brewers 9, cubs 0

i don't know what was worse, the bears draft or this game. probably the bears draft since there will be another game tomorrow and the bears are stuck with those guys for the next few years. i think capuano is a good pitcher, but there is no reason we should be getting shut out by him. we used to kill lefties, but i guess this is another year. and what is up with zambrano? this guy was some people's pick to be the nl cy young winner. he can only get better, which is why i traded greg maddux for him in the 'beat mok bernok' fantasy league.

brewers 16, cubs 2

here's one for conan:

maddux is to stopper where RUSCH IS TO DISASTER.

i didn't even really want to watch this game today. i knew something bad was going to happen. i was watching the nfl draft (but that's another story), and by the time i switched over to the game it was already 1-0. i flipped back to the draft and then back to the game...3-0. rusch can't even get rookies out. remind me why we signed him again? we traded koronka to the rangers (3 wins) and we have rich hill down in the minors. i would rather have either of those guys at 350,000 than rusch at the 2-3million he will make this year.

prior and wood can't come back soon enough. needless to say, i didn't watch anymore of the game.

brewers 2, cubs 6

maddux = stopper
where would we be without greg maddux? he is now 5-0...for the FIRST time in his career!!! i swear everytime i watch him the ball seems to have more and more movement on it. the guy is simply ageless!

how 'bout that jacque jones? 3-for-4 with a HR? could this be the start of a hot streak?

on another note, maybe it is time the cubs came up with another seventh inning stretch tradition. they are running out of people to do it. today, it was babe ruth's daughter and grandson along with ron santo. i have been to 3 games this year and santo sung at two of them. if we can't even get people to do it, maybe it is time to move on. not to mention on tuesday they had some high school basketball team do it and they finished the song 10 seconds before the crowd did. poor harry is probably rolling over in his grave.

marlins 7, cubs 5

angel guzman's major league debut! hey, not bad...5 innings and 3 runs. 5 k's is a good sign, the 4 walks is not...but i think we give him a pass since it was his first time out. there must have been lots of butterflies there. he left with a no decision.

one guy who can't blame butterflies is williamson. getting a balk called on you is no reason to walk 3 of 4 hitters and basically lose the game for us. if he doesn't lose his composure, it's very possible the cubs win that game and sweep the series. normally, i would be happy to take 2 of 3 in any series, but this is the marlins, and we need to beat up on teams like this while d-lee is out. we can't afford to let games slip away out of emotion.

on a positive note, murton just continues to hit and has been moved up to the #5 spot while barrett is out. i love that the kids are now hitting #2 & #5; they can really play!

there was another story about the booing of jacque jones. when i read that i thought cubs fans should really lay off. they seem to just like to boo (fans even booed d-lee when he got here). the media feeds it by saying expectations are higher, but i hardly think 1 playoff appearance in the 2000s is reason for higher expectations. he is the same type of player as burnitz and the fans loved him. he is a hacker who is going to strike out a lot and hit 20-25 hrs with 80 rbi (these types of hitters tend to be streaky as well). on top of that he plays solid defense. so, i say give hime a chance, but today's 0-for-3 isn't helping my case.

marlins 1, cubs 3

i figured this could be a good game for marshall seeing as he and the whole marlings starting lineup were in the minors last year. he finally got to face some hitters he was familiar with. his curveball was outstanding last night helping him to strike out seven and only give up two hits. it could have been a lot worse though had the wind not been howling in. there were at least 3 balls (2 by willingham) that would have been out on 99% of days. but, hey, i'm not complaining. we need to clean up on the "easy" teams while d-lee is out to have any chance come september. am i the only one who loves to watch matt murton hit? he has his ups and downs, but i think he is a keeper.

marlins 3, cubs 6

this was my first game (of hopefully many) in section 512. these seats are owned by my friend ben ralston and he just happened to have some extra tickets, so i was happy to go and watch the cubbies, drink some beer and eat some processed cheese. this game was against the marlins and even though i have never heard of anybody on their team, it still was deemed good enough to be on espn's monday night baseball.

the first thing i noticed is that vargas was pitching for the marlins and neifi was playing 2nd base. i don't get it. why not hairston. i thought he was going to play 2b even for walker when lefties were on the mound. maybe i should just give up trying to figure out baker.

zambrano started out wild and quickly got us behind 2-0 giving up a dinger to miguel cabrera who ralston was quick to point out has put on some serious weight ("he looks like a catcher"). however, he did strike out 12 and we sat right behind the guy setting up the 'Z's which made it all the more fun, especially since he was repeatedly on espn.

the cubs didn't manage but one hit through seven innings and as soon as i could say this game was one of the most boring ever, they exploded in the 8th. after a hit and a few walks, matt murton came up with the score 3-1. he came through with a single to tie the game up. check it out below
it was an exciting win, but almost as exciting was after the game watching angel guzman's bullpen session. this is a kid that has been a prized prospect for years only to be slowed by injuries. it will be fun to see him make his major league debut on wednesday.

