9/2 Astros (Backe) v Cubs (Z!) 7:05 WGN

[IowaCubsFan]

Think tonights game was scary? Take a look at the pitching probables here for the September 6th AND 7th.

 

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp?c_id=cin

 

Holy crap. Marquis' going TWICE? We're so screwed.

 

:-))

[Ski]

A 16 year old is showing more maturity and rationality than a lot of the rest of us.

 

Nice post, Ski...

Thank you. I just don't want people to use the slippery slope fallacy, where if things goes tough for 4 games, we are going to finish 4-20. This team has turned it around before, no reason to believe it won't happen again, and better it happen now then later in september or october.

[erik316wttn]

Zambrano said his arm hurts. Off to see the doctor tomorrow.

 

Anyone trying to tell me the sky's not falling is going to have to make one heck of a case.

 

Now THAT is something to worry about... It's a good thing we have Dempster and Harden... :oops:

 

Ah, yes. There's the Cubs I know...

 

(never mind me, people. I'm just talking out my ass. I don't really mean it, so put down your pitchforks and torches)

[robnail]

Let's be positive. Perhaps tonight signaled the arrival of a mature, pragmatic Zambrano who practices the utmost care and caution when considering his right arm, which he knows is an irreplaceable commodity both on the field and in the hearts of die-hard Cubs fans. All those years of bat busting and Gatorade jug-tossing were prelude to a triumphant coming-of-age just in time for a Cubbie Coronation. And the arrival of the Easter Bunny. Edited September 3, 2008 by robnail

[Little Slide Rooter]

This team has one final hope

 

http://www.goldpanners.com/Seasons/2003/pictures/2003_Team/06_20A_bonds.jpg

[CubInOK]

Let's be positive. Perhaps tonight signaled the arrival of a mature, pragmatic Zambrano who practices the utmost care and caution when considering his right arm, which he knows is an irreplaceable commodity both on the field and in the hearts of die-hard Cubs fans. All those years of bat busting and Gatorade jug-tossing were prelude to a miraculous maturation just in time for a Cubbie Coronation. And the arrival of the Easter Bunny.

Panic.

[98navigator]

Let's be positive. Perhaps tonight signaled the arrival of a mature, pragmatic Zambrano who practices the utmost care and caution when considering his right arm, which he knows is an irreplaceable commodity both on the field and in the hearts of die-hard Cubs fans. All those years of bat busting and Gatorade jug-tossing were prelude to a triumphant coming-of-age just in time for a Cubbie Coronation. And the arrival of the Easter Bunny.

 

What the hell are you talking about? The Gatorade "busting" is done with his left hand. Way to pile on.

[David]

lol at least some of us have a sense of humor about this

[BigSlick]

I knew that when the Cubs had a sizable lead 30 games over .500 that they would be determined to get under that

 

its just the way they are

 

oh well we're still making the playoffs its just lame to go through stretches like this especially with the 2 on no out situation in the 10th

[UMFan83]

Apologies if someone has posted this already but....

 

last nights loss clinched a losing homestand for the first time since April (April 29-May 1 vs. Milwaukee) and our first multi-series homestand ALL YEAR.

 

Also, as we all know this is our first series loss altogether since losing 2/3 at Houston just after the All Star break,

 

That said, its going to take more then 4 games to erase the confidence that 135 games built. Snap out of this slump and get Z healthy by October 1.

[Ski]

This is a post I made in the reassurance thread:

 

I know some people are panicking (unless that panic has worn off) so I'll try my best to reassure everyone. Going into yesterday's game, Cubs still had a 99.8 percent chance of making the playoffs. BP postseason odds haven't updated yet, but I doubt it dropped much, if at all. Also, please don't assume that just because we're on a four game skid means we're going to go 1-22 (exaggeration) for the rest of the season. Every game is a new game. We've been facing good pitching, and a lot of things went wrong in the Backe game. The offense showed signs of waking up last night, and we have our ace going tonight. I expect the offense to put up another good showing, and Dempster to pitch well. Cubs will win 6-1. Remember that it would take both a great collase by the Cubs and a couple great runs by the Brewers and Phillies to keep the Cubs out of October. So let's just relax, okay?

[sweetpeteman]

This is a post I made in the reassurance thread:

 

I know some people are panicking (unless that panic has worn off) so I'll try my best to reassure everyone. Going into yesterday's game, Cubs still had a 99.8 percent chance of making the playoffs. BP postseason odds haven't updated yet, but I doubt it dropped much, if at all. Also, please don't assume that just because we're on a four game skid means we're going to go 1-22 (exaggeration) for the rest of the season. Every game is a new game. We've been facing good pitching, and a lot of things went wrong in the Backe game. The offense showed signs of waking up last night, and we have our ace going tonight. I expect the offense to put up another good showing, and Dempster to pitch well. Cubs will win 6-1. Remember that it would take both a great collase by the Cubs and a couple great runs by the Brewers and Phillies to keep the Cubs out of October. So let's just relax, okay?

 

1-22? Ha! Like the Cobs are going to win a game.

 

 

 

 

Seriously, lets put this game this way:

 

The offense scored 7 runs on 15 hits with 8 BBs, with 4 homers and 3 doubles. Z went 5 on 86 pitches and gave up 3ER on 5 hits and 3 BB. The bullpen pitched 5 innings of 1 hit ball...

 

 

Unfortunately those 5 innings came between Howry proving he is worthless and Wood running out of gas.

 

I put this loss on Lou. There is no way in hell he should have used Howry there. Not with Wuertz, Guz, Lieber and Cotts available. At least with the other pitchers there is a chance of good things happening (as shown by Wuertz and Guz). With Howry, the outcome is obvious. Nobody was surprised at Howry sucking.

[UMFan83]

Looking for good captions:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2008-09/42064562.jpg

 

Howry: Hey Lou, is that foam coming out of your mouth?

[UMFan83]

http://www.fangraphs.com/tgraphs/20080902_Astros_Cubs_0.png

 

Wow, looks like the Cubs were around or above a 70% probability of winning the game five separate times yesterday, only to go back to 50% or below all 5 times