Tonight is the first time this season the Chicago Cubs will see the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cardinals cruise into Wrigley Field in first place in the NL Central. I don’t think we need to be reminded which place in the Central the Cubs occupy. For two magical games, all thoughts of horror emanating from the 2013 season can be erased, if only our beloved Cubs can beat the evil Redbirds. 

One obstacle standing in the way of a Cubs’ win tonight is Cardinal starter, Lance Lynn. In his last three starts he’s pitched seven innings each game, allowing a total of two runs on eight hits. He’s also struck out 22 in those 21 innings, so we should probably expect to see some spectacular swings and misses. If the Cubs can manage to get Lynn out of the game in a timely manner, they might stand a chance against the Cards’ bullpen, which has a 5.33 ERA.

Starting tonight for the Cubs is Travis Wood. You might recall that he’s been a bright spot on the team this year, with a 2.50 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. You might also recall that he threw five perfect innings in his last start, but wound up losing to the Padres. The hitters in the St. Louis lineup have a combined seven career home runs against Wood, so keeping the ball down will be imperative for him tonight.

Lineup after the jump.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: If You Do Nothing Else This Year, Please Beat The Cardinals”

Today will be the last game of the season between the Cubs and Cardinals. Without Tony LaRussa on the other side of the field, it’s not as easy to work up the great rage we were prone to in the past. But it’s still the Cardinals, so maybe we can hope for some bad blood and something interesting to happen.

I mostly hope for this outcome to make the game interesting for anyone watching the game, as there doesn’t seem to be much hope for the Cubs winning this one. Kyle Lohse (15-3, 2.71) takes the mound for the Cards. The Cubs did manage to score five runs on him in a game in May, so maybe all hope is not lost.

Pitching for the Cubs is Justin Germano (2-8, 6.17). That means the Cub offense will probably have to score lots of runs to win. There are no lineups posted as of the time I posted this, so you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.

Game time is 1:20 Central and you can watch on WGN.

The Cubs beat the Cards Sunday, and Anthony Rizzo added another chapter to his mythology. He managed to hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning.

“I don’t remember much. I don’t remember anything. It was awesome,” Rizzo said. “Teammates have been awesome. Paul (Maholm) pitched a great game today and kept us in it. We put ourselves in a position to win a couple times, and fortunately enough we did.”

He plans on watching the replay tonight as many times as possible just to recall how it all happened.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be watching that a lot,” he said. “I can’t wait to call my parents and talk to them. I’m sure they’re excited and everyone who was following.”

When was the last time he hit a walk off home run?

“This is the best,” he said. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. I’ve never done it before. Not in the minors, not in Little League, not ever. … This is awesome.”

Thanks for being so good, Anthony.

» Continue reading “Cubs Monday Headlines: RizzOMG”

The Cubs were locked in a 2-2 tie yesterday when Reed Johnson came to the plate. With runners on first and third and two out, of course REEDZ bunted and drove in the winning run.

“That was on his own,” Dale Sveum said. “He’s a good bunter, and I remember once in Boston, he did it against us with the bases loaded and it turned into a monster inning.”

Is REEDZ now the Cubs’ most tradeable player? Is tradeable a word?

“I guess you would always be shocked but where we are at now every player in here hears the rumors,” Johnson said. “I don’t really pay too much attention to them because I have always had rumors over my 10-year career and never been traded.”

Johnson has the reputation as a real good corner outfielder who will somehow always make the big play on offense or defense with the game on the line.

“It is a situation for me where when you are packing your stuff that’s when you believe you are headed someplace else,” he said.

Whatever happens, his mom will keep him apprised of the situation.

“I feel like my mom could be my agent because she always has an idea of where I’m going to go but I never end up anywhere,” Johnson said. “I might have to fire her.”

I’d be happy for him if he ends up on a playoff-bound team, but there’s not going to be much return for a fourth/fifth outfielder.

