Cubs 23-16, 1st (+1.0)
Padres 15-25, 5th (-9.5)
POTG: RP Michael Wuertz (3 IP, 1 H, 1 K – best performance of the year)
Runner Up: LF Soriano (2 H, HR), CF Reed Johnson (2B, 2 RBI)
I didn’t see that one coming.
I didn’t think they’d get the game in. I was watching trees bend in the breeze outside my window around 6pm, with the sky half very dark clouds and half really bright. It wasn’t the greenish skies of really bad Illinois weather, but it looked very ominous. The rain hit hard out here around game time. It was rarely drizzling, mostly always a deluge and the most lightning we’ve had all year. I guess the new field is how Wrigley kept playable, but I was sure there had to be a delay at some point. The umpires just had them play all the way thru.
I didn’t think Estes would do as well as he did. He really didn’t do great – 5.1 and 7 hits isn’t going to work out well most days – but he managed not walk his way into trouble. The real difference make was the Padres bullpen. After everyone coming out of it on Monday seemed to get shelled, the three pitchers today gave up no hits and 1 walk in 3.2 innings. Estes gets the win, but the Cubs of recent days usually score something late and it’s a credit to the Padres that it didn’t happen this time.
It didn’t occur to me until this game that the reason the Cubs are working so hard to figure out a fifth starter and giving so many different people chances is not because they think they’re just one starter away. I think the people with decision making power realize Jason Marquis can’t stay around if he’s going to pitch the way he has, and they’re going to ultimately need two starters. You can always go back to Jon Lieber for the last spot, but I think they’re trying to figure out if Marshall or Gallagher or a returning Rich Hill can consistently give them something better than Marquis. Plenty of teams have been swallowing salaries like Marquis’ this season.
To be fair, Marquis only had one bad inning. But it was enough to get the loss.
Wuertz should get credit for keeping the Cubs in the game and lasting three innings. Eyre’s probably got one batter in him if the Cubs need him tonight, but otherwise everyone else is rested and ready to go, which you wouldn’t have figured when the Cubs had 3 innings to fill.
There are no words to describe Simon Le Bon’s performance. That was quite something.