4/14 Cubs (Marshall) @ Pirates (Santos) 6:05 PM CSN+

[C.C.]

I really dont understand this team at all. One day they play like a 90 win team, the next day they play like the 2000 cubs. After sweeping the Cards you would think they have so much momentum that they would carry it over to the next series and duplicate what they did against the cardinals.

 

I agree. It's like ground hog day for the past three years. But then again no team is going to run away and hide in April this year, and if we can get back wood and prior and that's a big IF, I honestly feel we can run away with this division...

[Derwood]

Scoring 2 or 3 runs won't cut it against most teams. The pitching has been bad in the 3 losses, but the offense was also bad in 2 of those 3. Stop sucking

[killthegoat06]

Scoring 2 or 3 runs won't cut it against most teams. The pitching has been bad in the 3 losses, but the offense was also bad in 2 of those 3. Stop sucking

 

Third year in a row of a steady decline in run-scoring after Opening Day to a relatively unproductive offense.

 

Game 1: 16

Game 2: 6

Game 3: 5

Game 4: 3

Game 5: 8

Game 6: 2

Game 7: 4

Game 8: 3

 

Let's score some runs. I wasn't expecting sixteen runs every game, but I thought small ball could give us a better offense than the last few years.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I really dont understand this team at all. One day they play like a 90 win team, the next day they play like the 2000 cubs. After sweeping the Cards you would think they have so much momentum that they would carry it over to the next series and duplicate what they did against the cardinals.

 

They've been doing it for a few years now.

[Roast]

Well, I dont like losing, so lets not do it again. Okay, cubs?

[elconq05]

I really dont understand this team at all. One day they play like a 90 win team, the next day they play like the 2000 cubs. After sweeping the Cards you would think they have so much momentum that they would carry it over to the next series and duplicate what they did against the cardinals.

 

They've been doing it for a few years now.

 

That's why a lot of people were saying "it's only three games" after the sweep of the Cardinals.

 

It's a long season. The cream will rise to the top by the end of the year. And it will be interesting to see which team is the cream.

[Andy]

I really dont understand this team at all. One day they play like a 90 win team, the next day they play like the 2000 cubs. After sweeping the Cards you would think they have so much momentum that they would carry it over to the next series and duplicate what they did against the cardinals.

 

They've been doing it for a few years now.

 

That's why a lot of people were saying "it's only three games" after the sweep of the Cardinals.

 

It's a long season. The cream will rise to the top by the end of the year. And it will be interesting to see which team is the cream.

My money is on BALCO.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Here are some worthless stats of the day for Friday.......

 

CUBS are 13-12 on Fridays

CUBS are 11-5 vs. Pittsburgh

CUBS are 38-38 at night.

CUBS are 41-39 on the road.

CUBS are 61-29 when they get a quality start,... 18-54 when they don't

CUBS are 49-19 when they score first,.... 30-63 when they don't

CUBS are 24-28 in games that open a series

CUBS are 8-5 in games openning a road trip

 

Sean Marshall making his second major league start. His line from last week......

 

Marshall                IP    H    R   ER   BB    K   HR    PC  BB/9   K/9  HR/9  WHIP   ERA
04/09  vs. St. L       4.3    4    4    4    1    2    1    65  2.08  4.15  2.08  1.15  8.31

 

Season series with Pittsburgh.....

 

Gm#    Date       Opponent         Score  Starter
10  Fri 04/15  @ Pittsburgh    N   5- 8  Zambrano      
11  Sat 04/16  @ Pittsburgh    N   4- 3  Dempster      
12  Sun 04/17  @ Pittsburgh        4- 2  Maddux        
17  Sat 04/23    Pittsburgh        3- 4  Maddux        
18  Sun 04/24    Pittsburgh        5- 2  Wood        
37  Tue 05/17  @ Pittsburgh    N   4- 3  Prior        
38  Wed 05/18  @ Pittsburgh        3- 2  Rusch        
88  Thu 07/14    Pittsburgh        5- 1  Prior        
89  Fri 07/15    Pittsburgh       11- 1  Wood        
90  Sat 07/16    Pittsburgh        0- 3  Maddux        
91  Sun 07/17    Pittsburgh        8- 2  Zambrano      
134  Fri 09/02  @ Pittsburgh    N   7- 3  Maddux        
135  Sat 09/03  @ Pittsburgh        9- 5  Zambrano      
136  Sun 09/04  @ Pittsburgh        2- 0  Williams      
157  Tue 09/27    Pittsburgh    N   3- 5  Maddux        
158  Wed 09/28    Pittsburgh        2- 3  Prior        

 

 

