The Results:
7/27 W vs. Astros 5-1
7/28 L vs. Astros 6-11
7/29 W vs. Astros 12-0
7/30 W vs. Astros 12-3
7/31 L vs. Marlins 2-5
8/01 W vs. Marlins 9-8
8/02 L vs. Marlins 2-3
The Story:
Now that we are well over halfway through the season, the Cubs seem to be rounding into shape and we are finding out a few things about this club; Aramis Ramirez is the MVP of this team, D-Lee seems to be back on track, and their bullpen is flat out horrendous. Jim Hendry did his best to correct that situation by acquiring Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelaneny. In return the Cubs sent Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and Single-A infielder Josh Harrison.
Now don’t get me wrong, going 4-3 in a week is not terrible by any stretch of the imagination but the fact remains that without Gregg’s ineptitude they would be 5-2. This discrepancy between expectations and reality have plagued us Cubs fans in 2009, hopefully they become one in the same by late September.
The beginning of this week began with the most dramatic ending to a game this season; a walk off grand slam by Alfonso Soriano capped a 5-1 win in 13 innings against the Astros. What goes unnoticed in that is Mike Fontenot’s failure to make contact on a bunt in a suicide squeeze situation, which had Milton Bradley dead to rights at home plate as the game-winning run. This was not the first monumental gaff on fundamentals that the Cubs have made this year, forcing us to wonder if they spent enough time on the basics of baseball in Arizona.
Making his first start since July 2, Ryan Dempster struggled, yielding five runs; four earned on nine hits over five frames vs. the Astros in game 2. Aramis Ramirez gave the Cubs hope with a tying three-run homer in the sixth, but the bullpen couldn’t hold down Houston late as they lost 11-6.
The Cubs came out blazing in game 3 against the Astros with a six-run first inning, highlighted by Alfonso Soriano’s three-run homer, while Randy Wells tossed eight scoreless innings. Game 4 was no different; The Cubs erupted for 12 runs for the second consecutive afternoon, the top two hitters in the order, as leadoff man Kosuke Fukudome and No. 2 hitter Ryan Theriot each drove home four runs to take 3 of 4 from the Astros.
The Florida Marlins beat the Cubs in game one 5-2, thanks to an eighth-inning rally as John Baker hit a tiebreaking RBI single and pinch-hitter Wes Helms followed with a two-run double, all with two outs.
In Game Two Derrek Lee notched his third RBI of the night with a homer to lead off the 10th inning that put the Cubs ahead for good. Aramis Ramirez helped provide an offensive boost with three RBIs of his own in the first two innings. Carlos Zambrano exited after three innings due to a stiff back, which does not bode well for a Cubs rotation that is missing their most consistent starter in Ted Lilly.
In the rubber match on Sunday Jake Fox hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth to put the Cubs ahead, but Kevin Gregg blew his second save in a row as he allowed a pair of homers in the bottom half of the inning. If Lou moved Soriano out of his coveted leadoff spot then why can’t he demote Gregg to a setup man, it is now proven that he lacks the stuff and fortitude to become a dominate closing force in baseball, when will Lou see it that way?
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