In a game that certainly made your scorecard look like chicken scratch, the Cubs pounded the Brewers 19-5 on Wednesday night as Geovony Soto led the way with two home runs and six runs batted in.
I'm not sure you can have a 'must-win' game this early in the season but this was certainly a game that the Cubs really, really, really wanted to win and they showed their enthusiasm to do that by busting out for six runs in the first inning to turn the game into a rout. Everyone in the Cubs lineup hit last night (except for Felix Pie) so I'm not going to run through them individually but just know that this was the best outing by the Cubs hitters this season as five players had two or more hits, seven players scored two or more runs and four players had two or more runs batted in. This was a complete annihilation of the Brewers pitching staff and the Cubs didn't let up all night as they scored in five different innings and finished the night by scoring six runs in the eighth inning when the game was already out of reach.
Although the Cubs really didn't need a pitcher last night, Ryan Dempster took the mound and picked up his fourth victory of the season. This wasn't his best outing of the season as he walked five hitters in six innings of work. He's now walked eight hitters in his last two outings and he's not going to be able to continue to get away with a trend like that. In a game like this Dempster should have probably thrown a complete game as all he had to do was throw strikes. In a game the Cubs dominated, this stood out to me as a major problem.
I also worry about Bob Howry as he gave up two more runs in an inning of work. I figure he's about one blown save against the Cardinals this weekend away from hearing the footsteps of Sean Gallagher, Mike Burns and Jose Ascanio who are all pitching well at Iowa.
Nevertheless, the Cubs came away with the easy victory and they go for the series win this afternoon as Alfonso Soriano makes his comeback. Soriano is saying that he's going to be more patient at the plate and will still steal 30 bases this season so......we'll see what happens. Ronny Cedeno is the one who will see his playing time cut into because of the Soriano swap, so look for Lou Piniella to find interesting ways to get Cedeno in the lineup 3-4 times a week.
Yeah, yeah I got the email and read it.....No reply. We'll see what happens on the field.
Hank
said
I'm not sure who the bigger losers are...the cubs for the last hundred years or yourself for "nobody had taken the time to surf YouTube for hours looking to compile the ultimate master list of why the Cubs suck. Until today".
Heard on the broadcast last night that the cubs are now 15-1 when they score at least 4 runs, thats pretty darn good.
2008 Cubs Preview
Somebody had to make the post, so I went ahead and did it. I anxiously await for the reply...
ATH
http://www.cardinalsdiaspora.com/?p=2316
Yeah, yeah I got the email and read it.....No reply. We'll see what happens on the field.
I'm not sure who the bigger losers are...the cubs for the last hundred years or yourself for "nobody had taken the time to surf YouTube for hours looking to compile the ultimate master list of why the Cubs suck. Until today".
Heard on the broadcast last night that the cubs are now 15-1 when they score at least 4 runs, thats pretty darn good.