6/4 Mega Cubs (Lilly) @ Padres (Maddux) 9:05 WGN TV

erik316wttn · June 4, 2008

Nine in a row! This team is on fire. Actually, fire is too tepid of a substance to describe what sort of hot thing the Cubs are on.

Tonight, the Cubs send all-or-nothing starter Ted Lilly to the mound

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/65x90/6223.jpg

5-4, 5.54 ERA, 1.40 WHIP

Please be the Good Lilly today, and not the bad, Marquis-esqe Lilly who will be roundly taunted and mocked if you don't do well

Lilly faces certain first-ballot HOF'er and two-time former Cub Greg Maddux

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/65x90/3933.jpg

3-4, 3.69 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

I'd rather face Maddux at Wrigley at this point in his career, as he only has a 1.84 ERA in five home starts this year. He's in the ultimate pitcher's park. He may not be the pitcher he once was, but he can still get it done.

If they win tonight, tomorrow they're upgraded to Ultra Cubs.

Go Mega Cubs!

Little Slide Rooter · June 4, 2008

last minute change. The Padres have signed David Wells and will pitch him in Maddux' spot tonight.

Did anyone else see him last night? He cant still be thinking come back can he, unless he meant WWF. I hear LOD needs a new member.

Derwood · June 4, 2008

jebus, another late game. i'm going to be a wreck by the end of the week, especially when we have a string of FTH? 10:40 EDT starts in LA

UMFan83 · June 4, 2008

This will be a tough game. As stated above, Maddux is tough at Petco. Probably because its tough to take an 84 MPH fastball through the marine layer and out of the park.

The Cubs offense has been hitting so well though I think we'll score a few off him. It will be up to Lilly to stifle the Padres and go at least 7.

Funny note: Through 2 games this series, the Padres have scored 12 runs. When the Padres came to Wrigley last month, the offense scored only 12 runs in a 4 game series.

More funny notes: If we win today, we will sweep 4 of the 5 NL West teams this year. The only team we haven't swept is San Francisco, who we haven't played yet. Right now the Cubs are 25-5 against the West and the Pirates and 13-16 against everyone else.

Edited June 4, 2008 by UMFan83

UMFan83 · June 4, 2008

jebus, another late game. i'm going to be a wreck by the end of the week, especially when we have a string of FTH? 10:40 EDT starts in LA

Theres only one 10:40 start against the Dodgers, and its on Friday.

Th - 10:10 EST

F - 10:40 EST

Sa - 3:55 EST

Su - 8:05 EST

And then back to Wrigley and normal start times

Derwood · June 4, 2008

jebus, another late game. i'm going to be a wreck by the end of the week, especially when we have a string of FTH? 10:40 EDT starts in LA

Theres only one 10:40 start against the Dodgers, and its on Friday.

Th - 10:10 EST
F - 10:40 EST
Sa - 3:55 EST
Su - 8:05 EST

And then back to Wrigley and normal start times

one is enough ;)

Jon · June 4, 2008

This streak is pretty impressive considering the lack of production come from Soto and especially Lee, with his .629 OPS during the winning streak and .658 OPS since May 4th. Fukudome picked a good time to break out of his slump.

And we haven't gotten anything out of Rich Hill. This is all so strange to me...

nikao · June 4, 2008

For the record, my son was born a week ago Monday and the Cubs haven't lost since. Coincidence?

I agree--Lilly better have his good stuff tonight.

BigbadB · June 4, 2008

Yay. The Saturday game will likely be the Fox game of the week in my neck of the woods.

Soul · June 4, 2008

This streak is pretty impressive considering the lack of production come from Soto and especially Lee, with his .629 OPS during the winning streak and .658 OPS since May 4th. Fukudome picked a good time to break out of his slump.

And we haven't gotten anything out of Rich Hill. This is all so strange to me...

Lee got cold. Soriano got hot. That's what good offenses are able to do, my man :)

And Teddy: Don't disappoint me, bud. :cool:

Jon · June 4, 2008

For the record, my son was born a week ago Monday and the Cubs haven't lost since. Coincidence?

I agree--Lilly better have his good stuff tonight.

Congrats. At the very least you'll have a good story to tell him about the winning streak he brought.

Lilly has really gotten hurt by the long ball this year. Tonight would be a nice time for a rebound game. It'd also be nice if he could get to at least the 6th this time.

Jon · June 4, 2008

This streak is pretty impressive considering the lack of production come from Soto and especially Lee, with his .629 OPS during the winning streak and .658 OPS since May 4th. Fukudome picked a good time to break out of his slump.

And we haven't gotten anything out of Rich Hill. This is all so strange to me...

Lee got cold. Soriano got hot. That's what good offenses are able to do, my man :)

And Teddy: Don't disappoint me, bud. :cool:

They've alternated pretty nicely so far this season. Let's hope it continues, because the offense is clearly good enough to afford to have two or three guys struggling at any given time. It's certainly better than having the entire offense either be on or off.

bukie · June 4, 2008

Lilly's pitching style (super flyball pitcher, lots of pitches up) would seem to be custom-fit for this park, so it would be really nice to get another win.