Gm#    Date       Opponent         Score  Starter
 9  Fri 04/14  @ Pittsburgh    N    -    Marshall      
10  Sat 04/15  @ Pittsburgh         -    Williams      
11  Sun 04/16  @ Pittsburgh         -    Rusch        
24  Mon 05/01    Pittsburgh    N    -             
25  Tue 05/02    Pittsburgh         -             
109  Fri 08/04    Pittsburgh         -             
110  Sat 08/05    Pittsburgh         -             
111  Sun 08/06    Pittsburgh         -             
131  Mon 08/28  @ Pittsburgh    N    -             
132  Tue 08/29  @ Pittsburgh    N    -             
133  Wed 08/30  @ Pittsburgh         -             
137  Mon 09/04    Pittsburgh         -             
138  Tue 09/05    Pittsburgh    N    -             
139  Wed 09/06    Pittsburgh    N    -             
140  Thu 09/07    Pittsburgh         -             

 

CUBS' offense vs. Pittsburgh (2005)......

 

vs. Pitts          AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
Grieve              4    0    3    0    0    0    3    0    1    1  0.750  0.800  0.750  1.550
Perez              50    9   23    7    0    2   36    8    2    3  0.460  0.472  0.720  1.192
Hollandsworth      15    2    6    0    1    0    8    1    4    3  0.400  0.550  0.533  1.083
Garciaparra        28    5    8    3    0    3   20    8    3    1  0.286  0.333  0.714  1.048
Cedeno             11    1    5    1    0    0    6    1    0    1  0.455  0.500  0.545  1.045
Blanco             18    4    6    3    0    1   12    3    1    2  0.333  0.368  0.667  1.035
Walker             27    3   10    2    0    1   15    3    4    4  0.370  0.452  0.556  1.007
Fontenot            0    2    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0  0.000  1.000  0.000  1.000
Ramirez            37    8   10    3    0    3   22    8    5    6  0.270  0.357  0.595  0.952
Lee                59    8   19    5    0    3   33    9    3   10  0.322  0.344  0.559  0.903
Macias             13    1    3    0    0    1    6    2    2    1  0.231  0.313  0.462  0.774
Murton             21    1    6    1    0    1   10    2    0    4  0.286  0.286  0.476  0.762
Burnitz            61    6   13    4    1    2   25    7    7   12  0.213  0.294  0.410  0.704
Dubois             16    1    3    1    0    1    7    3    1    6  0.188  0.235  0.438  0.673
McClain             4    1    1    0    0    0    1    0    1    1  0.250  0.400  0.250  0.650
Hairston           50    9   11    3    0    1   17    8    3    3  0.220  0.291  0.340  0.631
Barrett            37    5    7    1    0    1   11    3    5    3  0.189  0.295  0.297  0.593
Patterson          39    6    7    0    0    1   10    2    1   13  0.179  0.200  0.256  0.456
Theriot             4    1    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0  0.000  0.000  0.000  0.000

totals vs. Pitts  535   75  151   37    2   21  255   74   45   80  0.282  0.340  0.477  0.816

overall          5548  700 1495  311   23  189 2419  672  417  902  0.269  0.324  0.436  0.760

 

CUBS' pitching vs. Pittsburgh (2005)......

 

vs. Pitts            IP    H    R   ER   BB    K   HR    PC  BB/9   K/9  HR/9  WHIP   ERA
Williams            7.3    4    0    0    2    5    0    95  2.45  6.14  0.00  0.82  0.00
Wuertz              6.0    3    0    0    2    7    0    91  3.00 10.50  0.00  0.83  0.00
Williamson          2.0    2    0    0    0    3    0    23  0.00 13.50  0.00  1.00  0.00
Van Buren           1.0    1    0    0    0    0    0    17  0.00  0.00  0.00  1.00  0.00
Mitre               0.7    2    0    0    0    0    0     9  0.00  0.00  0.00  3.00  0.00
Bartosh             0.0    1    0    0    0    0    0     1  0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00
Rusch              11.0   10    2    2    8   10    0   187  6.55  8.18  0.00  1.64  1.64
Prior              20.0   15    7    4    8   23    3   313  3.60 10.35  1.35  1.15  1.80
Dempster           11.3   10    3    3    5    9    1   173  3.97  7.15  0.79  1.32  2.38
Wood               11.0    5    3    3    3   13    1   151  2.45 10.64  0.82  0.73  2.45
Novoa               3.0    3    1    1    1    4    0    53  3.00 12.00  0.00  1.33  3.00
Maddux             36.0   27   14   13    3   24    3   462  0.75  6.00  0.75  0.83  3.25
Ohman               2.7    1    1    1    0    4    0    25  0.00 13.50  0.00  0.38  3.38
Fox                 2.7    3    1    1    2    5    0    49  6.75 16.88  0.00  1.88  3.38
Zambrano           21.7   16   11   10   10   18    3   320  4.15  7.48  1.25  1.20  4.15
Hawkins             4.0    3    2    2    3    2    1    60  6.75  4.50  2.25  1.50  4.50
Remlinger           2.7    3    2    2    0    0    0    48  0.00  0.00  0.00  1.13  6.75

totals vs.Pitts   143.0  109   47   42   47  127   12  2077  2.96  7.99  0.76  1.09  2.64

overall          1439.3 1357  714  671  576 1255  186 23680  3.60  7.85  1.16  1.34  4.20

 

Go CUBS !!

