Pick Up The Pieces: Cubs vs. Braves, Wednesday 6/3, 6:10 CT

by Al Yellon on Jun 3, 2009 4:00 PM CDT in Chicago Cubs Game Threads

Well, did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
And is it over now -- do you know how
Pick up the pieces and go home -- Fleetwood Mac, "Gold Dust Woman"

No, this season is not "over now", but if the Cubs are going to show some of the heart that any championship team has, they'll have to pick up the pieces of last night's shattered game and defeat the Braves tonight. They have now lost seven consecutive road games and you don't want that to become a habit.

In the thread this morning, someone mentioned this game vs. the Mets at Shea on May 17, 2007, a similar epic meltdown to last night where the bullpen (in that case, Ryan Dempster and Scott Eyre) blew a four-run 9th-inning lead and the Cubs lost 6-5. They were at the time under .500 and seven games out of first place. And yet, that team came back to make the playoffs. (Oh, and just for grins, take note of who started that game, and pitched pretty well.)

Rich Harden is doing well in his rehab:

Harden, who last pitched May 17, is to throw a longer pen on Thursday and then either throw a simulated game or a make a minor-league rehab start a few days after that.

Barring a setback, that could put him on pace for a return to the rotation when the team returns home for a three-game series June 12-14 against Minnesota.

But the team isn't suffering without him in the rotation. The bullpen is where the Cubs need help. I'm not suggesting that Harden be moved to relief, either -- but the pen, which was (mostly) blown up over the winter, needs to be fixed.

Oddity: on their 25-man rosters, the Cubs and Braves both have players named Soriano, Johnson and Blanco, and each team has a Japanese native.

Via Twittermyer, tonight's lineup:

Soriano, lf; Theriot, 2b; Fukudome, rf; Lee, 1b; Fontenot, 3b; Johnson, cf; Hill, c; Blanco, 2b; Lilly, p (Ted batting ninth again)

Today's Starting Pitchers


Ted Lilly Cubs	vs.	Derek Lowe Braves

5-4	W-L	6-3
3.77	ERA	3.49
47	SO	41
14	BB	22
10	HR	2
vs. Atl	--	vs. Cubs

It seems like Derek Lowe has always been tough on the Cubs, but in eight career starts he's only 2-1, 3.25, slightly better than his career totals. Of the current Cubs, Derrek Lee -- who hit well last night -- hits him well (11-for 28, .393, a HR). So does Reed Johnson, who'll likely get more playing time tonight with Milton Bradley's status iffy (4-for-11, a double, 5 RBI).

Ted Lilly has been the Cubs' most consistent starter all year. The only thing he's done poorly is allow too many homers -- 10 of them. But the only player on the Braves' active roster who has homered off Ted is little-used reserve Greg Norton. The thing that's going to keep the Cubs afloat in these tough times is the good starting pitching they've received. I expect that to continue tonight.

Maybe you'd have been happier if last night's game had NOT been on WGN. You've got your wish tonight -- cable only. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Overflow comment threads will post today at 7 pm, 8 pm and 8:45 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

0 recs | 118 comments

Comments

1

.21 GIGAWATTS!

Craig in South Bend - June 3, 2009 reply

Oops

Also meant to say, lets get a win today and erase what happened yesterday.

Craig in South Bend - June 3, 2009 reply

What?!?

Comment here instead of the morning thread?

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

That morning thread

was getting a little slow

gwood - June 3, 2009 reply

890 comments will do that

and all that lead and flames thrown around made for a very heavy thread.

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

Little wishful thinking

Al, showing Theriot at 2b?

gwood - June 3, 2009 reply

I bet it was a Freudian slip

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

Either that or second base is going to be crowded tonight.

Theriot and Blanco will have to share.

Blue W - June 3, 2009 reply

Lou is apparently

letting Cox know that we will be playing a lefty shift all night.

gwood - June 3, 2009 reply

Theriot will still be charged with the error.

daver - June 3, 2009 reply

Wishful thinking indeed...

apparently either Piniella is going with the idea that playing the same position is better than moving around, or he doesn’t realize that Blanco is a better defensive shortstop than Theriot.

SouthernCub - June 3, 2009 reply

Amidst all the turmoil

nobody mentioned what happened six years ago today…

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

Singer/songwriter Gary "U.S." Bonds' 63rd birthday?!

Blue W - June 3, 2009 reply

No dude,

EVERYBODY knows Gary U.S. Bonds’ birthday is June 6th.

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

Dang it! I should have went with my first guess.

National Applesauce Cake Day!

Blue W - June 3, 2009 reply

You keep thinking today's June 6th

but you keep directing me to search for funny stuff.

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

You're right,

I completely spaced out for a while… I’m back in the present now.

Blue W - June 3, 2009 reply

Sorry Chilango2

meant to wish you a Happy Cork Day earlier, but got busy at work and completely forgot. Roses are on the way…

DamonBerryhillsMitt - June 3, 2009 reply

Wait...

…Happy WHAT Day?

daver - June 3, 2009 reply

Cork

Happy Cork Day, Daver.

DamonBerryhillsMitt - June 3, 2009 reply

Ohhhhhhhhhh.

