otis89

The D'Backs are beating the Cards 6-1 in the 7th.

Pretty hard to get out of your slump, when you havent started in 4 days. Hes a young kid, and is going to have slumps like this, but that doesnt mean he should be relagated to Lous coffee getter. In Lou's defense, the same mentality that's keeping Pie out of the lineup are also keeping Jock and Iz-sucksatbaseball-is out of the lineup. Not really. The mentality that keeps Izturis and Jones on the bench is they are proven failure who offer nothing to the team now or in the future. While Pie is a kid who may have a future if he works through struggles. Lou is trying to help Pie work through his struggles, only not in games. He's got him working on a "toe tap" move in the cage and in batting practice to keep him from "twisting" too much. Identifying and attempting to solve problems are things that weren't done here with young players the last few years. Well thats good to hear that Lou is working with him, and not just letting him try work through it on his own. When you say "toe tap" are you meaning Sosa style or different? Something similar. It was hard to follow Lou's dance step when he was demonstrating it in the dugout. Bruce, you are awesome.

And even Hardy has hat some bad days. Didn't he have 3 errors in one game against the Cubs?

Mench homers. Figures.

Gah. More runs would've been nice.

Last I knew, I think the Braves signed him.

Well, at least it got the run in. Tie game!

LaRoche K's. Here comes the inning-ending double play.

Time for LaRoche to not suck for once.

I'm liking this Brewers' defense.

Wow. Bases loaded with nobody out for the Pirates.

Bautista safe at first on a throwing error.

Rajai doubles to lead off the inning!

And Estrada flies out. I'm slow.

Hall K's, Braun steals second.

Fielder flies out to center. 1 down.

Leadoff single for Braun in the 3rd.

The entire rest of the NL Central except the Cubs and Brewers is worthless.

Shane Youman. He'll be making his first appearance this season. Here are his numbers in AAA: 4-6, 4.70 ERA, 1.58 WHIP

so let's review what happened in that span. the fallout from Barrett and Z and the subsequent trade that created a second offensive blackhole in the lineup the fallout from Lou's tantrum and the outrageous 4 game suspension the short end of the stick in a beanball war/dirty play war that basically cost the Cubs a fighting chance in two different ballgames. yet another set of long extra inning games where the offense couldn't scratch together a run. the short end of the stick in another beanball war. an estranged team hero ironically hitting a milestone HR off a pitcher wearing his old uniform number. a disheartening defensive lapse killing a chance at a great comeback. a bullpen meltdown for the ages. 4 fricken pitches? c'mon. a notorious Cub hating umpire 'coincidentally' showing up behind home plate in the biggest series of the year. the team you're chasing crushing your starting pitcher in the first inning two games in a row. a controversially nixed trade for a player and the fallout thereof. a 15 day DL stint for the best (or at a minimum, one of the best ) hitter(s). about 10 days without the closer. a chronically taxed bullpen due to several of the above. say all you want about the level of talent and the way the team is put together, but this is one of the most resilient teams I've ever seen. Simply amazing. If Dusty was still the manager, this team would've curled up and died after everything that happened.

Win again, you pathetic bunch of losers!

And his 1 HR wasn't too long ago either. It was the walk-off 3-run(?) homer against the Astros.

Bastard Brewers. Why can't they just lose for once when they play someone other than the Cubs?

OK. I'm happy the Cubs won and all, but why didn't Lou just let Petrick finish it?

Right now, Pie should be starting because him and Pagan are both hitting like crap, but there's no questioning the fact that Pie's defense is better.