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Cubs hit a new low, 55-82
Pirates are this close to the magical land of not-last-place, 55-83
POTG: 2B Ryan Theriot (2B, 3 RBI, SAC, such an up and down life)
Runner Up: CF Juan Pierre (2 H, R, RBI, 2 BB!), LF Angel Pagan (2 BB!, R), RP Roberto Novoa (.2 IP, 2 IHR stranded), RP Glendon Rusch (2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R, though it sure didn’t look to stay that way), RP Davia Aardsma (3 IP, 2 H, BB, 0 R, 5 K)
Okay, now, really, there’s nothing much else that can go wrong here. I guess Santo could die. OH NO I SAID IT NOW IT’LL HAPPEN.
You know, it’s September when you get to “e” on Pinch Hitters in the box score. What the utter heck was John Mabry doing up there, anyway? Not that The Riot is a cure to all ills, but John looked like he wouldn’t have gotten a hit even if you gave him 300 strikes. Who thought that was a good idea, and who thought he was healthy enough to bat?
On the same topic, Carlos didn’t tell anyone he was hurt
“That was my mistake,” he said. “I had a problem before the game and I didn’t tell anybody. I tried to be the hero. Thank God, nothing worse happened.”
Well, we’ll know that when the MRI comes in. I thank God that his hopes for the Cy Young should be over after this little misadventure, and he doesn’t take stupid risks anymore in pursuit of it. He’s already pitched 193 innings, so if he misses a start or two to deal with this, that wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. (Though I did enjoy reading he was taking grounders at first just in case Dusty would put him in yesterday.)
And, by the same measure, what was Carlos doing in there if he wasn’t ready to go? They have plenty of people who could’ve lost the game instead of him
Cedeno’s throw home probably was the wrong decision in that spot, but it still would worked if the throw was any good. And that’s the difference today.
The only good parts of the game was the brief rally in the 1st, and me having gone to an Cougars game instead of watching this live – tape made it easy to fast forward thru all the mailed in innings. I’d like to believe the Cubs relief corp was really good today, but I’ve got a feeling it was more a case of teams mailing on a gloomy day.
Update
The Cubs ace lasted 1-1/3 innings in a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh, then said afterward a team physician told him he could be shut down for the rest of the season with a lower-back problem.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
(I think I may be done with this if I don’t get any more Carlos starts.)
(On totally different notes, the girl in the Chicago Sports “Get Your Cubs On” picture for the last few days is distractingly cute, and it’s good to see Maddux and I think alike
“Fielding percentage is overrated, way overrated,” said Maddux, who was touched for six runs on 10 hits and three walks in 51/3 innings as the Dodgers fell to the Brewers 6-3. “I don’t even know why they have that stat. Turning double plays, I don’t know how many we’ve turned here, but there have been some you can’t believe.”
I’d chunk of meat it.