Bleed Cubbie Blue

Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies Preview, Wednesday 5/16, 7:05 CT

2012-05-16T22:00:07Z

The Cubs are hosting "Social Media Night" tonight at Wrigley Field. It's likely too late to get tickets to this event, but I have been invited, along with Brett Taylor and some other Cubs bloggers, to participate. I'll have a full writeup as part of the game recap Thursday morning. They're going to be doing this again on September 17.

If you're going, here's some info on who else will be there:

Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09), Cubs.com beat writer Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) and Cubs Public Relations and Marketing Specialist Kevin Saghy (@Cubs)

This second of two brief two-game series will conclude the season series between the Phillies and Cubs, 38 games -- less than one-quarter of the way -- through the season. I'm hoping that next year's realignment and year-round interleague play will make scheduling not only more fair, but spread these non-division matchups throughout the year. Not only are the Cubs done with the Phillies after tomorrow, they have yet to play two divisional rivals (the Astros and Pirates), though they do go to both those cities next week. They played the Nationals for the season's first three games at home, but don't visit Washington until September.

There has to be a better way.

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus RF, Campana CF, Castro SS, LaHair 1B, Soriano LF, Stewart 3B, Soto C, Barney 2B, Garza P

Today's Starting Pitchers


Matt Garza Cubs	vs.	Kyle Kendrick Phillies

2-1	W-L	0-3
2.56	ERA	7.32
39	SO	12
15	BB	9
3	HR	3
vs. Phi	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Matt Garza	2-1	6	6	0	0	0	0	38.2	23	11	11	3	15	39	2.56	.98

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Kyle Kendrick	0-3	8	3	0	0	0	1	19.2	31	18	16	3	9	12	7.32	2.03

The Cubs caught a break tonight. Vance Worley was supposed to start this game, and he threw seven strong innings against the Cubs in Philadelphia on April 30. But yesterday, it was announced that Worley has "elbow soreness" and is heading to the DL.

Instead, we get a pitching rematch of the game on April 29 in Philadelphia; Matt Garza was outstanding that day, giving the Phillies just one single and striking out 10. Kyle Kendrick pitched decently well, but the Cubs scored enough off him to win. Joe Mather homered that day, the first homer by a Cubs outfielder this year. Now they have three -- two by Mather, one by Alfonso Soriano.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight.

Today's first pitch thread will post at 7:05 p.m. CDT and the overflows at 8:05, 9:05 and 9:50 p.m. CDT. If you need more overflows due to extra innings or rain delays, post them in the fanshot section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Matt Kemp's Iron Man Streak Over And Other MLBullets

2012-05-16T09:25:04Z

The latest from around MLB...

The Dodgers had to place Matt Kemp on the disabled list yesterday with a strained hamstring, ending the outfielder's consecutive games played streak at 399, the longest in the game today (just a hair shy of Cal Ripken, Jr.'s record 2632 games). Perhaps worse, the injury could put a damper on what was looking to be another absurd season for Kemp, who came up just short of an MVP award last year thanks to Ryan Braun (insert your choice of comment here). While I don't pull for guys when they're playing the Cubs, I always enjoy watching dynamic talents, and seeing ridiculous seasons. Hopefully he gets healthy, and resumes his elite play.

Surgeon General's Warning: Closing for the New York Yankees may be hazardous to your health. After losing Mariano Rivera for the year to a torn ACL, the Yankees have now lost fill-in closer and brilliant reliever David Robertson to the DL with a strained left oblique. While not "serious" in a traditional sense, oblique strains can linger and impact performance for months.
Tigers closer Jose Valverde also had to leave a game yesterday with a stiff back. Maybe it's not just a Yankees closer thing.
The Angels have fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher and replaced him with AAA counterpart, Jim Eppard. I'm sure they'll be just fine now.
Blue Jays youngster Brett Lawrie is probably going to miss some time. Last night, after arguing balls and strikes and being ejected, Lawrie spiked his helmet down, which helmet bounced and hit the umpire in the leg.
Manny Ramirez will start his return to MLB with a 10-game minor league stint for the Oakland A's, beginning on Saturday. The soon-to-be 40-year-old tested positive for a banned substance for the second time in April 2011 after signing with the Tampa Bay Rays, and decided to take his ball and go home, rather than serve the attendant suspension. He negotiated an arrangement with MLB that allowed him to return this year after serving a mere 50-game suspension. Maybe you'll think me petty, but I'll be rooting against Ramirez, and not just because of what he did in 2008.
The New York Mets and Citi Field will host the All-Star Game in 2013. The Royals are hosting this year, and the Minnesota Twins are expected to host in 2014. If the Cubs complete Wrigley Field renovations by 2015 or 2016, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that they're in line for an All-Start Game in one of those two seasons.
Indians starter Derek Lowe just threw a shutout against the Twins without recording a single strikeout. That hasn't happened in 10 years. Lowe induced an mind-boggling 20 ground balls, including four double-play balls. Given that he's become even more reliant on his defense to succeed, you sabermetricians out there probably won't be surprised to learn that, while Lowe has a 2.05 ERA on the season, his FIP and xFIP are just 3.99 and 4.40, respectively.

