Monday, June 2nd @ San Diego W 7-6
Zambrano (W, 8-1), Baek (L, 1-2), Wood (S, 15)
Tuesday, June 3rd @ San Diego W 9-6
Marquis (W, 3-3), Corey (L, 1-1) Wood (S, 16)
Wednesday, June 4th @ San Diego L 2-1
Lilly (L, 5-5), Bell (W, 3-3), Hoffman (S, 12)
Thursday, June 5th @ Los Angeles W 5-4
Howry (W, 2-2), Saito (L, 3-2) Wood (S, 17)
Friday, June 6th @ Los Angeles L 3-0
Gallagher (L, 3-2), Kuroda (W, 3-5)
Saturday, June 7th @ Los Angeles L 7-3
Zambrano (L, 8-2), Lowe (W, 4-5)
Sunday, June 8th @ Los Angeles W 3-1
Marquis (W, 4-3), Penny (L, 5-8), Wood (S, 18)
Zambrano (W, 8-1), Baek (L, 1-2), Wood (S, 15)
Tuesday, June 3rd @ San Diego W 9-6
Marquis (W, 3-3), Corey (L, 1-1) Wood (S, 16)
Wednesday, June 4th @ San Diego L 2-1
Lilly (L, 5-5), Bell (W, 3-3), Hoffman (S, 12)
Thursday, June 5th @ Los Angeles W 5-4
Howry (W, 2-2), Saito (L, 3-2) Wood (S, 17)
Friday, June 6th @ Los Angeles L 3-0
Gallagher (L, 3-2), Kuroda (W, 3-5)
Saturday, June 7th @ Los Angeles L 7-3
Zambrano (L, 8-2), Lowe (W, 4-5)
Sunday, June 8th @ Los Angeles W 3-1
Marquis (W, 4-3), Penny (L, 5-8), Wood (S, 18)
And there you go, folks, a series win and an over .500 road trip in which the cubs managed to tally 7, 9, and 5. Hopefully that can silence some of the road trip hysteria. Looking at the 3 losses, you had a game in which Hiroki Kuroda pitched out of his damn mind, going 9 innings and allowing just 4 baserunners while striking out 11. While they're not fun, that's going to happen. You can say the same about the Maddux game (the Heath Bell W.) Then you had Saturday... well... I'll get to that in a moment.
Point is, two of your three losses this week were games in which the other teams starter just gave you an ass beating, and that's ok. The Cubs have already proven that they're one of, if not the most potent offense in major league baseball. Sometimes, you just go out and get buzz sawed. The fact that those are generally the only games they're losing right now proves that the team is just as "hot" right now on the road as it was at home.
But then you've got Saturday's game. Saturday's game reminded me of the 2004 Cubs. Zambrano was cruising, up 2-0 in the 6th when he gave up the 2 run bomb to Martin, tie game. Cubs come back and tally one in the top of the 7th. Bottom of the 7th, Z gets the first batter, Pierre gets on and is dead to rights trying to steal second, but The Scraptain, Grindy McGrinderson, Ryan Theriot can't hold onto Soto's throw, (for the second time that game, I might add) should be 2 outs. Next batter Pierre scores as Ramirez throws the ball away. It was ruled a hit and an error, but you could very well make the argument that it was E5 all the way. Either way, Pierre never should have scored.
Instead of being out of the inning, or having 2 outs and a runner on first, you now have one out, a runner on first and a run in. Z's D failed him, and at this point it was clear to apparently everyone watching the game with the exception of Lou Piniella that Z needed to come out of the game. Marmol hadn't been used in a few days, he's the best reliever in the NL, THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE HIM. Not to get 5 outs when you're up by 4 runs like Lou tried on Monday.
Howry, Weurtz, Eyre, ANYBODY would have been a better option than leaving Zambrano in at this point, and he proved it, first by giving up a 3 run bomb to Matt Kemp and then by going nuts on the water coolers in the dugout. I wish he'd stop acting like a child, cause one of these days he's going to get hurt, but I can sympathize with him. He put the Cubs in a perfect position to win the game and his defense and manager let him down big time.
