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Bleed Cubbie Blue

Bleah: Cubs 6, Cardinals 12

Well, the weather was nice.

That's about all there is to say about today's goofy 12-6 Cubs loss to the Cardinals. If you split the game into two halves, the Cubs lost the first 4 1/2 11-0, but won the second half 6-1.

It doesn't work that way, of course, and the game was really over in the first inning when Carlos Zambrano, coming off his no-hitter, started throwing a "no-outer", letting the first four batters reach base and then giving up a grand slam to Adam Kennedy. In so doing, Kennedy doubled his HR total to date this season in over 300 at-bats. It was wind-aided, but it didn't matter. Z was just as bad in the second inning, allowing two more hits and eventually three more runs (one of which scored after Sean Marshall relieved him), and Lou was, according to his remarks at the postgame news conference, irritated with Z for leaving the mound before he came to get him; Lou told him to go back there, and I think that's the least you can do to show some respect to your manager.

Turns out Z's grandmother passed away and he spent most of the time in his days off since the no-hitter traveling back and forth to Venezuela. I can understand Z's mind not really being on his work today, but Lou didn't have a whole lot of other choices -- he was asked that at the news conference but got pretty exasperated; Marshall would have been the only other choice, but can you imagine what the buzz would have been if Marshall had been sent out to start today instead of Z?

The 1.2 inning outing tied this June 22,2005 game vs. the Brewers for the shortest and worst of Z's career; if there's consolation in that, Z faced Milwaukee again six days later and threw eight shutout innings. It's also the second-most runs scored off any pitcher in his next start after a no-hitter; you can find a list here in the cubs.com game recap, and there are a couple of Hall of Famers on it (Dazzy Vance, Catfish Hunter; Jesse Haines is in the Hall, too, but probably shouldn't be).

In any case, when it got to 11-0 Lou emptied the bench and played the rest of the day like a spring training game; only Mike Fontenot (and three Cardinals, Kennedy, Skip Schumaker and Jason LaRue) played the entire game. In that sense, it was a good day to give some of the regulars a rest and give some of the bench players some AB's; Daryle Ward had a good day, with two doubles (I asked Mike, "When do you think was the last time Ward was on third base?" -- after he had gotten there twice. He couldn't think of one. The answer appears to be July 6 in St. Louis, when he had a pinch-double and got thrown out at the plate on a Mike Fontenot single); Ronny Cedeno had a hit and walked twice, and Felix Pie had a nice AB in the 9th, winding up with an opposite-field double.

Conspicuous by his absence from this mass lineup turnover was Kosuke Fukudome, who, logically, should have been inserted in RF in the fifth, with RHP coming out of the St. Louis bullpen, to give him some AB in a non-pressure situation. Instead, Reed Johnson played the rest of the game in RF and Dome only appeared to pinch-hit for Michael Wuertz in the 8th, coming up with an RBI single. Could Dome be left off the postseason roster? It doesn't seem possible, given his defense, but Felix Pie made a case for himself to be included today. Since the Cubs are likely to go with an extra position player rather than 12 pitchers, Pie could be the guy added. Who's odd-man-out? Maybe Bob Howry, although he threw a decent 9th inning.

The Iowa Cubs made an attempt to make the score look respectable in the ninth, with a walk and two doubles scoring two runs and forcing Tony LaRussa to yank Kelvin Jimenez, who was in line for his first career save had he finished the final three innings; instead, Ron Villone came in to strike out Johnson to end it.

I met BCB reader dtpollitt and his dad today; they sat with us and seemed to have a good time despite the result, and they'll be in the upper deck tomorrow. The Cubs ought to be able to shake this one off pretty easily; sometimes it's easier to put a blowout like this behind you rather than a tough late-inning loss. If the Brewers lose tonight, the Cubs can clinch by winning tomorrow afternoon, and even if Milwaukee wins, they can clinch with a win and a Brewer loss. And no worries about the minor injury to Geovany Soto; he didn't have to participate in the carnage today and Lou said in the postgame conference that he'll be "fine".

