Revenge

First Star – Ted Lilly (.445) including his hitting
Second Star – Carlos Marmol (.124)
Third Star – Dan Haren (.092)
Top Play

– Soriano’s double in the 5th (+.156)

The game started off rocky as Chris Young pulled the first pitch he saw down the left field line for a solo homer, and the Cubs’ hitters kept trying to pull Dan Haren’s away pitches, with about as much success as one would imagine. However, Lilly drilled a clutch RBI single to tie it up, and then the rest of the offense, embarrassed one supposes by being shown up by their pitcher, decides to get on base a little. Two runs later, Wood comes in to throw 9 pitches for 9 strikes, getting a K and two ground outs and we finish off the team with the best record in baseball. Go, Cubs, Go!

The story of the game was Lilly on the mound. At this point, I’m confident his early struggles were a mere blip on the screen, and he will continue to be a solid starter who will win 15 games if the Cubbies keep scoring like they have been. He threw seven strong innings with 10 K’s, yielding only two walks and three hits, with Young’s homer his only mistake. While Chicago’s offense matched the Snakes’ futility for only the first half the game, the Arizona’s hitters seemed off balance all day long. They hit 14 balls in play off Lilly, and only two of them seemed hard hit. He mixed his pitches exceptionally well, and threw in the occasional tailing low-90′s fastball that resulted in some very awkward late swings.

If anything, for the first 4+ innings, Haren looked better. The offense repeatedly tried to pull his sliders and fastballs away, giving Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds plenty of exercise. There’s that old quote attributed to Einstein that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I can’t speak for anyone in Chicago, but they sure were driving me insane. I guess it payed off in the 5th when DeRosa and Soriano hooked doubles down the left field line sandwiched around a Reed Johnson intentional walk and Lilly’s stab-the-opposing-team-in-the-heart two-out single. In the 8th, D-Lee put one just out of Drew’s and Reynold’s reach into the back of the bleachers. This was with an assist from Bob Brenly, who put the hex on former-Cub Juan Cruz after mentioning he had yet to allow a homer this year (but with 10 walks!).

Lilly’s outing set up the game just as we like ‘em, with Marmol in for 8th and Woody throwing a perfect 9th. Frankly, I don’t know why anyone is being hard on him – batters are hitting under .200 against him, he’s giving up less than 1 base runner per inning, and his K rate is through the roof. 9th inning psychology be damned, he is pitching great baseball and has been terribly unlucky- if he keeps those stats up all year, we’ll win the division going away.

All in all, a good game a good time to get back on the tracks. A few random notes:

• Geovany Soto was named NL Rookie-of-the-Month for April. He’s on is way for May, as well.
• Sean Marshall was optioned to Iowa today. Before the game, Lou made it sound like it was to get him back starting. I hope so
• I’m optimistic Rich Hill will find his stuff again, but either way, how is Marshall not in (if not leading) the conversation for his spot (or someone else’s). All he has done in 2+ years is be a slightly above average major league starter, flashing the ability to throw the occasional shutdown game. Marquis must have some pictures of Piniella doing some unimaginable things, because his ceiling is an average major league starter, and he hasn’t been that for several years. I say give Marshall his starts and let him become the solid major leaguer he is going to become.
• Seriously, guys, it is OK to go the other way with the slider on the outside corner.
• I can’t see how Arizona is leading the majors in runs. Looking at there lineup, only Connor Jackson and Justin Upton are having really good years. Mark Reynolds, Chris Young and Stephen Drew have hit with some power, but have otherwise had average years (at best). I was going into this year thinking they would break out and be as good as they have been, but frankly, I think it is possible it could be a bit of a mirage. They don’t have any big holes (especially win Orlando Hudson is healthy), but if they stop hitting homers like they have been, they could fall back a little bit.
• I am not sure why you would ever throw Chris Young a fastball for a strike. He deposited the first one into the stands; but he didn’t see another one in the zone and promptly struck out 3 straight times.
• Mark Grace sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, and showed good form by singing “root, root, root for the Cubbies even though he announces for Arizona. I loved Grace at the time when he played in Chicago; but I gotta say I’m less enamored now. First, I tend to believe the talk that he was somewhat of a backstabber to his teammates for the benefit of the media. And now he’s just another color man with bad cliches and worse jokes. But I sure loved watching him hit.
• One curious move by Lou: bottom of the 8th, up 3-1, bases loaded with two out, and looking to put the game away off Juan Cruz. Reed Johnson is due up, and Pie is already got his glove to take his place on defense. Yet, Johnson stays up to bat and Daryle Ward comes out on deck for the pitcher’s spot. Why not send Ward out for Johnson and try to put an end to it? Cruz is worse against lefties, there was not left-hander warming up, and isn’t that, like, Ward’s only job? If he is not going to hit there, why is he on the roster? He should bat in every game just to stay sharp, and it is Lou’s job to put him in when it matters. It is a small thing, and certainly did not affect this game, but those are the type of moves managers should make.
• By my count, not a single Cubs’ batter got to a 2-0, 3-0, or 3-1 count against Haren in seven innings. I suppose it is amazing we were able to get to him at all without ever being in a good hitter’s count. Soriano was down 0-2 in at least two, and I think three, of his plate appearances. By the way, he finds himself in that spot 27% of his at-bats this year, and 22% for his career. On average, hitters go down 0-2 17-18% of the time. He has to be near the top of the leader board in that one.