» Continue reading “Cubs Sunday Headlines/Game Thread: Reed Johnson Showcases Grit For Trade Suitors”

“Fun” in theory, anyway.

Before we get to today’s game thread, here’s the latest on the Ryan-Dempster-Is-A-Big-Fat-Jerk Saga:

The Cubs and Dodgers have four days to complete a possible trade involving Ryan Dempster. The Dodgers turned down a proposal of Allen Webster for Dempster, but seem optimistic that a deal can be completed. The Cubs, on the other hand, have limited options, since Dempster wants to go to Los Angeles and must approve any trade. Here are today’s rumors, with the most recent updates up top…

• The Cubs and Dodgers are discussing a deal of Dempster for Josh Lindblom, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who isn’t sure what other players could be involved in the swap (Twitter links).  Another source tells Crasnick that the Lindblom rumor is “completely unfounded.”
• The Dempster-to-the Dodgers trade isn’t “dead,” tweets ESPN’s Jayson Stark, though the Dodgers are interested in Josh Johnson and are “waiting to see if [the] price drops on” James Shields.
• Dempster will consider trades to a number of teams, including the Braves and Dodgers, if the Cubs approach him with a deal in place, Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.comreports. ”He has not said that he wouldn’t go to Atlanta or anywhere else for that matter,” a person familiar with the situation told Levine.
• There’s no current dialogue between the Cubs and Dodgers about Dempster, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (Twitter links). Each club know what the other is looking for at this point.
• The teams discussed the possibility of expanding the trade to include Alfonso Sorianoor Bryan LaHair, Danny Knobler reported today.

You’ll notice that no where in all of this is name of anyone we’d be as excited about getting as we were about Randall Delgado. So that’s . . .  lots of fun. Thanks again, Ryan!

BTW, we spent most of Wrigley Talk Friday arguing about this yesterday. You can listen here or download the show from iTunes.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: Fun (?) With Non-Olympic Sports”

This will be Anthony Rizzo’s first exposure to Busch Stadium and, presumably, jorts. And the “best fans in baseball.” So that should be exciting for him.

Conversely on the excitement meter, we have the Ryan Dempster Trade Saga. I’ll tell you one thing: having a GM that takes his time to make measured, reasonable, sound baseball decisions may be fun, but it really lacks the kick of a Ted Lilly-and-Ryan-Theriot-for-Blake-DeWitt deal. With Hendry, you never knew what was coming, and that was exciting. For all we knew, he was going to trade Aramis Ramirez for Anna Benson on any given day. And that was entertaining.

Alas, even though the Dodgers have reportedly tendered an offer to the Cubs for Dempster, the Cubs are apparently pitching him tonight:

According to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick, the Dodgers have made an offer, but they won’t get into a bidding war because they also need to add offense, preferably a corner infielder, even more than they need Dempster. The Dodgers’ farm system also is a little thin in the kind of prospects needed to land All-Star caliber players like Dempster, the Padres’ Chase Headley or the Phillies’ Shane Victorino. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has said he’s looking to improve on pitching in the organization.

That said, Dempster, 35, would be a pure rental for the Dodgers, which most likely is affecting the negotiations. Dempster is in the last year of his four-year contract, which is paying him $14 million this season. Players must be with a team for an entire season in order to qualify for Draft-pick compensation, according to the new CBA.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: Mr. Rizzo Goes to St. Louis”

MLB Hall of Famer Harry Wright invented the infield shift. He's one of Dale Sveum's greatest heroes.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum played the numbers in the ninth inning with Yadier Molina at bat. Darwin Barney shaded Molina up the middle, but the evil one hit a ball just out of Darwin’s reach and into right field for the game winning hit.

“It’s unfortunate,” Barney said. “One quarter of a step from maybe saving a run. … That’s kind of how we play ‘Yadi.’ He’s such a talented hitter and can hit to all fields.