[elconq05]

I really dont understand this team at all. One day they play like a 90 win team, the next day they play like the 2000 cubs. After sweeping the Cards you would think they have so much momentum that they would carry it over to the next series and duplicate what they did against the cardinals.

 

They've been doing it for a few years now.

 

That's why a lot of people were saying "it's only three games" after the sweep of the Cardinals.

 

It's a long season. The cream will rise to the top by the end of the year. And it will be interesting to see which team is the cream.

My money is on BALCO.

 

That makes me think of Bonds...I hate Bonds...now I'm in a hatefull mood.

[NCCubFan]

http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_West_Wing/images/imgs_bio/jimmy_smits.jpg

 

Maybe Santos will be distracted after just being elected President. After all, he has to choose a Vice President, a Cabinet, and his staff.

 

Oh, wait; wrong Santos. :D

[bhogg]

where are the cardinals when you need 'em?

[C.C.]

Looks like the only player that has had success against Santos is ARAM.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=4655

[fiver]

Looks like the only player that has had success against Santos is ARAM.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=4655

 

Are you kidding me? Pierre hits a HR 33% of AB's against Santos for an OPS of 1.6 or so. He's going deep. :lol:

[C.C.]

I know it's only April...Blah, Blah, Blah. But I think the Cubs must win this series. They can't lose back to back series they should've won. Eh?

[fiver]

I know it's only April...Blah, Blah, Blah. But I think the Cubs must win this series. They can't lose back to back series they should've won. Eh?

 

 

Would it make me happy? Yes. Must we win the series to insure the Cubs make the playoffs? Obviously, no. There is a lot of baseball left to play.

 

They probably do need to win the series if they want Cubs fans to retain the somewhat positive feeling about the season into next week.

[C.C.]

I know it's only April...Blah, Blah, Blah. But I think the Cubs must win this series. They can't lose back to back series they should've won. Eh?

 

 

Would it make me happy? Yes. Must we win the series to insure the Cubs make the playoffs? Obviously, no. There is a lot of baseball left to play.

 

They probably do need to win the series if they want Cubs fans to retain the somewhat positive feeling about the season into next week.

 

I know it's only April but c'mon these are games you have to start to win or regert it later down the line. It'll be Interesting to see What Marshall can do in game 1. It'll be a great post if he comes out and pitches a good game.

[soccer10k]

I agree. I think we need to win this series especially since it is on the road. The first game today is very important. Starting a nine game road trip. If it starts off poorly against a crummy team it could continue all the way to the STL series next weekend.

[C.C.]

If it starts off poorly against a crummy team it could continue all the way to the STL series next weekend.

 

In which of course we sweep the Cards and Cub Nation gets back on the bandwagon. :lol:

[UMFan83]

There is no way this is anything close to a must win series. The Astros were 10 games under .500 in late May and they did fine. Just relax and enjoy the fact that baseball is around. Start getting anxious and worrying in July and August.

[C.C.]

There is no way this is anything close to a must win series. The Astros were 10 games under .500 in late May and they did fine. Just relax and enjoy the fact that baseball is around. Start getting anxious and worrying in July and August.

 

Actually they were 15 games under .500.

[Shilzzz]

There is no way this is anything close to a must win series. The Astros were 10 games under .500 in late May and they did fine. Just relax and enjoy the fact that baseball is around. Start getting anxious and worrying in July and August.

 

so, you'd like the cubs to not win as much as possible early on?

[Outshined_One]

There is no way this is anything close to a must win series. The Astros were 10 games under .500 in late May and they did fine. Just relax and enjoy the fact that baseball is around. Start getting anxious and worrying in July and August.

 

so, you'd like the cubs to not win as much as possible early on?

 

Maybe it'll get Dusty fired and the Cubs can make a Jack McKeon or even a Phil Garner-like run at the end of the season. ;)

[Coach C]

Well, I didn't get to see much of yesterday's game, but I'm assuming there is something really wrong with Zambrano...

 

Come on Cobs, there's no reason why you should get whipped by the Pirates. :x

[C.C.]

Well, I didn't get to see much of yesterday's game, but I'm assuming there is something really wrong with Zambrano... :x

 

The only thing that is wrong with Zambrano is what's between his ears.

[Garwilly]

Today's score: Cubs 43 Pirates -4

 

Cubs will take this three game series, 5 games to none.