Finally, the Cardinals have a player named "Brian Barden" and also a player named "Brian Barton". Even though they are easy to tell apart:

Brian Barton

Barton

Brian Barden

Barden

via assets.espn.go.com

... this sort of thing shouldn't be allowed. One of them is going to have to go to another team.

Hey, if you can't have a few laughs after this... right? That's all you can do. Let's get 'em tomorrow. Your official discussion thread for the Brewers/Reds game is here. Go Reds!

0 recs  |  170 comments

Comments

FIRST

Just to say it can be done.

Just heard on Strike Zone Central...

That Zambrano is back on a plane to Venezuala right now. Hope he is able to take care of his family, that comes first.

Wow, he had to go back a second time?

In that case, they probably SHOULD have skipped this start.

That's the way I heard it...

Something about “left after the game”

Could of meant the game the other day, but I’m not sure.

Lou got cranky with the press

when they questioned his playing Z under these circumstances. They had a point, but betrayed their ignorance when repeatedly questioning the “jet lag” incurred … there’s no time difference! Z did mention that his legs felt tired which is entirely understandable. Press thought Lou should have played Marshall instead. They may have a point but why piss off the manager in the process? Lou was not impressed.

We had fun in the game thread. Not that we paid much attention to what was going on in the field.

And Emelie made some awesome stuffed peppers!

Mmmmmm…..

And gave us all a lap dance too!
hee
on my way to Iowa City yesterday...

…great opportunity to listen to the game! Uh, CD player was up and running by the 3rd inning.

sue369: No, I’m not a Hawkeye; my wife is. Came out for new AXO house dedication.

Hope your wife

is cheering right now. The Hawks aren’t looking too sharp.

They're losing to Wanny!

Oh well, the “Hawkeyes will be foin.”

actually

it was a GREAT game thread. One of the more enjoyable ones we’ve had, certainly, during a loss.

Al, there was at least one guy who got flagged a few times, tho, check your email.

Hey! Those were safe for work pics!
no, no...

those were GREAT, and I think you should do them EVERY thread. ESPECIALLY Steeler Girl.

Men!

I yell from the kitchen…

sheesh no kidding!!
you guys get to see

Geo Soto EVERY DAY!

ESPN radio reported that has grandmother passed away last night.

….I find it really bizarre that he started the game today under those circumstances, especially considering he knew he would be going to Venezuala.

I left after the second inning. I had a drunken Sox fan in front of me. Obnoxious.
I guess he wanted to experience

What a playoff race atmosphere is like.

Since the 20,000 fans at the Cell don’t make one.

dang straight

Smellular Field STILL .. this past week didn’t come close to enjoying the attendance Wrigley has.

It always amazes me, and my SIL who is a Sox fan never is able to quite answer this .. WHY, if the White Sox have such great fans, do they never turn out to watch their team?

I've given up with the argument

All they have to say is that whether they play in front of their usual 20K-25K or sellouts every day, they have a ring and we dont. I haven’t been to the Cell since they’ve poured all the extra money into it making it look respectable. I’ve heard nothing but good things since they’ve done it. Maybe I can get a better feeling of why after next Friday.

I went to a White Sox game last month

at the Cell and liked it. They have done a nice job with the ballpark. I hadn’t been there since the first year or two after it opened.

The only bad part about it was that the Sox won. :)

It's OK if theSOX win....

just as long as it doesn’t inflate their ego…(or make fans thinlk it’s OK to rush the field an beat people in the ears)

BTW...St. Lewie...

Musta been fun last week.. :)

Felix sure didn't make a case for himself...

….as a defensive sub with that throw to home. Ugh. Cut off man, Felix, cuf off man.