I was about to get either really excited or really scared.

daver - June 3, 2009 reply

Haha

DamonBerryhillsMitt - June 3, 2009 reply

6 years ago?

Wow.

Allie - June 3, 2009 reply

You're

getting warmer…

DamonBerryhillsMitt - June 3, 2009 reply

I refuse to acknowledge any other events from said game

nji232 - June 3, 2009 reply

Fair enough

That was a disappointing day. I remember likening it to finding out that there was no Santa Claus.

DamonBerryhillsMitt - June 3, 2009 reply

the hell you say!

WanderingWanderer - June 3, 2009 reply

I'll just say this

I remember coming inside and turning on the radio only to become very very sad. Playoff crap aside, that was probably my saddest moment as a Cubs fan.

nji232 - June 3, 2009 reply

+1

All I remember is that it was a gray and cold-for-June day, much like today. We had a mild summer that year.

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

Yeah and then for those

of us Cub fans that live in the Chicagoland area, the best part was getting to hear from Sox fans relentlessly about it. To this day I still see those oh so clever ~~Lumber~~ Cork Company T-Shirts. Ugh.

DamonBerryhillsMitt - June 3, 2009 reply

You know,

I haven’t seen those in years. Then again, I don’t venture south of Cermak very often.

chilango2 - June 3, 2009 reply

I am not that crazy about Ted at Turner

Doggie Stalker - June 3, 2009 reply

I'm not that crazy about Ted Turner

Tangled Up In Blue - June 3, 2009 reply

what about Lana Turner?

WanderingWanderer - June 3, 2009 reply

Tina turner?

AndrewJStone - June 3, 2009 reply

I was once a little crazy for Tina Turner.

It cleared up eventually, but man… those were wild times!

Blue W - June 3, 2009 reply

I like Ted

He saved & preserved the most important film library in the world.
Yes the wording was intentional,

Doggie Stalker - June 3, 2009 reply

Quick, who's the largest private owner of real estate in the United States?

Ted Turner!

Worthless fact from THIS GUY.

dtpollitt - June 3, 2009 reply

Hope Ted manages not to hit

anyone in the 1st inning.

Did he even last 10 pitches the last time at Turner?

Allie - June 3, 2009 reply

Prediction

Ted gets the first 24 guys out, hits a solo homer and looks like he will get the perfect game. Lou, who of course slept through the first 8 innings, brings in Kevin Gregg thinking its time to bring in the closer. Naturally Gregg blows the save.

nji232 - June 3, 2009 reply

Ha

Ted, after witnessing last night, will throw a complete game. Or if he decides to allow others to pitch, will “miss” the strike zone, sending a ball through the bullpen, injuring both Marmol and Gregg.
The ball will then swing back around and strike out the batter.
ESPN will ignore this play for a Yankees highlight.

chitownhawkeye - June 3, 2009 reply

I was surprised that with all the complaining

in the other thread that no one mentioned Soriano’s lackadaisical play in fielding a base hit, fumbling it and then having to make a quick throw which Blanco made a great save on. He’s a great hitter when on one of his streaks but man he is sure frustrating to watch in the field.

Do you think Lou ever says anything to him about his lack of hustle and focus out in the field? If Lou does say anything, it sure doesn’t seem to help and if he doesn’t, he’s not managing right.

tucsoncubsfan - June 3, 2009 reply

It looked more like

poor footwork than lackadaisical effort. It looked like he almost tripped over himself when he was trying to field the ball.

gwood - June 3, 2009 reply

he muffed a play

it’s something that’s happening less and less these days.

Do you think Lou ever says anything to him about his lack of hustle and focus out in the field? If Lou does say anything, it sure doesn’t seem to help and if he doesn’t, he’s not managing right.

That’s only a relevant question if you believe that Soriano lacks hustle and focus.

drewishdrewid - June 3, 2009 reply

Well, I do believe he lacks hustle and focus

tucsoncubsfan - June 3, 2009 reply

Agree to disagree?

AndrewJStone - June 3, 2009 reply

Sure I agree to disagree

and we did this without name calling. Wish more people did this.

tucsoncubsfan - June 3, 2009 reply

I'll bet you a dollar

Lou doesn’t.

drewishdrewid - June 3, 2009 reply

Agreed

Not only does Soriano fail to hustle with regularity in the field, he also does so on the bases. His contract is an albatross and his hot streaks are going to get shorter while his cold streaks get longer. We’ve already seen the best from him as a Cub and from here on out, things will get worse, potentially much, much worse.

krummy12 - June 3, 2009 reply

Care to back this up with evidence?

…and his hot streaks are going to get shorter while his cold streaks get longer. We’ve already seen the best from him as a Cub and from here on out, things will get worse, potentially much, much worse.

AndrewJStone - June 3, 2009 reply

Well

Apparently you aren’t capable of watching baseball on a consistent basis without checking the numbers that follow. Just watch him hit over a long period of time…when he’s going good or when he’s going bad. This cold streak is very, very cold and his inability to hit good pitching with any regularity continues. Watch a game with your eyes, put down the numbers for a bit and take a look at the skill set. Add his age and continued march towards being injury prone and you’ll see all you need to support my opinion.

krummy12 - June 3, 2009 reply