cubs 7, cards 3

at least the cubs were able to salvage one game in st. louis and hopefully this will get them back on track. a winning road trip is always a good thing!

greg maddux seems to be as good as ever. it's nice to have someone that is so reliable and can go out there and stop a losing streak. the silly thing is that the cardinals kept checking the balls like maddux was doctoring them or something. if they thought that was going to rattle maddux, give me a break, the guy is a true pro (unlike tony la russa). plus, he even added a hit to go with 7 scoreless innings.

ok, yesterday ronny was moved to the #2 spot and i actually applauded baker. but, now baker is up to his old tricks. he had ronny bunt twice. c'mon. he could arguably be your best hitter right now. he ended the game with a double, triple and two sac bunts (again, this just shows you how good he is with the bat). i hope baker will let him swing away a little more and start having neifi bat ninth and only be allowed to lay down bunts.

also, the cubs called up angel guzman today and sent down jerome williams. guzman has been a top prospect for a while, but has had arm troubles up until this year. his era was 6 in triple a so not too sure why they chose him. he may not even start on wednesday, it may be rich hill. which begs the question, who else is getting sent down. smart money is on will ohman. i'd rather just see them cut glendon rusch and get on with it. makes you wish you still had mitre (marlins) or koronka (rangers) around.

cubs 1, cards 4

i was all prepared to say i was wrong about rusch, but then he proved me right! (p.s., i am always right!) through 4 2/3 glendon had looked like he was going to shut down the cards. but then with two outs he lost it!!! he must've been so excited about actually getting a win he lost his mind. he walked everybody to get to albert pujols so scott williamson could come in and give up the game winning single.

again, the offense was terrible. ramirez needs to snap out of whatever funk he is in or the cubs are done. he left 4 runners on base and the only one he did get in was on a groundout. (yeah, he was really safe, but that was the call). and what's up with dusty taking out todd walker in a double switch. it was the freaking 5th inning. the guy is hitting over .400. dusty is an absolute joke as an in-game manager! neifi perez is one of the worst hitters of all time, no kidding. the only thing he got right was putting cedeno in the #2 slot...i like that!!

cubs 3, cards 9

i wrote earlier that williams has looked better and more focused, but he must have lost his focus since then. he couldn't get anything over the plate and when he did, it was crushed. i know this is the first game since d-lee went down and they are all probably still thinking about him, but they looked like they have already given up on the season. even though mulder is a pretty good pitcher, to only have 3 runs on one play really didn't look good.

cubs 5, dodgers 4

well, the season may be over. inconclusive x-rays on d-lee's wrist make me nervous and from what i saw i bet he is out 4-6 weeks, but that's just a guess. i'm hoping he'll be back this weekend. the west coast trips always make me tired at work since i stay up watching the games, but at least this one was worth it. the cubs were able to come back with 3 runs in the eighth inning and survive (ANOTHER!) throwing error by cedeno. at least he preceded the error by knocking in the go-ahead run and then made a spectacular catch to end the game. if he just didn't have to throw the ball....wouldn't that be wonderful?

cubs 1, dodgers 2

i can't believe i stayed up to watch this game. i knew the cubs were going to lose yet i couldn't force myself to go to bed. at least jones got a couple hits...i just don't want him to get booed when he comes back to wrigley, i think he is a good player (just what is going to happen when pie comes up?). i guess zambrano looked pretty good too, but he just throws WAY too many pitches. maddux threw 80-something in eight innings last night and it took zambrano 112 just to get through six.

cubs 4, dodgers 1

what has gotten into greg maddux? watching the game i couldn't believe how much his pitches were moving. it was like a video game! (on the other hand i guess pitches move a lot when you are only throwing in the low 80s). maybe maddux has decided to put this team on his back and show prior and wood what a couple of pansies they are.

cubs 7, pirates 3

i don't believe my eyes! a good outing by glenson rusch?!?! any win we can get from him is a bonus. i will always think of him as a spot starter. he seems to do so well when he's called on to start in a pinch, but once he's in the rotation he loses it. my theory is he tends to over think when he's got five days in between starts. i say send him to the bullpen and then surprise him the day before and tell him he's starting. that way he'll just go out there and pitch and not think.

let's hope ramirez's homer breaks the drought.

cubs 1, pirates 2

i guess when they say ronny is really good with the glove, that means his is good with his glove--only! his arm still needs some work. i think all 3 of his errors this year have been bad throws...makes you think of the glory days of shawon dunston, doesn't it?

good to see williams throw a good game, though. he seems to be more focused this year since he will be fighting for a rotation spot once wood, prior and miller get back.

cubs 11, pirates 6

todd walker goes 4-for-5. i still don't know why dusty doesn't want to play this guy everyday. the guy is hitting over .400! is his defense really that bad?!? we need guys on base in front of lee and ramirez. we all know neifi can't hit. hairston, maybe, but i just like how walker always seems to make contact. it will be interesting at the end of the year to see the cubs record with walker starting vs. when someone else is starting at 2b.

coming soon!

i can barely keep one blog going, we'll see about two.