In the Chicago Cub's 2013 effort to lose in new and exciting ways, the Cubs last night gave up a 2 run lead in the bottom of the 13th to lose to the Reds. What was the culprit this time? Defense? Sappelt's misplayed ball in Right field? Michael Bowden getting shelled for the loss? Certainly, these plays directly effected our loss in the 13th. But the game should not have gotten this far. The Cubs got 11 hits, 4 walks, and benefited from 3 Red errors, and you're telling me we could only score 2 runs until the 13th inning where we got 2 more?
Well, except for the homeruns by DeJesus (to lead off the game) and Luis "I put arsenic in Ian Stewarts Cheerios" Valbuena, not one of the Cubs other 9 hits were for extra bases. And many of the singles came with 2 out in the inning, not giving much chance to get the guy in. Starlin Castro, who's hitting streak is now at 14, also left 4 men on base. Anthony Rizzo, presumably our best hitter, as he is positioned in the 3 hole went 0-6 with 3 strikeouts. He is batting .191 as well. Terrible! Speaking of strikeouts....umm...we struck out 16 times last night. Granted the Reds relief pitchers looked damned good. Especially fireballer Aroldis Chapman. But damn! It's hard to move runners up when you can't make contact. Some of these swings and misses are just embarassing! There was actually a moment in Sundays game when Luis Valbuena struck out and looked at his bat as if there must have been a hole in it. Apparently there are holes in many of the Cubs' bats. Oh...did I mention that pitcher Travis Wood has a higher batting average than our starting second baseman Darwin Barney, and 2 of the 3 pinch hitters we used last night? This is getting sad people....
Son Ranto and Lou Sears explain it all in the most recent podcast....
Ok. You want a bright spot? A glimmer of hope? Our starting pitching has been excellent. Over all, top notch. I hope it can last, but with our defense kicking the ball around out there, it's a matter of time before exhaustion will set in from all the extra pressure put on by constantly having to get 5 outs an inning. Stay Positive Ranto!! Umm....Starlin Castro made a couple of nice plays last night. It's those routine grounders he can't quite seem to handle... damnit Ranto!!!! Stay Positive!! Ummm errr...David DeJesus is turning out to be a power lead off man? He already has 3 homeruns and he only hit 9 last year....and his wife is smoking hot!! There I got through at least one Cub without both a positive and negative to share. Whew!!! David D for MVP! (of the Cubs anyway). Although to get excited about 3 homeruns, and someone elses hot wife is pretty pathetic.....Damn!!!! Can't do it!!! I have something bad to say about all of them!!! Except......starting pitching. It's been great. Keep up the good work boys, and lets hope these guys behind you can learn how to, score runs, and, well, just not look so terrible.
So what can I say? Let's get em tonight! We got 'The Stache' Carlos Villanueva vs. Reds lefty Tony Cingiani, who I understand mades a killer baked Ziti in the off season. I think we can win at least 1 of these games in Cincy...right? Cant we? I'll be hanging out with the Lovable Lou Sears at Three Aces Bar at 1321 W. Taylor if you want to come by. We will be the best looking guys in the bar, so you can't miss us!
So listen to the podcast, give us free tickets, and say hi! sonranto@gmail.com or http://www.sonranto.com
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