The Cubs got spanked again tonight. Or did they spank themselves?
Carlos Zambrano came to play. And so did Chad Billingsley. Let’s look at the top of the second inning.
Into the 2nd inning, Carlos was throwing strikes and it was a pleasure to watch. Andre Ethier broke up Zambrano’s no hitter with a single to right. Then, oops, The Dodge-ohs had runners at the corners with no outs. You can credit the hit and run with creating the situation. Or you could say Ryan Theriot muffed it. Or both. But you can’t blame Z or Ronny Cedeno for that. It should have been a double play.
With one out DeRosa fumbled a double play ball. Safe all around and the run scored. You can’t blame Carlos or Ronny for that one, either. Dee Lee fumbled the third double play ball of the inning. Everybody was safe and the bags were loaded. The pitcher, Billingsley, fanned, bringing up Furcal.
Furcal bunted his way to first, driving in a run. Russell Martin doubled to the right center field wall, driving in 3 runs. LA’s lead was now 5-0. Manny Ramirez struck out, for the second time tonight, ending the inning.
Realizing that you cannot assume the double play, but just saying “What if ?”: The ball that Theriot didn’t get anyone out on might have been a double play. That’s two outs the Cubs didn’t get. The ball DeRosa didn’t get might have been a double play. That’s two more outs the Cubs didn’t get. The ball that Dee Lee didn’t get might have been a double play. That’s two more outs the Cubs didn’t get, for a total of 6 outs the Cubs didn’t get in the 2nd inning.
Add to that the three outs that they DID get, and the Cubs’infield gave LA 9 outs that inning. That’s not good. But you can’t blame Carlos Zambrano for it. No, we can thank Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa and Dee Lee for that inning.
In the 4th, Z got the 1st two batters out. Then Aramis Ramirez joined the infield fumblers club, putting the pitcher on. I just hope the Cubs got all the errors out of their system tonight.
The Cubs’ pitchers seemed to think their ante to get into the game tonight was to each let at least one run score. Kerry Wood allowed one, Carlos Marmol allowed two, Neal Cotts allowed one, and Manny Ramirez got the obligatory homer off Carlos Zambrano. Let me make this very clear. Cubs’ pitchers: You do not have to allow runs!
I have to say that Kosuke Fukudome was tearing it up in the field tonight. He played Matt Kemp’s double off the right field wall masterfully in the 7th. It was a perfect pickup and throw which saved an additional run or two. Nice play, Fuku. And, in the top of the 8th, Fuku made a very nice play on Furcal’s single. The throw was late to the plate, but it couldn’t have been done any better.
Unfortunately, Fuku struck out three times tonight, twice looking. He’s gone. He’s through. Lou said it. You can put a fork in him, he’s done. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Fuku in the batter’s box again this year.
So now it gets interesting.
Game 3, in LA on Saturday, presents a true must win opportunity for the Cubs. Rich Harden will be pitching, and he’s just the guy for the job. He’s rested and he’s ready to go. He will not let us down. Fuku won’t be in the lineup. Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa will be that much more healed up. As I said, I hope the Cubs got all of their fielding errors out of their system tonight. The Cubs’ pitching staff have pretty much all ante’d up now, so we won’t have to go through that again.
All the Cubs have to do is beat the Stinkin’ Dodgers in one game. Then do it again. And then do it once more. It’s not rocket science. They can do it. The Dodgers took two from us. We can certainly take three from them. Ted Lilly will be rested and ready to go in game 4. Ryan Dempster & Carlos Zambrano will be rested and ready to go in game 5. Nothing to it.
Now it gets interesting.Bad News Bears ipod
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Well…. I admire your optimism. Hell… I could go out and blow easy ground ball chances and strike out if they would pay me like they are paying them… good grief. I feel like vomiting. Am I the only one that thinks we DESERVE more than this???
No wonder you don’t post your picture. Of course I have a smidgen of hope somewhere too.
