Cubs 41-40; 6.5/5
Nationals 33-29; 13.5/13.5
POTG: SP Ted Lilly (7 IP, 3 H, R, 3 BB, 5 K, W [7/66)
Runner Up: 3B A Ram (3 H, 2B, 2 RBI), 2B Mark DeRosa (3 RBI, 2 H), LF Soriano (2 H, R, RBI, SB), CF/RF Angel Pagan (2 H)
This was pretty one sided. You would’ve liked it to be more so, just so they could’ve felt more comfortable unloaded the bench. Even with 7 runs in 4 innings, they never really got much power. This time, all the singles were bunched up nicely, with a couple walks and a HBP in between. Another XBH or two would’ve been nice, but this worked fine.
It’s a four game series with the Nationals, they stand a chance of another blow out for everyone to get in. Washington does not seem to be playing their best ball at the moment, and their rotation has been awful all season.
TUE: Z! vs Tim Redding (first appearance in the majors in 2 years)
WED: Rich Hill vs Matt Chico (hasn’t won since May 17)
THU: Sean Marshall vs Jason Bergman (best start, but 1-5, gave up 6 runs in 4 innings last time out)
Lilly looked really sharp after the early struggles. His line says 10 GB to 5 FB, but it was really even more ground balls than that. Floyd, Pie, and Pagan got no catches on the night, and Soriano got 2 – the other 3 were pop and line outs. I don’t buy the idea floated around today that Lilly (or Hill or Marquis) were more deserving selections for the all star game than Z, but Lilly did look pretty good here.
2007: 41-40
2006: 30-51 (-11)
And they’ve jumped from 8th to 4th in the Wild Card race. If they can sneak past the Braves before the break, this is going to be worth talking about.