At the game today

Just a couple thoughts:

-Al, I didn’t realize you had the fancy footwork that you do when I saw you get out of the way of a batting practice rocket towards you in the bleachers.
-My brother and I decided that if we were watching the game on TV, we would have turned it off and if it was MLB 2K8 it would have been restarted.
-Good to see the Farm play somewhat decent. Casey had the first 2 RBIs of his MLB career on some groundouts.
-To really stretch it, it was good that Z was able to throw on schedule but not over extend himself and that everybody got at least one AB as Fukudome’s appearance marked the last position player off the bench.
-WGN was saying it works out better anyways because if all goes well they can celebrate at home in front of 40,000+ instead of by their lonesomes.

Yeah, that ball was a rocket!

If I’d have had a glove I would have tried for it, but I didn’t want a broken hand.

Good news about Geo...

….could it be the hand that he’s always shaking when he misses a good breaking ball? Len and Bob always comment when he does that, but it’s never been explained if that hurts him much or not.

It did seem Lou raised the white flag

when he trotted out the expanded roster guys. Can’t say I blame him. The mojo just wasn’t there today.

wrong white flag

I wish it had a W on it

Cardinals 12, Cubs 6, featuring the bizarro Cubbies!

Daryle Ward gets 2 extra-base hits, Casey McGehee drives in 2 runs, Bob Howry pitches a scoreless inning, Fukudome and Pie get RBI hits.

Meanwhile, Zambrano gives up 8 runs in 1 2/3 innings and Aramis Ramirez fails to come through in the clutch.

Everyone be on the lookout for flying pigs.

lol! you nailed it.
rough game today huh?

Yikes… now Zambrano has almost as many excuses as Houston

Youo don't think his

grandmother passing is a good excuse?

no its a fine excuse

but it is funny how everybody here is saying that the Astros should just suck it up, they are major league ballplayers and that is no excuse to get no hit… no excuse? You mean they dont play at home on a home day, their city is evacuated, their homes and families are in jeopordy… but when big z losses his grandmother, whiich is a GREAT excuse for a bad game, i understand that, but everybody seems to flip flop, instead of going with their original argument that its a major league ballplayer that gets paid a lot of money to do what he does

You make a good point but

I haven’t heard Big Z compain about it or blame the lose of on it. Or making goofy t-shirts. Everyones complaint was about the Astros whinning about everything not that they played poorly

Z was very apologetic about his outing

he appeared quite humble and chastened in his press conference. I felt badly for him.

I saw it too and

felt bad for him.

Z Will Be Fine Come October

I’m expecting the “no hitter Z” to show up in October. Not that he’ll toss another hitless game against the Dodgers or Phils or Mets – I’m talking about the focus and sharpness.

I think he'll be fine too.
Unlike the Astros, Zambrano didn't look for a scapegoat.

He even aplogized to the fans.

To me, this one’s on Lou. He should not have sent Zambrano to pitch yesterday under those circumstances. It was better to let Zambrano rest and mourn than to grant his ill-advidised wish to pitch.

Me too

If I remember hearing correctly when talking about him his grandmother was a huge influence in his life and one of the big reasons he is where he is today.

Fukudome...

How can Piniella even think about leaving Kosuke off the post-season roster?? The $48 million man not playing in October? Ridiculous.

He's not playing now.

Why would October be different?

I don't know...

…if a righty is throwing for the Cards tomorrow, but if so, I predict Fukudome gets a start and makes a posiitve contribution to the clincher.

It's Joel Piniero.

Yes, Dome could start today (Saturday). If he makes a positive contribution, that’d go a long way toward Lou giving him more playing time, especially in the last week, to try to get him back on track.

Offense Is So Much Better With A Good Dome

Captain Obvious, I realize, but the hitting attack is more well-rounded and relentless when Dome is collecting his hits and walks.

I would be shocked

Dome will be on the roster, I predict a bid hit in the playoffs, in at least one of the games

i think fuk u do me will be on the roster... atleast for a pinch runner late in a game
that wasn't necessary

why insult Dome?

really

To think Dome is not busting his tail to get better, he would like nothing more, and so would Lou, to be in rightfield hitting the ball again.
 So your ill attempt at humor failed.