Brett Taylor is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation, and a Contributor here at Bleed Cubbie Blue.

Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 15

2012-05-16T00:00:14Z

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were cut by the Sacramento River Cats (Athletics), 9-4.

Randy Wells pitched the first five innings and took the loss after allowing seven runs on eight hits. Wells walked three and struck out six.

Mike MacDougal's Cub debut could have been better, as he allowed two runs on one hit and four walks over two-thirds of an inning.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo continued to roll through California like Sherman through Georgia. Today he was 3 for 4 with a triple and his 13th home run of the season, a two-run home run in the top of the first inning.

Alfredo Amezaga provided the rest of the Cubs scoring with a two-run home run in the eighth. It was his second home run of the year and came after Gioskar Amaya got his first Triple-A hit, a pinch-hit double. Amezaga was 1 for 3 with a walk. He scored twice.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies outmaneuvered the Jackson Generals (Mariners), 10-8.

Starter Dae-Eun Rhee was staked to a five-run lead in the second inning, but gave it away during a five-run fifth inning that included two errors of his own trying to field bunts. He exited after his second error in the fifth. Rhee pitched four-plus innings and allowed six runs on two hits and two walks. Rhee also hit one batter. Besides the two errors he made, errors by Junior Lake and Matt Cerda in earlier innings meant that only two of the six runs he allowed were earned. Rhee struck out one.

Casey Weathers got the win after pitching two perfect frames in the seventh and eighth innings. He did not strike anyone out.

Alberto Cabrera pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save. Cabrera struck out one batter.

Shortstop Junior Lake was 3 for 5 with a double and three RBI. He also scored once. In the nine games that Lake has played since coming off the disabled list, he has eleven hits, eight walks and six errors.

DH Justin Bour tied the game back up in the sixth inning with his sixth home run of the season. Bour went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. He had two runs batted in and scored just the one time.

Left fielder Jim Adduci had two doubles and three RBI in a 3 for 3 game. He also walked once and scored twice. Third baseman Matt Cerda was 2 for 5 and scored twice.

Daytona Cubs

Game tonight in Brevard County postponed after tornado sightings in the area. They'll play a double-header tomorrow.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs finished off the four-game sweep of the Burlington Bees (Athletics), 2-0.

Geraldo Concepcion got his first U.S. victory after throwing six shutout innings. Concepcion allowed three hits and walked three. He also struck out three.

Ben Wells pitched the final three innings for his first save. Wells allowed two hits. He did not issue a walk and struck out three Bees.

Second baseman Zeke DeVoss was 2 for 2 with two walks and four stolen bases, which ties a Peoria franchise record. DeVoss scored twice.

Catcher Taylor Davis was 2 for 4 with a triple.

Cubs Blow Two Leads And Comebacks, Lose To Cardinals 7-6

2012-05-15T21:00:53Z

For as many complaints as we have all had about Alfonso Soriano continuing to play on what is obviously a bad leg -- and it hurt the Cubs again defensively Tuesday -- I'm sure every Cubs fan was happy he was in the lineup in the ninth inning, when he hit his first home run of the season.

Yes, at last, Soriano has as many home runs as Albert Pujols!

It didn't matter, as Rafael Dolis couldn't hold the tie score in the ninth inning and the Cubs lost to the Cardinals 7-6; they could have had a winning road trip had they managed to win this game, and moved to within four games of first place.

Instead, they come home six games under .500 and six games out.

