Cubs put the Mets to bed
Greg Maddux has landed.
He made short work of a whiff-happy Mets lineup, notching 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of work. While he was tossing change-ups and sliders past the bats, Patterson painted a couple of solo HRs into the stands, and Jason Dubois, the mystery man-behind-the-Hollandsworth on the bench, added a 2-out Solo HR of his own. Not to be outdone, Burny put one into a moonlit Queens, adding to a couple of excellent defensive plays in RF. Jim, wherever you are right now, you were right - Burnitz is the second coming, getting better every day. Remlinger struck out 2 in an inning of work, and Michael Wuertz got some steady-arm action, throwing a hit-less 1 1/3 (1 walk) in additional relief.
High-paid Injury Man Kris Benson took the loss, giving up 6 ER in 6 Innings on 10 hits, but I have a feeling he'll be ok, especially when you consider who he gets to go home to:
Something tells me Kris will be quite alright.
So yes, good performance all-round from the Cubbies. The offense clicked a little bit, our pitchers scattered 3 hits in 9 innings, and we got a couple of 2-out RBIs, and those are always sweet.
Good stuff, keep them coming, rubber match is today at 2.20 ET.
Pitching Matchup:
NYM: RHP Victor Zambrano • 2-3, 5.63 ERA in 2005 • 1-0, 1.29 ERA in 2003 vs. CHC
CHC: RHP Mark Prior • 3-1, 3.09 ERA in 2005 • 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 2004 vs. NYM
I'm happy as Time Warner in NYC finally settled with Cablevision, which translates to MSG being back on digital cable, which means every Mets game is now available, which means I can watch this afternoon while doing work. I like this matchup, although the NY Zambrano is very much like ours - inspired one game, chaotic the next. This might not be as clear-cut as I would hope, but I think the Cubs can ride Mark to a series win this afternoon.
In the meantime, let's try and keep the previous discussion going. There are tons of places the Cubs could upgrade and shuffle - I just read that Leicester is back down, and Sergio Mitre is on the way up - and I'm curious to see just how much we can do to improve our beloved team.
Headlines coming up shortly.
posted by Jim Hendry @ 11:38 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Mitre's got the stuff to do well in the majors—if he's also mature enough. Being successful at the major league level requires a mature meanness, not two words our culture is openly comfortable with. We like our cuddly Cubs, but cute-ability ain't even in the lexicon of a 95 mph fastball game. You gotta have a middle-linebacker's pleasure in giving and receiving pain.
But you don't have to be Farnsworth. Of course, I really liked the Farns.
Hey! Somebody put a bra on that chic!
Jim, I liked Farns too. I don't know why, but he just had an air of inpenetrability about him. He didn't get fazed by much, or at least that's how it came across. Sure, his ERA was never incredible and he would give up runs, but he was elastic - bounced back every time.
Let's see when Dusty calls Mitre into a game.. perhaps this afternoon? I'll be watching.
And yeah, Mrs. Anna Benson could use a bustier.
Mitre, like many young starting pitcher hopefulls, needs another pitch before he's ready for the big show. In my not-so-humble opinion, major league pitching does not have enough art to it. What ever happened to the five pitch starter? These days we're lucky if a pitcher has two pitches that are effective and one that may or may not work once in a while. Teach these guys to through more than just a fastball and a slider!
Pfft. Five pitch starter? Who's ever had five pitches? It would be nice, but that's asking a bit much.
However, four pitches would be great, or at least three that consistantly work. For example, Wood really only has two pitches each time he goes out. Sure, he's got a great fastball, a sharp slider, and a big curve; that's three, right? But only two of them ever seem to work. The fastball and the curve one day. The fastball and the slider another.
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