I believe she was

talking about you insulting him by saying his name the way you did. That is disrespecting him and an insult.

I didn't insult anyone

I agreed to Emelie.

Sorry, you are correct.

She was talking to Southside. Sorry!

Not that it matters much

But the Brewers are down 5-0 in the 3rd.

Just Carlos being Carlos

He’s still got to go out and get the job done, he got some days off and it was time to go back to work. Walking off the mound like that isn’t what you want to see from your Ace. But I see it as just a blip.

Cue the Astros Fans (Skip Bayless) wanting an asterix next to Z’s no hitter.

Oddly enough I was at that ’05 game in Milwaukee. I remember walking over to watching him warm up in the bullpen. I blamed myself for that loss as It was my 1st trip to Miller Park.

Hey - is the replay of the no-hitter on WGN-9 in Chicago or not?

All my ‘guides’ say ‘regular programming’. HELP!

Yes!

Should be on WGN-9 and WGN-America both. At 10 CST.

OK, thanks. My DVR is gonna freak out - I'm going to have...

…to tell it record ‘Family Guy’ and ‘stop recording 2 hours late’ – LOL – damn you, Comcast digital guide…

And they're replaying it again tomorrow night at midnight on WGN-America.

In case your recording screws up. Not sure about Channel 9 tomorrow though. I’ll have to check.

I had a hard time

even following the game today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a huge day for the Cubs and their fans.

Same here

I listened off and on to the radio while driving. Going through the game threads, looked like you guys had a pretty good time though. Except for the guy trolling for Theriot arguments.

Oh, we had a good time

with him too, I just don’t think he realized.

True that

seemed like he was mostly pimping his blog. Too bad Cwyers didn’t come on…he would of ate that guy alive.

Yes you guys

handled him well.

I'm interested in why...

Cuz you are way far more loyal than most….sincere ? by me after the fact

Having problems with our

DirecTV receiver and the tech guy was here working on it and he needed my attention. Still not working right. :-(

Let's just hope ...

for NO MORE HURRICANES…..and lot’s o :)’s come late October…..

Weather related or just directtv "not up to it'?

n/t

Not really sure.

Ordered a second reciever in one week just a few minutes ago. Told them this time I wanted a new one and not a refurbished one. Hope this one works.

Brewers have folded up the tents

and gotten on the train back home. This is Exhibit A in the “team going through the motions” exhibit.

Looks that way

9-1 in the 5th.

make's the Manager change

look really stupid

Be nice

to see the Cubs celelbrate tomorrow at Wrigley following a win. Perfecto.

The only bad thing about clinching Saturday afternoon:

Having the Fox announcers call it on TV instead of Len and Bob.

At least it won’t be Joe Buck. Since he’s not interested in baseball anymore, he’ll be doing football on Sunday instead.

We'll still have Ron and Pat.

I don’t necessarily mind clinching on national TV.

I'd imagine that CSN and/or WGN will give you some locker room shots

once the window has closed for FOX.

Watch video...JAM TUNES.....
is there a way to tell which game I'll get on FOX?

I live in Philly, and I’m not sure which Fox game I’ll have to endure

You'll get Brewers at Reds.

Check here.

This one's all on me, guys...

Last night, I said that I would continue to do the predictions, then I was too busy to do them this morning before I left. The Cubs have a much better record when I do them than when I don’t.

I will make sure to do them tomorrow.

Please accept my sincerest apologies (hanging head in shame for neglecting her duty),

DMH

I really don't think it

would have made any difference. They just didn’t have their hearts in it today.

Sorry...quit feelin sorrry 4 urself...

It has NADA NIL NOTHING to do w/ you………MANANA CUBS will be NL Central Champs…feel mgood…go bears…..crappy 2 days…Cubs managed to steal 1….they ALL count..

gotta go out before cincy-milw final so i shall be the first to yell........

Dumb question...

…and YES, I’m jealous that I missed all the fun in the game threads. Theriot has hit .269/.353/.332 since the All-Star Break. Does that worry anyone?

Yes and no.