The Cubs had a lead of 3-0 after a half inning; Paul Maholm couldn't hold it. It was 3-3 after two, but then Maholm settled down and had a decent outing, finishing six innings. Bryan LaHair had tied the game at 4 with his 10th home run, and Maholm left the game; he had earlier given up a home run to Matt Holliday that had put St. Louis ahead 4-3. Pinch-hitter Reed Johnson, batting for Maholm in the seventh, gave the Cubs the lead back and Maholm a chance for a "win".

It didn't last long. Kerry Wood, who appeared to be improving in his last outing, came in and couldn't throw strikes; he issued two walks and then Allen Craig inside-outed a high fastball down the right-field line to tie the game 5-5. I don't know what to say any more about Wood; now he looks bad again, but what other options do the Cubs have at this moment?

The Cardinals touched James Russell for a run in the bottom of the eighth, on yet another solo homer, this one by Matt Carpenter, to take a 6-5 lead. That's when Soriano gave Cubs fans hope by hitting his first -- to the opposite field, of all things -- to tie it up yet again at 6.

This was a day when it was good to be the team with the last at-bats, and the Cardinals took advantage of Rafael Dolis, who gave up a single to Holliday, then struck out Craig.

David Freese then hit a ground ball right at Ian Stewart, who thought about trying for a double play, but had to settle for getting Freese. That set up what turned out to be the game-winner, a single by Yadier Molina that glanced off Darwin Barney's glove. If Barney doesn't deflect that, maybe it gets to David DeJesus faster and DDJ might have a chance to throw Holliday out at the plate, but with the ball slowed down, DDJ had no shot.

It really all comes down to walks. Cubs pitchers issued six walks Tuesday afternoon; Cardinals pitchers had just one (by closer Jason Motte after Soriano's home run). That gives the Cubs pitching staff 140 walks for the season, just two fewer than the major-league-worst Padres and one fewer than the Blue Jays. You're not going to be a winning team if your pitching staff is simply putting hitters on base. That's a pace that would have the Cubs staff walking 635 batters this year, which would be third-worst in team history (the two worse: 687 in 2006, 658 in 2000, both of which were horrific seasons).

And don't even get me started on the bunting.

In past years, coming home to play the Phillies would be a tough series. But the Phillies are struggling this season, just 18-19 after an extra-inning win over the Astros Tuesday afternoon. Maybe the Cubs can do better in that two-game series than they did in the one just ended.

First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Cardinals, Tuesday 5/15, 12:45 CT

2012-05-15T17:45:01Z

Keep up the good work, Paul.

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Preview, Tuesday 5/15, 12:45 CT

2012-05-15T16:00:17Z

One thing I'd have liked to see this afternoon is Alfonso Soriano NOT in the lineup. Unfortunately, I'm not getting my wish:

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus RF, Campana CF, Castro SS, LaHair 1B, Soriano LF, Stewart 3B, Castillo C, Barney 2B, Maholm P

This would have been a perfect time to give Soriano a day off -- day game after night game. Unfortunately, Dale Sveum doesn't agree. Perhaps Sveum might agree that his bunting fetish has gone a little too far. Maybe the Cubs could actually get a decent lead, as they had last night, and hold it? Too much to ask?

Cardinals lineup:

Furcal ss, Schumaker cf, Holliday lf, Craig rf, Berkman 1b, Molina c, Carpenter 3b, Greene 2b, Lohse p

The Cardinals will be without Carlos Beltran again today, and are giving David Freese the day off. Sounds like a good time to take advantage of a less-than-100% St. Louis lineup.

Players hate two-game series. Because of the current divisional setup, every year we have one week's worth of the schedule with these series; perhaps next year, with realignment, these could be eliminated. In the meantime, let's hope for the sweep today; then the Cubs have more than 24 hours until the next game, Wednesday night at Wrigley Field against the Phillies.

