Reporter commented on what the Reds’ hitting approach needs to be.
[Carmona] has nearly TWICE AS MANY WALKS AS STRIKEOUTS. I yelled that…because the Reds have to, have to, have to be patient today.
Really? You think that that’s what will be going through the minds of a Dusty Baker-led team? Wow. It’s so sad. Reds fans were most definitely not paying attention during Baker’s disastrous managerial stint in Chicago.
Let’s consult the box score: Carmona had 4 strikeouts, so given his historical trends, you would think he’d walk 8. However, Dusty Baker, hitting genius that he is, tells all his batters to swing, swing, swing. So I’m going with zero walks.
I love being right. 🙂
