Cubs 58-53, 1/2
Astros 49-63, 10.5/11.5
POTG: SP Rich Hill (7 IP, 3 H, R, 2 BB, 6 K, obligatory HR)
Runner Up: SS The Riot (2 2B, R, SB)
So you’ve got 1 (Fontenot), 2 (DeRosa), 3 (Theriot) second baseman on the team, and for whatever reason, you decide to call up another second baseman (Patterson), and after all of that, you end up with Ronny Cedeno at second. That’s probably not the way I would go, and the 0 for 4 with 2Ks kinda seems to back me up. They do seem closer to the ultimate goal – a whole defense of second baseman!
LF Soriano
CF Buck Coats – AAA IF/OF!
RF Patterson
3B Cedeno
SS Theriot
2B Fontenot
1B DeRosa
Really, things would work so perfectly if Jason Kendall has played like 3 games at second for the Pirates at some point – it’d even explain the trade! – that I can’t believe it didn’t actually happen. It really should’ve. Baseball Cube says Koyie Hill played 1 game of second base when he was 21 in Yakima, so that’ll work.
Kendall did get a hit and walk, but he was also not good behind the place, particularly in the 10th. Wuertz’s wild pitch was on the pitcher because it was in the dirt, but Kendall should’ve done a much better job blocking it, and he quite nearly let the next one pass by as well. I don’t know if Uncle Cliffy gets to that ball in time to stop Wigginton from scoring if he’s at second, but I know it sure didn’t help.
At least, once again, the Cubs are going into a funk the same time as the Brewers, so they can’t lose too much ground. The downside is the Wild Card is starting to slip back away, so it may be the division or moot.
Ryan looked fine in the leadoff role and should be there long term, but I think Lou’s got to get a better hitter between Theriot and Lee just to get runners on. It seems like there’s not much chance most days if it’s not done by the top 4 batters, and that’s going to be more true with Soriano out.
It’s probably for the best that Eric Patterson starts with the the Cubs on the road. Mostly I just wanted to link to his name because the sponsor ship on his profile page is going for $200 right now, and someone MAY pay it.
The only other 2007 Cub pages that aren’t bought right now are
Soriano ($215)
Floyd ($126)
JAKE FOX ($20….ohhhhhhhhhh, tempting)
Ted Lilly ($45 – that’s a surprise)
Jason Marquis ($35 – not if you paid me 35)
Billy Petrick ($15 – that’s actually a better deal)
That’s actually more available then I figured. People seem to jump on these, seemingly figuring even the lowliest of hitters can get them some traffic.
Jake Fox actually came up in cell phone conversation while watching this game – I decided Eric Patterson would likely get slightly less than the 2ABs a week Matt Murton had been getting, but slightly more than 0 ABs a week Jake Fox got. This was before the SAC bunt, and that may change things – you got to work to get Lou’s trust, but if you make a good impression early, it helps.