Today's Starting Pitchers


Paul Maholm Cubs	vs.	Kyle Lohse Cardinals

4-2	W-L	5-1
4.05	ERA	2.08
17	SO	27
9	BB	8
5	HR	3
vs. StL	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Paul Maholm	4-2	6	6	0	0	0	0	33.1	27	15	15	5	9	17	4.05	1.08

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Kyle Lohse	5-1	7	7	0	0	0	0	43.1	36	12	10	3	8	27	2.08	1.02

After a horrific start to this season, Paul Maholm has posted an ERA of 1.07 and a WHIP of 0.83 in his last four starts -- he's been excellent over that span, covering 25⅓ innings. Unfortunately, one of the two horrific starts was against the Cardinals, exactly one month ago today, April 15 in St. Louis. He gave up a three-run homer to Yadier Molina that day, among other things. Let's hope he learned from that outing.

Kyle Lohse missed both the earlier Cubs/Cardinals series this season; he hasn't pitched against the Cubs since this solid outing on Sept. 24, 2011. Possible good news: current Cubs are hitting .358 (43-for-120) against him with four home runs, three by Alfonso Soriano and one by David DeJesus, who is 8-for-16 lifetime against Lohse.

Today's game is on CSN Chicago. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva El Birdos.

Today's first pitch thread will post at 12:45 p.m. CDT and the overflows at 1:45, 2:45 and 3:30 p.m. CDT. If you need more overflows due to extra innings or rain delays, post them in the fanshot section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Cubs Take Advantage Of Cardinals Miscues, Win 6-4

2012-05-15T12:20:17Z

For once, I get to write about another team making errors and mistakes and the Cubs jumping on those to score runs and win.

How refreshing, right?

The Cubs blew a 4-0 lead Monday night, but then the Cardinals started doing things that we have expected from Cubs teams in the past; the result was a 6-4 Cubs victory. That's the fourth win for the Cubs in seven meetings with St. Louis so far this season, with the second and final game of this brief two-game set to take place in just a few hours, on Tuesday afternoon. (Then the two clubs won't meet again until late July, when they'll play six more times in nine days. Love this scheduling!)

At last the Cubs have a win in a 2012 Ryan Dempster start, the first time they've done that, even though Dempster personally didn't get the "win". The game went scoreless into the fifth inning, when the Cubs raked Jake Westbrook for four runs, highlighted by Bryan LaHair's ninth home run of the season. LaHair came out of an 0-for-15 slump by going 3-for-4, and probably should have been 4-for-4; the ball he hit in the second inning was ruled an error on Matt Holliday. LaHair's .702 slugging percentage leads all MLB regular first basemen... by a lot. Second is Joey Votto at .583.

Unfortunately, Dempster and the Cubs coughed the lead right back in the sixth inning; a nice relay throw got David Freese at the plate with what would have been the tying run but the next hitter, Skip Schumaker, singled in Yadier Molina to tie the game at four.

Dempster was lifted in the seventh for pinch-hitter Reed Johnson with the bases loaded. Johnson struck out.

Cubs relievers did a nice job. Shawn Camp and Rafael Dolis (fourth save) threw three innings and allowed just one hit, a double by Allen Craig. The Cubs took the lead in the eighth inning, but I have to criticize Dale Sveum here for a moment.

What on Earth is he thinking, having one of his best hitters, Starlin Castro, lay down a bunt with runners on first and second with nobody out? First of all, Castro hasn't had a successful sac since 2010, and second, he's one of your best hitters! Let the guy hit!

Castro bunted into a double play. Fortunately, after LaHair was intentionally walked, Alfonso Soriano came through. He still doesn't have a home run, but he singled in David DeJesus with the lead run.

In the ninth inning, the Cubs added an insurance run when the Cardinals started making errors all over the place. After Geovany Soto was hit by a pitch, the Cubs tried another sacrifice bunt, this time by Darwin Barney. This time it worked, and Barney was safe at first when Schumaker dropped the ball.

Then Joe Mather bunted. I swear, for a moment I thought I saw Don Baylor in the Cubs dugout. (Baylor once had the Cubs bunt after a leadoff double in the bottom of the first inning. The Cubs didn't score in the inning and eventually lost the game.)

Mather's bunt was not good -- the Cardinals threw Soto out at third. But then, Freese threw the ball nearly into the seats along the first-base line, scoring Barney with the sixth run. Believe it or not, the Cubs are second-to-last in the National League in sacrifice bunts, tied with the Nationals with 12 (the Marlins are last with 10). Seems like Sveum brought that bunting tournament north from Arizona with the team; they bunt and bunt and bunt, and are hardly ever successful with them. Granted that this team doesn't have much power, but I'd rather see them hit-and-run, or just run, rather than this constant bunting failure. (If you're keeping score, or even if you aren't, that's four attempted sacrifices Monday night, only two of them successful.)

