bukie

The incredible moving strike zone gets one last strikeout.

Dusty tries to give the Cubs a free out, but the Cubs graciously reject the offer.

So the Cubs really need to score a couple more for the greater good...

Maybe he means Ward can't do anything else. He's 100% hitter. You'll get no running, fielding or throwing out of him.

Ok, 2 in scoring position for Blanco...

Ding Ding Ding! Tell him what he's won, Johnny! Well, today, he'll be going home with this wonderful 4-run deficit, and the knowledge that the #2 pitcher in the rotation can't be counted on for 5 innings! That's an eight million dollar value, folks!

Pitching change anyway! Jared Burton in.

Volquez batting with 2 outs and none on, so apparently Dusty's pitch counting machine (Dick Pole?) is broken.

I'd wager that if Volquez's spot in the order doesn't come up here, he'll go back out to the mound for the 6th.

I do have to say, though, I have been very impressed with the Cub hitters' patience in this game. Volquez has thrown 112 pitches through just 5 innings, and the Cubs only have 4 hits. Almost every hitter has been working the count. This is the way to deal with a good pitcher.

Lee grounds out on what might have been ball 4, depending where the zone was on the pitch.

It's like one of those video games with the constantly moving target as a strike zone today.

Not to mention, the Cubs had a starter on the ropes struggling with control, and they give him two free outs.

Well, that may be a first, giving up 2 outs to move runners along one base.

So, apparently Gameday was wrong and it wasn't 3-0, but... Blanco trying to bunt with 2 strikes in front of a pitcher who can't hit at all, bunts foul for a strikeout, and the pitcher bats anyway? What the heck were the Cubs thinking?

So help me if Blanco is bunting 3-0.

Unfortunately, one of the better options is in AAA because the Cubs didn't need another left fielder.

Gotta rest the man sometime. I agree, you need to rest Reed Johnson sometime.

DeRosa walks in front of Soto....err, no, Reed Johnson. :(

The Cubs just need to continue to be patient up at the plate, and maybe tell Fontenot and Blanco to just lean into a couple to get on base or something to keep the rallies going.

Lilly still leaving a lot of pitches up. Makes me nervous.

Boston over Atlanta in 4 Detroit over Philadelphia in 5 Orlando over Toronto in 5 Cleveland over Washington in 5 LA over Denver in 5 New Orleans over Dallas in 7 Phoenix over San Antonio in 6 Utah over Houston in 6 Boston over Cleveland in 5 Detroit over Orlando in 5 Utah over LA in 6 New Orleans over Phoenix in 7 Boston over Detroit in 7 Utah over New Orleans in 6 Boston over Utah in 5

Thanks Tim. I am not so much overrating the importance of "Ozzie Ball" but trying to express how much Podsednik meant to that team in '05 and that the trade for Lee was the right move for the Sox to make. I guess when you speak into a canyon the words just end up echoing back. ;) But do you completely discount the possibility that the fact that the Sox won the world series was completely unrelated to that trade? The facts remain that the only areas where the Sox were above average in '05 was overall pitching and offensive home runs. Of the 12 pitchers that regularly contributed to that 2005 team, 11 of them pitched completely out of their minds for that entire year (Garcia possibly being an exception since he had similar statistical years), and the 12th (Hernandez) magically became completely unhittable in the playoffs. No other team that year or since has had that kind of dominance in pitching. I consider it a disservice to that team to claim "smartball" had anything to do with that season going well. If anything, it prevented easy wins because of a propensity to give away outs with overzealous SB attempts and sacrifices. EDIT: Corrected with Garcia the one not having a career year. He did have better years, but his 2005 was still above average. Buehrle did have his best year in '05.

Have to admit, I don't understand the bizarre schadenfreude towards Corey Patterson. The Cubs' management screwed with his development, he had an awful injury in 2003 when he was just starting to get it, he contributed well in 2004, and then somehow became the poster boy for everything that was wrong with the team from 2005 on.

I believe he was traded for 4 good innings of Steve Trachsel.