June 19, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:51 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Cubs (45-27) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| Devil Rays (42-29) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
W: Sonnanstine (8-3)
L: Zambrano (8-3)
S: Percival (17)
Boxscore
The injury bug that swept through St. Louis the last couple weeks seems to be descending upon Chicago. Carlos Zambrano left his game yesterday in the 7th inning with discomfort in his shoulder. He’ll be undergoing an MRI today, but the situation is one likely to bring back dancing visions of the so-called Cubs curse.
Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson are also gimpy for the Cubs, but neither of them are nearly the impact player that Zambrano is. If he misses any starts at all, or worse, has to go on the DL, the Cubs starting rotation will take a huge hit. Zambrano has been very good this year, seemingly rebounding from drop-offs the last couple years.
The Cubs attempted to rally after Zambrano was taken out, scoring one run in the 9th, but fell short.
June 18, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 2:16 pm
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Cubs (45-26) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Devil Rays (41-29) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 3 | 10 | 0 |
W: Balfour (1-0)
L: Cotts (1-0)
S: Percival (16)
Boxscore
Ryan Dempster struck out 6 and allowed one run in his start against the Devil Rays yesterday. That sounds good until I let you know that he did that in only 5 innings because he threw 107 pitches. Methinks he should focus more on getting people out instead of trying to boost his strikeout totals. He’s unlikely to catch Edinson Volquez, anyway.
Overall, the Cubs pitching was fine, but they demonstrated a marked lack of offense. The heart of the lineup failed to get a hit, which generally makes it tough to score runs, let alone win. Still, I suppose the Cubs were due for an non-off-day off day. Every team loses sometime.
June 17, 2008
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:59 pm
This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I have a lot of catching up to do. We discuss our trip to Victory Field tonight, and how the Columbus Clippers are now a Nationals affiliate that employ Ray Olmedo. We discuss the trade rumors around Ken Griffey, the injuries affecting the Cardinals, the .500 play of the Pirates, and the shocking interest of MLB in instant replay (it’s technology that’s only twice as old as my son!)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
June 11, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 3:35 pm
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Braves (32-33) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| Cubs (41-24) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | - | 10 | 12 | 1 |
W: Lilly (6-5)
L: Glavine (2-3)
Boxscore
Ted Lilly was terrible in his first inning of work yesterday, but settled down for the next 5 2/3 innings, letting the offense bail him out.
The Cubs bullpen wasn’t so hot, either, allowing 2 runs in less than 3 innings, but it was good enough. Easy to get a win when your offense scores 10 runs.
Chicago continues to own everyone who steps inside the friendly confines. Well, at least their offense does. The team’s pitching staff still has lots of question marks, like all teams in the NL Central.
Jeff Bennett starts against Ryan Dempster tonight at 8:05pm EDT, with Dempster attempting to continue his hard-to-believe season.
June 5, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:49 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Cubs (38-22) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Padres (24-37) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 2 | 7 | 0 |
W: Heath Bell (3-3)
L: Ted Lilly (5-5)
S: Trevor Hoffman (12)
Boxscore
Apparently, a broadcaster for the Cubs had said he’d grow a moustache if the team won 10 games in a row. Chicago came close, losing for their first time in the last 10 by one run to San Diego.
Another pitcher’s duel in the Central, as Greg Maddux proved a difficult problem to solve, even though he’s old and slow. Maddux pitched seven innings and allowed only one run. Yeah, I think he could help the Cubs again. Ted Lilly pitched well again for the Cubs. After his disastrous season start, he’s been making decent strides. For the Cubs to contend, he has to keep it up because the Cubs need another dependable starter.
The Cubs travel to Los Angeles, sending Ryan Dempster out against Chad Billingsley tonight at 10:10pm EDT.