After that, Dolis had an uneventful ninth inning, striking out Rafael Furcal to end it.

The win moves the Cubs to within five games of the Cardinals. Despite St. Louis' great start, the Cardinals have lost four straight and seven of their last 11, and the Cubs, after their awful start, have won five of eight and the last two on this trip. They can sweep this abbreviated series and have a winning road trip with a victory Tuesday afternoon. (And please, knock off the bunting.)

The game preview will post here at 11 a.m. CDT.

Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 14

2012-05-15T04:57:19Z

Iowa Cubs pitcher Chris Rusin was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week. Daytona Cubs pitcher Eric Joksich won the same award for the Florida State League.

Everyone wins today. OK, the Smokies did drop game two of a double-header. But they won game one.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs pelted the Sacramento River Cats (Athletics), 3-1.

Rodrigo Lopez started tonight and won his first game for Iowa, allowing but one run on three hits over five innings. Lopez walked one and struck out four.

Scott Maine had been hit hard in his last two appearances, but tonight he had an easy 1-2-3 inning for his second save. Maine did not have a strike out.

Iowa got on the board in the first inning with a solo home run by (who else?) first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The solo home run was his twelfth this year. Rizzo was 1 for 4.

Catcher Blake Lalli popped his third home run of the year in the fifth inning. Lalli was 1 for 4 with the one run batted in.

Shortstop Luis Valbuena went 2 for 4.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies split a double-header with the Jackson Generals (Mariners), taking no quarter in game one 15-4 and falling back in game two, 3-1.

Trey McNutt started game one and gave up two runs on two solo home runs. He allowed three total hits in his five innings of work. McNutt walked one and struck out five as he picked up his first win of the year.

The Smokies pounded out 13 hits in this seven inning game, started by the Mariners #3 prospect (according to Baseball America) James Paxton. Second baseman Logan Watkins started the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run, his third of the season. Watkins went 2 for 3 with a double, the home run and two walks. He scored four times and drove four runners in.

Third baseman Junior Lake had walked to lead off the inning and scored on Watkins home run. He clubbed his first home run of the season in the third inning with the bases empty. Lake went 2 for 2 with a double in addition to the home run. Even more amazing, Lake walked three times. Lake stole one base and scored four times.

Center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha was 3 for 5 with a double. He had one RBI and scored three times, including once from second base on a sacrifice fly. First baseman Justin Bour had two doubles and a walk in a 2 for 3 game. Bour scored once and had two RBI.

Left fielder Rebel Ridling went 1 for 3 with four RBI and one run scored. Right fielder Michael Burgess was 1 for 4 with a double and three RBI.

In game two, Dallas Beeler allowed home runs in the first and second inning and no more runs the rest of the way. But that was enough to stick him with the loss as he gave up three runs on seven hits over seven innings. Beeler walked two and struck out three in the Smokies first complete game of the season.

Shortstop Elliot Soto was 2 for 3 with the lone Smokies RBI.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs speared the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers), 2-1.

Austin Kirk started and got his second win of the season with seven strong innings. He allowed only one run on six hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Tony Zych gave up a two-out single in the ninth, but nothing else as he notched his fourth save of the season. Zych just pitched the one inning and had one strike out.

Right fielder Nelson Perez had a two-run single in the first inning, and that was the last time the D-Cubs scored. (The one Manatee run came in the bottom of the first.) Perez was 2 for 4.

With the win, the Daytona Cubs improved their record to 14-22. That might not sound like much, but it means for the first time this season, Daytona climbed out of the basement of the Florida State League North Division.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs smoked out the Burlington Bees (Athletics), 2-1.

Kyler Burke went at least six innings in his third straight start tonight. He gave up one run on four hits over six innings. Burke walked two and struck out four.

Austin Reed got the win with two innings of shutout relief of Burke. Reed allowed one hit but he walked three. Reed also fanned three.

Yao-Lin Wang loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but struck out the final two batters to get his second save. After an error, Wang allowed a double (that could have been ruled an error) and then a walk to load the bases.

Both Chiefs runs tonight scored on sacrifice flies. Third baseman Anthony Giansanti was 2 for 4.