I think we are all frustrated. No PISSED. I think Rich brought up a very good point from the last post. If we fall apart, God forbid!!, what do we do? Do we blow this team up? Do we try and add some key players – top notch CF or top SS/2b and move Theriot over? Do we finally go out a grab a lights out #1 pitcher? Do we try and trade away some of the position players who have let us down the last two years and get a true leader on this team? I say yes to all. Screw the budget. I know I am back tracking from my many posts on this subject. But it SUCKS to be a Cubs fan in LA right now. I get these looks from people because I wear my Cubs gear everywhere I go.
What does blaming Ronny Cedeno have to do with anything?
Yea. I’m not buying, though. Stick a fork in us. Teams that look THIS BAD usually don’t come back and win a series like this.
We aren’t pitching well. We aren’t hitting well. We aren’t fielding well. For all I know the post-game meals aren’t going well either. I call that the team flight today is delayed and all their luggage is lost too.
I say put Pie in CF, Cedeno at 2B, and Derosa in right and see what happens. Can’t get any worse, right?
Right?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Usually when the Cubs lose there’s lots of heated arguments going on here. Now no one even feels like arguing. What a sad day.
I say, Put Micah in RF, and Fukudome can be the defensive replacement.
Oh wait, that’s right, the guy that just got his option picked up a little to soon left Micah off the Roster. I mean, I know Micah hasn’t proven his abilities at the Major Leauge level, but he had a Helluva year at AAA (Manny with the Dodgers like year) and a 5 hit game against a Playoff contender and little protection in the line-up sure seemed to earn him his spot.
But hey, when you’re going against 3 Tough Right Handers, I guess it’s alright that Fontenot and Zambrano are the best Left-Handed Sticks on the roster.
How many of you enjoyed watching that Great Japanese Eye for the Strike Zone stare at Strike 3 right down the middle?
IF, and it’s a big one, IF the Cubs find their bats (and their balls) and move on to the NLCS, Fukudome out, Micah in. Pie has already done more in the series than Fukudome (aka what’s a cutt-off man). In fact, I wouldn’t be against Fukodome being removed from the roster (making him ineligible for NLCS and WS if they even get there) for a “back” injury, just to bring Micah in.
Defense doesn’t win games it saves games. And in order to save games, you have to have the lead. Johnson and Pie are strong enough defensively, and can be inserted *if* the Cubs were able to get a lead.
But…maybe I shouldn’t blame Lou for Fukodome’s spot on the roster, and getting 2 starts so far. That may have come from the front office, as a Marketing request. But Fukodome hitting? 2nd(can we really say hitting? or wasting the 2nd spot) in Game 1 leads me to believe it was Lou’s choice.
You might say that Micah vs. Fukudome doesn’t make that much of a difference, but then again look at all of what Manny has done for the rest of the Dodger Player’s stats. 1 More hole in the line-up can really hurt the offense, while 1 more offensive threat can make all the other players in the line-up see better pitches.
Huh?
Did you just compare Micah Hoffpauir to Manny Ramirez? hehe.
The overzealous Cubs fan create so much fervor and hype that it places to much pressure on the players. So who is really at fault here?
“Chill out, and things go your way.”
— Rudy Galindo, Figure Skater
Yeah Forrest, I suppose that’s why there is still a lack of Boston World Series Titles.
dave:
The guy that just got his option picked up a little too soon would be Lou. The Cubs’ policy used to be that contracts would be dealt with in the offseason. If you’ve felt that Lou was worth extending, why not wait 3-4 more weeks until the post season is over?
And No, I didn’t compare Micah to Manny. I compared Micah to Fukudome, saying that Micah has proven to me that he can make a difference in the line-up. And then I said that a less than average bat in the line-up makes everyone else in the line-up worse, while a better than average bat in the line-up makes the other hitters better, because the other hitters see better pitches. And I pointed out that Manny’s arrival to the Dodgers made everyone in the Dodgers’ Line-Up better (proven by their statistics).