Tag: Washington Nationals

Cubs 43-41; 4.5/4 – pick up full games in both races!
Nationals 34-31; 12.5/13.5

POTG: 1B Daryle Ward (2B, SF, 2 H, 2 RBI, R)
Runner Up: 2B Mike Fontenot (3 H, R, RBI), LF Jacque Jones (2 2B)

I was so worried when I saw the lineup. I understand playing guys who haven’t gotten serious ABs in 10 games. I don’t quite understand playing them all at the same time, but it magically worked. Cesar was 0-4 and mostly worthless, but Jacque got 2 hits, and Ward drove in runs. Maybe Lee gets that done himself, but Ward was good enough here.

I’m glad the Cubs are done with the Nationals, because I can’t quite get fired up to watch them. Even when they were threatening in the 8th, I had no real fear they’d tie it up off Marmol. Mostly it’s because Marmol has been awesome when he needs to be awesome, but the lineup just doesn’t scare anyone when pitches aren’t being tipped.

Hopefully they get better right now, with the Brewers and Cubs switching opponents. With a 3-1 series win, the Cubs are one game away from achieving what they hoped for in this road trip, so it seems time to get a little greedy. Like I said last time they got this close, 5 games and under means the team is in the race, but it’d be fantastic to be 3.5/3 or less.

FRI: Marquis vs LHP Paul Maholm (4-11/4.74)
* 4.74 isn’t great, but 11 loses? Gotta be awful run support. (BP says he should be 6-7.)
* LHP means DeRosa in RF, The Riot at SS and Fontenot at 2nd, I bet.
SAT: Lilly vs RHP John Van Benschoten (0-2/4.32)
* “Pitch Control Has Been A Problem”, says the MLB preview. I hope someone lets the Cubs know.
* Lilly’s pitching good of late
SUN: Z! vs LHP Shane Youman (1-0/3)
* Rookie + Day Before The All Star Break = bad sign. Hope they don’t need this one.

Cubs didn’t make much of the Brewers last dry spell. If they’re heading into another one, hopefully things work better.

BTW: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Cubs 42-41; 5.5/5
Nationals 34-30; 12.5/13.5

POTG: no one
Runner Up:

I still think the quick turnaround was tough for both teams. Rich’s hittable stuff of late just made it easier to get over for the Nationals. At least he gave the team six innings and the bullpen didn’t have to get blown up. There’s no doubt the Cubs bats were completely asleep. There’s no way Matt Chico is that good.

There’s really nothing to take from this game, except they still have a chance to win the series in today’s game. A sweep would’ve been neat, but 3 of 4 is what they came for. AAAAH RHYMING. The Brewers lost, the Dodgers lost, so the Cubs didn’t lose any ground. You’re going to lose, so at least it doesn’t hurt this time.

It sounds like Z isn’t going to make the All Star game after all, unless someone gets hurt. Don’t we usually have injury pull outs by now? (Maybe A-Rod soon.) I guess there were just less hurt guy selected than in previous years.

Cubs 42-40 (high water mark for the year – 5.5/5)
Nationals 33-50

POTG: Z! (6.2 IP, 3 H, R, 4 BB, 8 K, W [10/74]; H)
Runner Up: RP Carlos Marmol (1.1 IP, H, 0 R, 2 K), LF Soriano (2 H, 2 R, SB), SS Ryan Theriot (2 H, RBI), RF Cliff Floyd (H, 2 RBI)

The Nationals were never down by much, but it never really felt close. Even with runners on, this game never seemed in danger. It was over 3. The Nationals have seemed to have really limited offense, and guys like Marmol are dealing.

This was one of those starts where Z pitched him self out of the game a few batters sooner than anyone would like. Still, good enough numbers, lots of strikeouts. It’s just more walks than he’d like. At a 4.04 ERA, he slip into the 3s with another good start, and he’s got a decent chance at 20. He’s still can live up to his preseason predictions.

Cubs have seemed to stop picking up games on the Wild Card lead at the moment, but have managed to pass some teams. There’s a log jam around 5 and 6 games, and it’d be helpful to extract themselves from that and move to 3-4 out.

This quick turnaround may kill both teams. I know it’s killing me.

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.