Yes, because he appears to be wearing down like he did last year.

No, because the team is still winning.

.332 slugging, huh?

Must’ve gotten a triple.

worry?

I don’t know. He’s regressing back to his normal patterns. So he’s meeting expectations, right? :D

Kind of

It’d obviously be better if he could be the table-setter that he was during the first half of this season. I’d like to see Lou give him a few days off.

If he duplicates those...

…numbers in the playoffs, the Cubs should be in good shape. What I want most from him is to make the plays in the field.

yesssssss

i know Lee gets alot of grief for his DP balls, but Theriot really seems to have been hitting tons of DP-type grounders with runners on base, he’s just fast enough to not get doubled up. It also seems that the only threat with Theriot at bat is that he’ll single, so for instance if there’s a runner on first with 2 outs, there’s not really a chance of Theriot driving him in, you can only hope he’ll extend the inning. Thats getting frustrating, and won’t be a very good thing in the playoffs. I’d really like to see Derosa in the 2 hole in the playoffs, with Theriot in the 8, but i doubt we’ll see it.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS

You got your tickets already?

I’m still waiting for mine.

Yesterday

I am a combo plan holder. Did they do those first?

Maybe.

I got my FedEx tracking #, I’m supposed to have mine by Wednesday.

I got my tracking # on Wednesday

The FedEx site said delivery expected by Tuesday 9/23. I laughed – how many days does it take to FedEx from Skokie to Schaumburg? I ended up receiving them the next day (Thursday – yesterday)

Are these available for Saturday delivery?

Or do I have to wait till Monday?

Hmmm. Probably not.

What does your tracking say this morning?

It was at the sort facility by 9 pm last night.

So, maybe today.

Probably be Monday

If it was today the tracking would probably state “on vehicle for delivery” or something like that.

He's cute.
Uno The Beagle

says “Go Cubs Go”.

I remember when

Uno won he was on all the morning shows.

Talk to Ryno for me!

If you think what LaRussa is doing is bad, at least Barton is an outfielder and Barden is an infielder.

Ryno continually used right-handed relievers Jon Mueller and John Muller in the same game—often having one relieve the other.

That was ridiculous.

It's nothing like the '62 Mets, though.

They had two Bob Millers, both pitchers.

Yeah, but that was Casey Stengel

He probably thought they were the same guy. He wasn’t doing it intentionally.

Reminds me of the story I heard Sean Marshall tell in an interview

about both his twin brother relieving him in a game in college and most of the crowd didn’t realize it was a different pitcher!

A CG!

or… not.

OVER....quit losing sleep.....

I officially decalre Cubs NL Central champs…..blah…blah…blah…..This racce is ove…my fear is too soon for the Cubs playoff lives…

U live in P-Town?
PHILS LOSE 14-8

Marlins on fire

ok

so how does the Wild Card look now?

With the Mets-Braves still playing (NY up 7-5 in the 8th)

New York
Philadelphia – tied
Milwaukee – 2 GB
Florida – 4.5 GB
Houston – 4.5 GB
St. Louis – 5.5 GB

By the way, Cubs would be 6.5 up on New York for home field should the Mets win tonight.

so if the Mets lose

the Phillies have the lead for the WC?

This is going to be fun to watch them all fight it out.

No, if the Mets lose

the Philles have the division lead and the Mets have the WC lead. If the Mets win they take over the division lead.

Mets win

they lead the NL East by .5 game over Philadelphia, who leads Milwaukee by 2 games for the Wild Card.

I figured it out

The Cubs misunderstood. They thought it was Play like the Pirates day not Talk Like a Pirate Day

That was actually pretty funny!

I can see the Z

being upset. Each family situation is different. Sometimes Grandparents are closer and more of your parents than your actual parents.
 Onward, hope it works out.
 I did get a kick out of Lou pointing his finger at Z basically saying “get your ass back to the mound”

Clear your head BOY (nino)

Next starrt is strating for all the marbles…

I believe I read that Z was raised by his grandmother.
That's sad.