If you like that old axiom "you're going to win 60 games and lose 60 games, it's what you do with the 0ther 42 that decides how your season goes" the losses on Wednesday and Friday were in the big pile of 60 losses, the Saturday game was one of the "other 42" a game right there for the taking that the team just pissed down their leg.
But... light at the end of a very short tunnel. Despite losing a game they absolutely should have won on Saturday, after being shut out on Friday, they went out on Sunday Night Baseball, with what is unquestionably their worst starter on the mound, and had him completely shut down the Dodgers to split the series, finish above .500 on the road trip, and stay out of the tailspin that would have befallen so many past Cubs teams.
As Vin Scully once said, momentum in baseball is tomorrow's starting pitcher. "Tomorrow's Starting Pitcher" was Jason Marquis twice this week, and he found a way to win both of those games. That's the mark of a quality baseball team. 97-65, 88+% chance of making the post season
Kudos to Kerry Wood. 4 saves, 7 Ks in 3.2 IP. 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP for the week.
Point is, two of your three losses this week were games in which the other teams starter just gave you an ass beating, and that's ok. The Cubs have already proven that they're one of, if not the most potent offense in major league baseball. Sometimes, you just go out and get buzz sawed. The fact that those are generally the only games they're losing right now proves that the team is just as "hot" right now on the road as it was at home.
But then you've got Saturday's game. Saturday's game reminded me of the 2004 Cubs. Zambrano was cruising, up 2-0 in the 6th when he gave up the 2 run bomb to Martin, tie game. Cubs come back and tally one in the top of the 7th. Bottom of the 7th, Z gets the first batter, Pierre gets on and is dead to rights trying to steal second, but The Scraptain, Grindy McGrinderson, Ryan Theriot can't hold onto Soto's throw, (for the second time that game, I might add) should be 2 outs. Next batter Pierre scores as Ramirez throws the ball away. It was ruled a hit and an error, but you could very well make the argument that it was E5 all the way. Either way, Pierre never should have scored.
Instead of being out of the inning, or having 2 outs and a runner on first, you now have one out, a runner on first and a run in. Z's D failed him, and at this point it was clear to apparently everyone watching the game with the exception of Lou Piniella that Z needed to come out of the game. Marmol hadn't been used in a few days, he's the best reliever in the NL, THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE HIM. Not to get 5 outs when you're up by 4 runs like Lou tried on Monday.
Howry, Weurtz, Eyre, ANYBODY would have been a better option than leaving Zambrano in at this point, and he proved it, first by giving up a 3 run bomb to Matt Kemp and then by going nuts on the water coolers in the dugout. I wish he'd stop acting like a child, cause one of these days he's going to get hurt, but I can sympathize with him. He put the Cubs in a perfect position to win the game and his defense and manager let him down big time.
If you like that old axiom "you're going to win 60 games and lose 60 games, it's what you do with the 0ther 42 that decides how your season goes" the losses on Wednesday and Friday were in the big pile of 60 losses, the Saturday game was one of the "other 42" a game right there for the taking that the team just pissed down their leg.
But... light at the end of a very short tunnel. Despite losing a game they absolutely should have won on Saturday, after being shut out on Friday, they went out on Sunday Night Baseball, with what is unquestionably their worst starter on the mound, and had him completely shut down the Dodgers to split the series, finish above .500 on the road trip, and stay out of the tailspin that would have befallen so many past Cubs teams.
As Vin Scully once said, momentum in baseball is tomorrow's starting pitcher. "Tomorrow's Starting Pitcher" was Jason Marquis twice this week, and he found a way to win both of those games. That's the mark of a quality baseball team. 97-65, 88+% chance of making the post season
Kudos to Kerry Wood. 4 saves, 7 Ks in 3.2 IP. 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP for the week.
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