The Cubs were on the verge of ruining Mother’s Day, facing a sweep by the Brewers. Jeff Samardzija and crew managed to band together to defeat the Brewers on the strength of the bullpen and late-inning offense. Spellcheck had only given up one run in five innings, but having thrown 91 pitches, Reed Johnson was sent to the plate to pinch hit for him.
“They caught me pretty quick there coming down the dugout,” Samardzija said. “But when you have guys like Reed and them to pinch hit for you, especially with the top of the lineup coming up it’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Johnson’s home run briefly put Samardzija in line for the victory, until reliever Shawn Campcoughed up the lead in the bottom of the inning. Camp then got credit for the victory when the Cubs went ahead for good in the seventh inning.
“It’s always good to be able to affect the game like that,” Johnson said. “I knew that he was up there pitch count wise so anytime we have a leadoff situation that’s usually my at-bat as well. Just go in there and put a good swing on it is all I was trying to do.”
Oh, Shawn Camp. Always looking to steal wins from the starters. Was pinch-hitting for Spellcheck the hardest decision Dale Sveum has ever had to make?
“I wouldn’t say it was a tough one,” Sveum said. “He was at his 90 pitches, he pitched well numbers wise, but the ball was up. You can tell it wasn’t coming out of his hand like it can. It was a time to pinch hit, a time to take a shot and the bullpen was rested. It wasn’t that tough of a decision, no.”
Oh, okay.
Dale Sveum does more than make decisions on pinch-hitting. He also convinced Alfonso Soriano to start using a lighter bat.
‘‘He has adjusted a little bit, but I think even a really smaller, lighter bat would help a lot,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘He was OK with it, but he didn’t quite go as far as I wanted with the lighter bat.’’
Soriano, who has used one of the heaviest bats in the majors much of his career, went from 33½ ounces to 32 and said it’s working out all right. But to go any lighter than that, he said, ‘‘might start to be uncomfortable.’’
Sveum said he understands ‘‘those are harder things to get over than people think.’’ And maybe the smaller difference ultimately will be enough; Soriano hit the ball off the center-field wall for a double Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
So when will the Fonz start hitting home runs?
‘‘When I hit one. I want that monkey off my back,’’ he said.
Good to know. While we’re on the subject of elderly Cubs, Kerry Wood looked like a real Major League pitcher yesterday.
‘‘He was really sharp. He did a great job,’’ said Sveum, who was most encouraged by the fact it came after a two-inning appearance Friday night that started with two walks and nine straight balls.
Wood has battled minor shoulder issues since spring training.
‘‘He threw his curve ball today, cutter, had good velocity,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘That was really nice to see, to bounce back after a good outing last time — a two-inning good outing — and bounce back with another one.’’
Maybe the old guy has something left in his tank. Or maybe he used it up the last two games.
“When I hit one. I want that monkey off my back.”
Unfortunately, he’s got like 32 other monkeys on his back.
One of the things I got for Mother’s Day was a blown-up shot of me throwing out the first pitch. Crazy awesome.
I didn’t get anything for Mother’s Day. That makes me a sad panda.
It’s Mother’s Day, not Motherf*#*er’s Day…
oh.
That explains it.
I still wanted something. If I hadn’t come around, then my mother wouldn’t be a mother…and in a different sense, neither would my wife. I deserve something for that, right?
(Preparing for eggs to be tossed at me.)
I’m somewhat surprised that only got one thumbs down. You people are getting soft.
too freaking funny
So…anyone that was hoping that the Braun suspension reversal would be only an isolated event that was due to an asshole arbitrator…
Another suspended player (Eliezer Alfonzo’s & his 100 game suspension), has had a reversal of fortunes. MLB announce that they have cancelled the suspension (already in progress) due to issues similar to the Braun situation.
If they have another case regarding handling of the samples, they really need to look into the process and maybe change some proceedures…
Well…I’m just hoping that things have already been remedied. This case with Alfonzo actually happened last year before Braun even failed his test.
The more interesting thing to watch is to see if anything happens with Guillermo Mota, who was the first player suspended after the Braun debacle.
Boooooo.
This isn’t a “I didn’t use steriods” issue. This is a chain of custody issue.
It reminds me of the time our office got a ton of DUI’s thrown out because the cops never calibrated the breathalyzer like they were supposed to. It works once.
I’m going to two games this week: Social Media night on Wednesday and watching the game from the New Era box on Thursday. Woot woot!
what?