He was contrite at his press conference and said he was going to apologize to Lou for his lousy performance. Poor guy, under these circumstances he’s forgiven.

the way this team is

The way this team has become such a group I have a feeling if this was the offseason and passports weren’t a problem more than a few fellow Cubbies would go with him.

As it is I wonder if a coach will fly down.

So this is a tough time.

I mean the guy throws a no-no, then his grandmother is ill, talking about highs and lows.
 Get well Z.

For all the Dusty haters.....

Raise one…

Cuz …no matter …I’ll bet Cubs are NL Central Champs manana

Le'ts seee how they deal w/that....

PS……anyony think Dusty feels a minor small bit-0-loyalty????

Actually, no.

But I bet he was glad to see his team play spoiler last night, no matter who it helped out.

I vote Charlie Grimm for No. 1

<img src=“”http://s526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/MortSosna/?action=view&current=JollyCharlieGrimm.jpg" target="_blank">Charlie Grimm"/>

FYI

The guy in the middle with his hand on his face is “Jolly” Charlie Grimm. He doesn’t look very jolly in the picture, but he’s probably smiling tonight up in his skybox.

you know the last time the Cubs went back-to-back years in entering the playoffs where?

07-08, and we aint talking 2000’s

Throw superstition out the window...

cuz it don’t mean shi&

I'm just saying that out of amazement...

seriously, generations have lived and died without seeing the Cubs go two straight years in the playoffs

I was thinking the same thing the other day.

We’ve all seen a lot of things the Cubs have never done in many peoples lifetimes this year – hopefully there’s a much bigger one waiting for us all.

Let the Cubs just win a series...

to get the monkey of pinella’s back…:) (as well as….)

shi&...

People have gone WHOLE LIVES w/o that….

and .... iain't postin this on evil bcb......

BUT…..24 runnners left on base??

No, it's not 24 left on base.

The boxscore lines for each player add up to 24. (Actually, this boxscore says 23.

You have to look down to where it says “Team LOB” to get the correct number. The Brewers left 10 last night.

Beat the snot outta the Mets....

So that “scores” are “scores”…..we don’t want no hard feelin’s goin in playoiffs …do we?

Superstition...

Turds …17 NL Pennants…
Cubs….16….

So…this year means a lot ??

(gee…I mean ….they had to have lots’’years to catch up??)

Tarp coming off the Budweiser rooftop sign.

Per a judge’s restraining order against the building’s new owner.

Good

Freaking owner thinking he can gain more money. He gets money for being a homeowner, deal with the payment being one freakin day late

Yeah, where does an American businessman think he can get away with

taking advantage of others for his own personal gain? By the way, I haven’t read the papers lately. Anything happening on the business page?

Nope - All is well!
I don't know about you all...

but I want to see them celebrate the division championship as soon as the game is over. It is not as fun to wait and see if the Brewers lose. Don’t you think it was better clinching in 2003 than last year. So lets just go out an clinch today on FOX!!!

Has anyone considered that Z might be tipping his pitchs

and the cardnals have figured it out and no one else has? I was wondering this before I heard about his Grandmother, but it could still possible. His last two starts vs the cards have been awful.

I’m sorry to hear about Carlos’s grandmother and my thoughts are with him and his family. Let’s all give him a quick thought when we clinch today.

No. His legs were tired after sitting for hours in an airplane from Venezuela.

His arm angle was low, too, because he was simply too tired to pitch. Lou should have never let Zambrano pitch but let him to please him. (Zambrano wanted to pitch the clincher.) Bad move; well-intentioned, though.

You know...

if I were Lou I would’ve likely made the same decision. Lou has heart. As much as he hates to lose, his heart is big. Z had a no-no, pitching the game meant a lot… I can understand completely.

Baseball Prospectus postseason odds

up to 99.99937%

I think we increase it by .00063% this afternoon.

I dunno, lets increase it by .00092 just for kicks..
If such a thing is possible

I am sure this team will find a way.

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