Ok. So it's not totally Eduardo Sanchez's fault that the Cubs lost in the 11th inning yesterday, but his 3 walks and 1 hit allowed that resulted in 2 runs certainly didn't help matters either. The Cubs battled back in this one too, tying it up in the 7th. The bullpen, except Sanchez was decent, not allowing a single run in 4 innings of work. The Cubs had a few opportunities to win this one, but unfortunately, the league has found out that Junior Lake can't hit a breaking ball. At least last night he couldn't. Weakness found. Batting average lowered. Hopefully not to the point of a Rizzo or Castro who are batting .234 and .247 respectively. Even David DeJesus is only batting .255 right now, and Darwin Barney, a lowly .214. This is why the Cubs lost yesterday. Our "good" players aren't that good. Our "mediocre" players are decent though. Good enough to sock a couple of homers yesterday, thank you Dionner Navarro, Nate Schierholtz and Donnie Murphy. Maybe we should be like the Rays and field mostly players you never heard of. I'm sure most fans in other cities, and Chicago for that matter, have never heard of half the Cubs players. Except for Starlin, Rizzo, and las nights pitcher, Smardzierfn0`hr0new. And those 3 gentlemen are sorely underperforming.
Let's talk about Jeff Samalnf3hf4rhfjk for a second. He is supposedly the Cub's #1 pitcher, though at this point, he's pitching like a 3 or 4, and is not under a long term contract. He got hit hard last night, and had to use a lot of pitches, 110 through 6 to be exact. He gave up 4 walks, 6 hits, and 4 runs. And his ERA currently stands at 4.29. He's a competitor, and I like him, I really do, but he is a #3 starter, period. He can show you glimpses of being better than that. But over the long haul. He is by no means a dominant pitcher. He's solid, and hasn't been hurt, but he's not an Ace. My opinion is that he's thrust himself into a leadership role, and puts too much pressure on himself to perform like an Ace, but he's not one. This is not good, as false expectations usually lead to failure. His job is to get guys out, period. But he wants to be some sort of team leader, which louses up his focus on the field. The problem is, after trading Garza and Feldman, we need him. But we need him to be a good solid number 3, not the Ace people think he might be. Because he's not. He just isn't.
As far as Wrigley goes last night, I got twisted up on Gin and Tonics, and it was cold. As in, I had to wear my relief pitchers coat cold. It's not even the middle of August, and I'm already cold at Wrigley. And to make matters worse, I'm already getting my fall allergies which usually don't come until September. Why did I move to this God Forsaken Tundra!!!???? Oh yeah, right...the Cubs....
Well, today, some folks and I will be in section 420 (smoke em if you got em) to hopefully watch the Cubs try and salvage a game out of this so far abysmal series. A real let down after taking 2-3 from the Cardinals. It's Arroyo vs. Rusin. Haven't seen Rusin pitch in person yet. So this should be cool, because he's a pretty damn good lefty. Better than Samjjfno34hr9hf by a full point Era wise anyway. Both teams bullpens are taxed after yesterday's extra inning fiasco, so this should be a magical afternoon for baseball. At least it will be warmer in the daytime. For now. Welcome to Augtober Cubs fans.
Damned frozen tundra of a city.....
http://www.sonranto.com
One of each please....
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