CubmanPi

He has sucked lately, but I can't really blame him for that. It is a reaction. one that he needs to stop. Agreed, the barehanding thing has been an issue with him for a while. I wonder if the team is within their rights to fine him for that, now that they're paying $18 mil/yr for that hand.

How did they not get the lead runner there?! I really hope Lou punches Z in the mouth as soon as they're in private.

He really needs to be out of this game. You have a team that plays around you, Z. Don't be a douche.

#@$%^%@ Dammit Z. Throw fastballs to Lee, not cutters.

Pierre still has yet to Pierre... and where did ball 4 miss, other than to blanco's right?

Good to see both managers just plain don't give a crap.

After so many pinch hit homeruns, Lou decided it would take a start or two to justify leaving Murton on the bench the rest of the month.

You answered your own question, its cause of the Jerry Lewis telethon. I know telethons are for a good cause or whatever, but unless they're selling Cubs tickets, they should really be forced to work around the Cubs, not the other way around.

Hopefully this means Pitt will have a snowball's chance today. Pitt should have a chance this series when looking at who Stl is starting Wells, Pinero, Mulder, and Maroth. The Pirates should score some runs, lets hope they can stop Stl(Ankiel and Pujols) from scoring runs Only problem is that when looking at who StL is starting, they should still be 9 or 10 games out. I predict they pitch two shutouts this series against pittsburgh.

Yeah, to the best of my knowledge, that's been the only knock on Wuertz all along; his command. I dont think he trusts his fastball enough. I understand his slider is his "out" pitch, but he gets way to slider happy. Its usually not a strike so I think alot of smarter hitters go up there basically with no intention to swing knowing that the slider wont be a strike. His WHIP is high, thanks to that 9BB/9IP part, but his 13.50 K/9 has kept his ERA at a reasonable level over whatever stretch it is that Fred's numbers covered. He's having a rough stretch, but I think those numbers are good reason to believe the hardcore wuertz will be back someday, possibly sooner rather than later.

I just turned on the tv and went looking for WGN, and when I got there and found the Jerry Lewis telethon lasting until two hours past when I thought the game was starting, I about had a heart attack. Why does this game have to be at such a weird time anyway?!

Hopefully this means Pitt will have a snowball's chance today.

Same here. I'm starting to wish I had voted for him.

They'll need it. All 3 of us have home series followed by a long stretch on the road(where we're the only one of the three that is any good). If we're still up more than a game by Friday then I say we're up 4 games on everyone by the end of our trip to StL. Agreed. This week the Cubs just need to try to hold on to the lead in any way possible, because after Thursday the Cubs play nobody besides St Louis in playoff contention. The Cardinals meanwhile will still have 3 against Arizona, 5 against the Cubs, 3 against the Phillies, 3 against Milwaukee, and 1 against the Mets. The Brewers would still have that 4 game series against San Diego along with 4 at Atlanta and the 3 against St. Louis. That's why I honestly don't mind if the Cubs drop a game between now and Friday, because I think they have the easier way in after that. Yea, the Cubs have the easiest way in starting this Friday, but that kinda creeps me out. All these bottom feeders the Brewers and Cardinals will be beating to keep pace with the Cubs are going to be the same bottom feeders that all of a sudden spring to life and play spoiler against the Cubs. I'd really enjoy seeing the Cubs put to rest the whining about their easy schedule by definitively destroying the Dodgers and gaining a game of ground this week. (I know what the odds of this happening are, but the series hasn't started yet so I can still dream.)

I tend to agree with you, jigs. Sadly, it seems that the umps become ego-maniacal in their own right, and they "test" teams to see which ones will respond and which ones won't. One of the things I had hoped Lou would do was to stand up to some of these guys. And he hasn't, for the most part. That's sad. We all watch a lot of baseball -- just seems to me that the umps do this, and I was also glad to see ARam finally say something about it. When the Cubs have gone through their unsuccessful stretches this season, umpiring is usually dead last on the list of legitimate scapegoats. I'm glad they haven't been saying anything more often - they realize their biggest problems are internal.

Hey Z - do you remember that one month where you sucked the entire time? It's over now. You don't have to suck anymore.

That's a sweep for both teams over the Reds and Pirates, correct? I'm going to be seriously pissed if the Cubs don't show up against either one of those teams.

Len and Bob were also commenting on Lee being a historically good September hitter, which one could argue (I guess) has held true thru two days this season. With the bullpen pitching the way it is and the rotation usually playing above average, the missing power coming back is enough to make this September resemble the one we saw in 03.

How about he gives props to Murton by starting him more often. That way he would have 4 AB's to do what he did today rather than just one. I don't know if that's such a good idea. With all the starts Floyd and Monroe have been getting, they have all the experience this season, and experience is what's important. Or something. Nope, can't do it. I tried to say something stupid enough to argue with you, but there's just no other answer.

I wonder if Lou is convinced that it's time to give more than a start and 2 PHs a week.

Get in line. :sig: I called sloppy seconds.

Eh, they're both huge wins. This one is in September though, so I can see why he says that. This kind of win can bring a ton of energy to a team that needs it right now. Yea, I agree - The walkoff was huge, it was against the first place team at the time, and it extended the streak to seven, but this was the difference between losing a series to a team you're really supposed to be and being only a game up on third place to a series win in September, keeping your breathing room, and bringing a little momentum into a big series against a contender.

Lou gives props to Murt, bullpen, and the clutch "Mr. Lee." He still hasn't caught his breath either.

It was all fine and dandy when Sori sac'd and Riot had the RBI and the offense showed a little life, but ARam's ejection made it pretty hard to believe that the charge would continue. What a great win. Wow. I'm going to be walking on air the rest of the day.

And let me just say, all is good (with regards to this series). I'm too lazy to dig for it, otherwise I'd quote my post from after Aram's ejection when the score was 5-4 I said the Astros would need seven runs today if they wanted to beat the Cubs. How does it go again? Completely something something by September, or something... I forgot. So did the Cubs.