I want to go to games too.
you can go to games. who is stopping you?
Logistics is stopping me.
Pfffft. You’ve figured it out plenty of times.
I haven’t been able to figure out much of anything so far this season.
I is bored today.
I is too…but it’s not because I don’t have a lot to do.
I have a lot to do, I just don’t want to do it.
Oh…so we’re in the same boat. I see.
I is tired – I had a stint put in my 99% blocked coronary artery on Friday,& now I want to nap every 4 hrs…
That sucks. I thought the stint would make your blood flow better and thus you’d have more energy.
YIKES!! Hope you are feeling okay!
Yes, I was very lucky that I went in at the first sign of pain – if you feel a squeezing or weight on your chest, don’t screw around! As for the energy, it will come, but my heart’s still a little stunned from all the angioplasty – thanks for the good wishes!
Correction: it’s “stent” – whoops, you’d think I’d get that right….
My mom had that done to 3 of her arteries. You will feel better in a couple of weeks-just do everything the docters told you. Also, depending on the type of stent you had put in, you might have restrictions on moving around in hot weather. Be sure to follow those instructions too. I hope you feel better soon…
Thanks! It was a great excuse for missing class…
I is glad we gots guys like Reed and them, too.
So far this season LaHair’s slugging% = .670.
Very respectable.
Hamilton’s = .866
That is RUTHIAN.
Hamilton’s slugging percentage for last week was 1.433. (9 hr, 2 doubles, 3 singles, 43 total bases in 30 at bats.)
He generated ONE AND A THIRD BASES PER AT BAT not counting walks.
We may be having the privileged of seeing a once-in-a-lifetime season.
Without looking…guess who is leading the Cubs right now in Slugging percentages (no minimums)??
I’ll just for kicks and giggles say it’s Clevenger.
Damn…I was wrong. But I’m not saying who it is.
Mather.
Wrong. Try again.
SORIANO.
Hey…this is serious discussion here.
Josh Hamilton is right now beyond Ruthian…Babe Ruth never in any season had a slugging percentage over .850. He’s even beyond Barry Bonds’s 2001 season right now.
Sigh. All last night, we had to hear about the-greatest-man-who-ever-lived Hamilton all night during the ESPN Angels-Rangers game. My sister the Angel’s fan kept screaming at the tv to shut shut up after the 4th inning, so we ended up hitting the mute button. I’m sure Hamilton is all that, but from what is happening to Pujols this year, these things do come and go….
This Pujols scene is weirding me out. I can understand the mega-contract hex but this is a SUPER HEX.I even find myself feeling a little bad for him.The season’s almost 1/4 over.He’ll have a heck of a time matching his career stats
Forget matching his stats…
He’s going to have a hard time not setting career lows in most of his stats.
He’s this year’s version of Adam Dunn – but he probably won’t stay snakebit ALL year…
No…he’s nowhere near as bad as Adam Dunn was last year. Adam Dunn’s season last year was historically horrible and is now in a category all by itself.
That being said, based on overall expectations, the disappointment is probably about the same.
In an interesting twist related to the PED thing I posted above…
The arbitrator in the Ryan Braun case, who overturned the suspension, has been fired by MLB today.
Why? Embarassed that he didn’t do what they wanted? Not a good sign since the arbitrators are supposed to be neutral and look at all of the facts. Regardless of how any fan feels about Mr. Braun, having only MLB-approved arbitrators is not good….
The players association had been pissed about him in the past for some of his rulings…many people think he flipped the Braun ruling just to make up for it. Either way, neither side thinks too highly of him right now.
Don’t they usually say that if you’re pissing off both sides, you’re probably doing something right?
There you go. Arbitrating may be right up your alley.’Neutral…Looks at the facts’.
Wow…I don’t even follow the guy, yet Paul Sullivan still blocked me from his twitter account. I find that pretty damn funny.
He fears your power, Doc- he can sense it…
I have no clue how long he’s been blocking me…since I’ve never followed him.
WILL the CUBS give Dempster any run support tonite?
WILL he get a win, finally?
WILL Slackerano get his first HR?
WILL LaHair keep his on-base streak going?
After we took the lead in the 7th yesterday I thought we were going to give it right back to the Brewers in the bottom of the inning. Brother!
No
No
No
and
No.
I knew I could count on you Doc.
I’m here to serve.
Wrong on TheHair.
And what will you say if I’m not?