Would it be too much to ask to win a game by, say, 5 runs this time, though?

C.C. · June 4, 2008

How about a complete game from Lilly tonight.

erik316wttn · June 4, 2008

How about a complete game from Lilly tonight.

I'd go for that. 2 runs through 9? I'd take it.

UMFan83 · June 4, 2008

How about a complete game from Lilly tonight.

The only way that will happen is if a highly uncharacteristic storm hits SD and washes the game out after 6 innings.

C.C. · June 4, 2008

How about a complete game from Lilly tonight.

The only way that will happen is if a highly uncharacteristic storm hits SD and washes the game out after 6 innings.

Whatever it takes

UMFan83 · June 4, 2008

Just for fun, based on projected numbers, this is how the Cubs would look at the end of the season. Imagine facing this lineup and rotation in the NLDS:

Soriano, LF  - .285/.330/.565/.895  47 HR 130 RBI
Theriot, SS  - .321/.407/.386/.793   3 HR  47 RBI
Lee, 1B      - .291/.346/.525/.870  36 HR 105 RBI
Ramirez, 3B  - .317/.428/.540/.968  26 HR 115 RBI
Fukudome, RF - .305/.409/.433/.842   9 HR  62 RBI
Soto, C      - .293/.384/.560/.944  29 HR 113 RBI
DeRosa, 2B   - .299/.390/.465/.855  17 HR  89 RBI
Johnson, CF  - .266/.346/.367/.713   6 HR  76 RBI

Zambrano     - 22-3  2.51 ERA 1.22 WHIP 157 K
Dempster     - 19-5  2.75 ERA 1.12 WHIP 173 K
Lilly        - 14-11 5.54 ERA 1.40 WHIP 167 K

Marmol       - 3-3   2.43 ERA 0.81 WHIP 151 K 47 H (102 IP)
Wood         - 5-3   2.78 ERA 0.80 WHIP 100 K 44 S (88 IP)

Omar · June 4, 2008

Cubs Vs. Maddux

                    **PA**  AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  
+-----------------+-------+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Derrek Lee           61    57  14  2  1  1   6   3  12  .246  .279  .368  .647 
Jim Edmonds          41    40  11  3  0  2   4   1   8  .275  .293  .500  .793 
Aramis Ramirez       21    18   6  1  1  0   1   3   3  .333  .429  .500  .929 
Henry Blanco         16    16   6  1  0  1   1   0   3  .375  .375  .625 1.000 
Jason Marquis        12    12   3  0  0  0   0   0   1  .250  .250  .250  .500 
Jon Lieber            9     9   0  0  0  0   0   0   4  .000  .000  .000  .000 
Alfonso Soriano       9     9   3  0  0  0   0   0   1  .333  .333  .333  .666 
Ryan Theriot          8     7   2  0  0  0   2   0   1  .286  .250  .286  .536 
Ryan Dempster         6     6   1  0  0  0   1   0   3  .167  .167  .167  .334 
Ronny Cedeno          4     4   2  0  0  0   0   0   0  .500  .500  .500 1.000 
Kerry Wood            4     2   0  0  0  0   0   0   1  .000  .000  .000  .000 
Mark DeRosa           3     3   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 
Mike Fontenot         3     3   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 
Kosuke Fukudome       2     2   1  0  0  0   0   0   0  .500  .500  .500 1.000 
+-----------------+-------+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Total               199   188  49  7  2  4  15   7  37  .261  .284  .383  .667

Padres Vs. Lilly

                    **PA**  AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  
+-----------------+-------+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Tony Clark           21    21   5  1  0  1   3   0   6  .238  .238  .429  .667 
Tadahito Iguchi      14    12   4  0  0  2   5   2   4  .333  .429  .833 1.262 
Jody Gerut            9     8   3  1  0  0   0   1   2  .375  .444  .500  .944 
Brian Giles           8     6   0  0  0  0   0   2   2  .000  .250  .000  .250 
Khalil Greene         8     7   1  0  0  0   1   0   1  .143  .125  .143  .268 
Adrian Gonzalez       7     5   1  0  1  0   1   1   2  .200  .429  .600 1.029 
Scott Hairston        7     7   3  0  0  1   1   0   1  .429  .429  .857 1.286 
Kevin Kouzmanoff      6     6   1  1  0  0   0   0   2  .167  .167  .333  .500 
Michael Barrett       3     3   1  1  0  0   0   0   2  .333  .333  .667 1.000 
Justin Huber          3     3   1  0  0  0   0   0   2  .333  .333  .333  .666 
Edgar Gonzalez        1     1   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  .000  .000  .000  .000 
+-----------------+-------+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Total                87    79  20  4  1  4  11   6  24  .253  .310  .481  .791