UMFan83

A bad lefty. We should mash him tonight. But with Reed out, I hate our lineup against lefties. I think this will be our lineup Fukudome, CF Theriot, SS Lee, 1B Ramirez, 3B Soto, C Murton, LF DeRosa, RF Fontenot, 2B Lilly, P If Cedeno didn't look awful last night, he'd be in there over the lefty Fontenot.

Putting the ball in play isn't the goal there. Brenly was begging for him to strikeout to limit the damage. I think he went up with a swing hard in case you hit it attitude. But his eye was horrible. A groundout would be even worse than the K, and the only fly ball that scores a run is a very deep one with pudgey on third. Had he not swung at all he would have been better off. If Markakis wasn't in RF, a decently hit fly ball scores the run and potentially gets the runner to third (DeRosa) with 1 out. Probably not now that I think about it, because the Orioles would probably concede the run in order to ensure the tying run doesn't get to third.

They were down 7-1 and came within a single of tying it in the 9th. Let's be honest here... 2 of the guys batting in the 9th should never even bat in big spots and the other (Fukudome) had no chance against Sherrill. They still showed the ability to come back. Exactly. Once they fell behind 7-1, they had no business being in the game. The fact that they were within a single of tying it or a double of winning it in the 9th with 3 chances is more of a testament to how really, really good this team is. Agree completely about how this game shows the team is a good team after being down 7-1 and fighting back to a single away from a tie, it helps me to get over the losses much easier than normal. I've slept on it, and you guys do have a point. However, it still sickens me somewhat that such good patience was shown to load the bases, and then it all went out the window with the last 3 hitters of the game. All that hard work wasted for no good reason. If the Orioles had made some good defensive plays, or the Cubs had worked the count then struck out on some nasty pitches, I'd have been more accepting. But those were three terrible AB's with the game on the line. We showed moderate patience. I don't think Soto's or Theriot's hits were anything special...both could have easily have been outs, and Theriots hit, if 2 feet in either direction, could have been a DP. They did work the count to get into a situation where they could make solid contact with the ball however. As soon as Cedeno swung at the first pitch I knew we were screwed.

As much as I complain about the Cardinals flukiness, as Cubs fans we can't complain that we are in a harder division considering we've managed to make 3 playoff appearances in the last 10 years despite 1989 being the last year we've won 90 games (in 162 games). We won the freaking division with 85 wins last year, and right now 85 wins looks like it will be good for 3rd place in the division.

Sherrill's last 3 year splits: vs. LH: .151/.220/.259/.479 vs. RH: .257/.370/.342/.712 Like it or not it was the right move. We just picked a horrible time to have 2 lefties coming up. Cedeno's AB was inexcusable however. This is the first game I feel like injuries really killed us. In the 8th, it would have been awesome to have lefty killer Reed Johnson in there to PH and at least give us the chance of a game tying XBH. Instead we have Matt Murton, who looks like he stopped eating his Wheaties a long time ago. And as bad as Zambrano has been lately, its hard to imagine he would have pitched as poorly as Marshall last night during his regularly scheduled rotation spot. Obviously, having Soriano in the lineup would have been awesome all game as well. While you can't assume that all things would have remained the same, but if he was up in that spot instead of Fukudome, we have a better shot of getting a hit IMO. We are basically treading water, at 6-5 since Soriano went down....which is probably to be expected with everything that's gone on.

I just hope people realize how much tongue and cheek humor there is in my post.

I certainly don't think the O's will be excited about trading Brian Roberts for him after that AB

Just got back from the game. Really really annoying game. Some thoughts: -Cedeno showed who he really is. It's too bad Lou never gave him extensive playing time when he was playing well. We'll never know what could have been. In April he was working the count in every AB. With less playing time and less confidence he looked miserable. -Another loss that we could easily have won. Doesn't it seem like all of our losses are like that? That 6th inning killed us. Routine fly ball drops, then a barage of 2 out runs. Just awful. -Why why why do the Cubs have to put these 9th inning fake rallys up. As most of you know, I am completely irrational and take all losses hard until I regain sanity and perspective. In a game like this, I have already worked hard to accept a loss. When you put these types of fake rallys that get my hopes up...it KILLS me. I'm not talking about little 1st and 2nd 2 out rallys. I'm talking about getting the tying run on 3rd with 1 out in Tampa last week. I'm talking about loaded the bases with 0 outs down 2 tonight. You're killing me. Just go quietly into the damn night. And because people looooooooooooooove my pessimism, here is the most pessimistic thought I can possibly think of tonight...enjoy: Boy this sure seems a lot like 2001. Fast start, best record in the league, unexpected unsustainable performances, and despite all this 2 teams lurk just below us (2001: St. Louis/Houston, 2008: St. Louis/Milwaukee) ready to pounce if we falter.

If Johnson is on the DL people can now shut up about how lucky the Cubs are. Now their star OF has been on the DL twice, their ace is on their DL, their key bench player has missed over a month including almost all of interleague play in AL parks, and now their LH platoon CF is on the DL.

This.

I'll be there with Mark. Hopefully if we meet, I won't 'embarrass' you with my pessimism ;) J/K

http://www.brewerfan.net http://www.brewcrewball.com http://www.jsonline.com

Cameron HR. 2-0 Brewers

Fontenot actually has grown on me. His OBP is decent, and he can hit for a bit of power. He's a pretty decent pinch hitter/bench player.

Wright is a tossup? Really? I know he's having a down half but c'mon

The performance of Ludwick, Schumaker and Miles notwithstanding the key point is they're not pitchers, barring any trades the St. Louis staff is going to be their undoing. The bullpen is currently 24 of 30 in ERA, we've seen some of it and its not good, the starters are 9 of 30 in ERA - with the likes of Looper, Lohse, Piniero and Mitchell Boggs (who is 2-0 despite issuing more BB's than K's along with more hits than IP and 3 HR's in 16.1 IP!) - do you really believe this group is going to keep this up? They made Jeff Weaver into a stud. They can and will keep it up. Considering Weaver's performances before and after his time with the Cardinals, Duncan should goto the HOF on that alone.

Depends, would the person offering this deal be throwing hot girls at me and having them come onto me? It might be hard to do in that respect. In my current lifestyle where I only have as much success as the effort I put into it, I'm sure I could go for quite some time. I really want a Cubs World Series. Let's put it this way. I've turned down sex from my girlfriend before because I've wanted to watch a Cubs game, but I've never not watched a Cubs game because I've wanted to have sex.

2007 Cubs +62 2007 DBacks -20

So Eyre is getting the trash talk started for the next series huh?

He sometimes looks like he's completely guessing out there, and guessing wrong. I don't remember nearly as many swing and misses in April as I've seen the last month or so. In April everyone probably projected him as a .300/30/100 guy....now we just have to lower his expectations a bit. Maybe .265/20/80 with a .360 OBP and a .480 slg. which is great for a plus defensive catcher.

When we launch a forum specifically designed to lament about the White Sox, we can begin to talk about the lack of differences between the fanbases.

I just realized the top 3 records in the NL belong to NL Central teams.

Last 5 innings for the Red Sox -Bases loaded 2 outs -1,2,3 -Runner at 3rd, 1 out -Bases loaded 1 out -Runner at 2nd, 0 outs Total runs scored: 1

I can't believe this is a first place team and last years World Series winner.

Holy hell is this annoying.