The Cubs’ losing streak reached a dozen games yesterday. At this point, none of us go into games expecting a win, but with Matt Garza on the mound, you might have expected a game closer than 10-4.

Garza put bookends on a brutal road trip when he gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and a walk in five innings Sunday in a 10-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. That one unearned run is misleading since it was Garza’s own error in the first inning that put a runner on board beforePedro Alvarez crushed a three-run home run.

Matt, anything to say?

“The last couple have been frustrating but you have to keep going and keep grinding,” Garza told reporters in Pittsburgh, including an ESPN 1000 correspondent. “I’m going to keep going at it. There is nothing else I can do. Just keep going every day going hard and grinding it out. It’s going to turn. It’s gotta turn.”

Mr. Sveum, any thoughts?

“He was getting beat by pitches he shouldn’t be throwing people, really,” manager Dale Sveum said, “He was getting beat by is fourth best pitch and he had a great fastball today. I don’t know why he wanted to use those pitches but it came back to haunt him, that’s for sure.”

It was offspeed stuff that did in Garza at Houston as well.

“I’ll have to talk to him again,” Sveum said. “He got into a situation against a couple of guys where velocity gets them. He decided to throw changeups. It’s not exactly protocol or what the game plan was. It’s unfortunate. They hit them out of the ballpark. A lot of times they will roll over on them too but that’s the way things are going.”

» Continue reading “Cubs Memorial Day Headlines/Game Thread: On to 13″

Photo courtesy Chicago Tribune

 What a difference a week makes.

After a miserable series in Detroit and another at the Cell, followed by a so-so series in Pittsburgh, all is right with the world after one win over the Brewers. Miraculously, despite all the turmoil of the first half of his season, the Cubs find themselves only 2.5 games back of the division-leading Brewers.

Before some select members of LOHO go overboard with Fuld-a-mania, let’s take a moment for a LOHO-wide reality check.

Has Sam Fuld played exceptionally well in his first two games with the Cubs? Yes.

Is it nice to see a leadoff hitter who really works a count? For sure.

Would it be better for the Cubs to have Fuld leading off than Soriano? Are you nuts?

From 2006-2009, Soriano’s line has been .297/.355/.572/.927 as a leadoff hitter, ranking him consistenly among the best in baseball. And that line INCLUDES his current horrific slump. In the last three seasons, Soriano has hit 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 7 and 8 in the lineup. Nowhere else has he even come close to the kind of numbers he puts up as a leadoff hitter.

» Continue reading “Brewers @ Cubs: Live Game Thread”

Have mothers not suffered enough? Is it not enough to gain 50lbs with each pregnancy and have your body irrevocably changed for the rest of your days, never to wear a bikini again? Are we not unable to make our way across a room without a small person attaching themselves to our legs and screeching about something?

Do we have to watch really crappy baseball, too?

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs @ Milwaukee Brewers”