Cubs 3-2, win series, 1 GB
Brewers 2-3
POTG: 1B D Lee (2B, 3 H, RBI, R), 3B A Ram (HR, 2 RBI), LF Matt Murton (2 H, R)
Runner up: SP Z (7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 6 K, 2 BB; H, RBI; W 66), RP Ryan Dempster (2 K, IP, S 62)
Carlos still had that one inning where he lost his mind, and it would’ve been disastrous if not for Derek’s nifty double play. Still, he’s on the right track, and at least he’ll get an April win for sure this time around.
As long as Derek and Ram and De Rosa are hitting over 400, this will be a tough team to beat. I don’t quite think it’ll work out that way.
Other things I don’t think will work out include Cesar Izturis batting second. Pinella’s theory is he can turn a below average hitter into a good hitter if he spots them between Soriano and Lee, but I think I’d much rather just bunch the good hitters together and not make outs directly in front of our good batters.
I know the stats say batting order doesn’t make much difference unless you do it in a vastly unproductive fashion, but I choose to believe they just haven’t found the right analysis yet to prove that it does matter.
Quick game.