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What more could you ask from your pitching staff? Ted Lilly throws 6 2/3 innings of no hit ball, and ends up only giving up one single and two walks while striking out eight. Angel Guzman and Aaron Heilman both picked up holds and Kevin Gregg struck out the side in the 9th. All in all, the staff combined for a one hit shutout. Offensively, Derrek Lee doubled his hits for the season with a double in the third inning and a single in the fourth inning. Alfonso Soriano and Koyie Hill also had two hits each. And Kosuke added an RBI single and three walks.However, it wasn't a perfectly played game. Both Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot went 0 for 4. Aaron Miles came up twice with the bases loaded and didn't drive in a single run. And as a team, the Cubs left 13 runners on base. But in the end it was a win, and that's all you can ask for in a Home Opener. Well, you can ask for less Aaron Miles. I know I will be all season long.
I'll be in the bleachers for Wednesday's game and will have a post about it after the game. Pretty good matchup for the Cubs too, Jason Marquis vs. Rich Harden. Hopefully both Soto and Ramirez will be back and the Cubbies will sweep this mini-series.
Not sure how many people know about this, but ESPN is doing a separate website for just Chicago sports. It's pretty kool to have them just focus on just our teams. However, our two main columnists are Gene Wojo and Scoop Jackson. Hopefully, they'll add a real columnist soon. Until then, it's not a bad site to check out. I'm sure ESPN doesn't need me to push their site, but I will anyway.http://espn.go.com/chicago/index
If you have been watching tonight's game against the Brewers in Milwaukee, then you saw Reed Johnson's Grand Slam saving catch in the 5th inning. So instead of tying the game, the Brewers were only able to scratch across two runs in the inning. The video of Reed's catch isn't available yet, but until it is, I've posted some great catches by Reed Johnson in Cubbie Blue. Enjoy. UPDATED: Reed's catch from Sunday is now posted
The last two games are the perfect illustration of what Cubs fans have had to deal with...On Friday, the Cubs bullpen blew a great start by Rich Harden, who went 6 innings while striking out 10. Between the 7th and 9th innings, the pen walked 5 batters and gave up 2 runs despite only giving up one hit. Derrek Lee went 0 for 4. Neal Cotts and Sean Marshall were brought in to face one batter each and both failed. Ryan Theriot made an error in the first inning which led to a run, and then questionably threw home when turning a double play was the play to make. In the end, they lost a game they should have won.On Saturday, Carlos Zambrano did not pitch like the ace of the staff. He pitched 6 innings and allowed 10 baserunners, however, he did strike out 7. The bullpen struggled again, with Guzman pitching 1/3 of an inning giving up 2 runs without allowing a hit. Cotts couldn't get the one batter he was brought in to face, again. Offensively, the Cubs left 14 runners on base. But in the 9th, Carlos Villanueva decided to throw Alfonso Soriano a first pitch fastball. Soriano guessed correctly, and parked it in the left field bleachers. Then in the 9th, Carlos Marmol came in and struck out Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder to put the finishing touches on the come from behind win. This time, they won a game they should have lost. This is the roller coaster ride that is the Chicago Cubs. It has been 5 games, and Cubs fans have already experienced a close win, a loss in extra innings, a blowout win, a blown save loss and a come from behind win in the 9th. It's alright though, there's only 157 games to go.
Today's player: Damon BufordIn December of 1999, the Cubs and Red Sox pulled off a blockbuster trade exchanging Manny Alexander for Damon Buford. The next season, Buford was handed the everyday center field job and did everything he could to show he didn't deserve it. Nonetheless, he played in 150 games and had over 550 plate appearances. He put up a less then stellar .251/.324/.390 line in the leadoff spot for the last place team. However, he did hit 15 homeruns and drove in 48 runs. Buford also stole 4 bases, but was thrown out 6 times.In 2001, Buford played in 35 games before being released by the team and replaced with Gary Matthews Jr. Buford started off even slower than usual putting up a line of .176/.213/.306. He also was unable to fill the defensive gap between corner outfielders Rondell White and Sammy Sosa. Matthews was a much better defensively as well as offensively, just like most other outfielders in the league.Buford's stay with the Cubs was short and very unmemorable. However, he did have an everyday job and was pretty below average. So after much deliberation, Damon Buford goes down as a Neifi, a bad player who actually hurt the team the more he played. So here's to Damon Buford, at least Manny Alexander tried steroids to help his team.
1. Zambrano looked pretty good. His pitches had good movement and he hit his spots. If the Cubs are going to win the division, they need Carlos. So far so good.
2. Alfonso Soriano usually starts out slow, so his 2 hits, including his lead off homerun, are a good sign. Last year he hit .192 in April with only 2 homeruns. Halfway there in that regard.
3. Marmol came in and faced the first four Astros hitters including Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. He got two groundouts and a pop out. His lone baserunner was Lance Berkman with a walk. Kevin Gregg came in to close the game and quickly gave up two singles. He retired the next three hitters, so maybe it was just first game nerves. Either way, Marmol came in and faced the tough hitters which is exactly what Piniella was thinking when he named Marmol the set up man.
4. Mike Fontenot showed why the signing of Aaron Miles was a waste of $4.7M. He had three hits, including a double in the fourth inning. He also had no problems defensively. Miles has no reason to throw the fit he did in St. Louis when he was benched. He should take his money and enjoy the ride.
5. Speaking of wastes, Fukudome did nothing to change anyone's mind tonight.
What more could you ask from your pitching staff? Ted Lilly throws 6 2/3 innings of no hit ball, and ends up only giving up one single and two walks while striking out eight. Angel Guzman and Aaron Heilman both picked up holds and Kevin Gregg struck out the side in the 9th. All in all, the staff combined for a one hit shutout. Offensively, Derrek Lee doubled his hits for the season with a double in the third inning and a single in the fourth inning. Alfonso Soriano and Koyie Hill also had two hits each. And Kosuke added an RBI single and three walks.