“He tends to hit the ball up the middle to the pull side early in the count. If there were two strikes, I probably would have shifted over a little more. But with Dolis’ sink, I committed to playing the middle.”

Oh yes, Rafael Dolis. Dale Sveum, any thoughts or suggestion for your young interim closer?

“He can’t keep throwing fastball after fastball,” he said. “He has a good slider and he has to use it. Not that that was the place or anything, but I think he’s learning to use that pitch more.”

Please don’t confuse him like this, Dale. While we’re on the subject of the bullpen, any suggestions for Kerry Wood, whose streak of effective outings stopped at two?

The Cubs bullpen was the Achilles’ heel again. Kerry Wood walked two and blew a one-run lead in the seventh. Sveum said Wood may have to throw more in the bullpen warming up.

“It’s one of those things,” Sveum said. “The ball is coming out of his hand well, but (he issues) four-pitch walks right away.”

That’s sort of been a thing around here for years, Dale.

» Continue reading “Cubs Wednesday Headlines: St. Louis Split”

The Cubs earned a hard-fought victory last night in St. Louis. Ryan Dempster got some run support but then gave up a four run lead. The Cub offense had enough in the tank to pull out a win against the Cardinal bullpen. How does it feel to have won, but still be winless, Mr. Dempster?

‘‘That’s all right. Baby steps,’’ said Dempster, who pitched the first six innings of the Cubs’ 6-4 win over the first-place Cardinals in the opener of a two-game mini-series at Busch Stadium. ‘‘We got a win when I started a game. So that’s nice. You feel like you did your part.’’

You did your part in making sure that Shawn Camp was awarded a win. Alfonso Soriano came through in the eighth with the game-winning RBI. Has Dale Sveum considered moving him down in the order due to his lack of production?

‘‘One of the reasons is we don’t really have anybody else to put in that spot,’’ said Sveum. ‘‘You try to mix things up a little bit as far as left-right in that area. We talk about home runs, but it doesn’t have to be home runs. It’s just a matter of driving the runs in and doing a lot of things with the top of the order getting on base.’’

Said Soriano: ‘‘I don’t have the home runs, but when my team needs a big hit, I’m there. I know my power is coming sooner or later, so for right now, it’s big hits and help the team win. That’s more important than homers.’’

Yeah, but it would be nice to see some homers, too.

» Continue reading “Cubs Tuesday Headlines/Game Thread: Meet Me In St. Louis (12:45 Central)T”

I feel your pain, my friend.

Ryan Dempster has an ERA  of 1.02 and a WHIP of .85 thus far this season.

He also doesn’t have a win.

Granted, I know that when I say “Ryan Dempster has a WHIP of .85,” many of you say “I don’t understand those words in that order,” but still. Five games with an ERA of just over 1.00 and a WHIP below one is a long way to go for no wins.

The Cubs hope to remedy Demspter’s win record tonight, when they head to St. Louis to take on Jake Westbrook (4-2, 1.76) at Busch Stadium. Tonight’s game is the first of a short two-game series before the Cubs come home to take on Philly mid-week and the White Sox over the weekend.

The Cubs may currently be the sole resident of the NL Central basement, but they’re only 6.5 games behind the Cards, who are fresh off a 3-game losing streak. Could the Cubs come out of the series 8.5 games back? Sure. They could also come home to face Philly 4.5 back.

Some optimism, please.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: Will The Cubs Screw Dempster Again?”

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to LOHO’s presentation of Your Cubs Game Recap. Tonight, the role of Ryan Dempster will be played by Chris Volstad.

The Cardinals held off the sweep today with a 5-1 victory over the Cubs. Chris Volstad started out strong, allowing only one run over the first five innings. But in the sixth, he fell apart, and finally gave up the multi-run homer that put the game squarely out of reach.

The third inning was the only black mark on Volstad’s record until he lost it in the sixth. Two leadoff singles created a quick jam, but the only damage was an RBI single by Matt Carpenter, giving the Cards a 1-0 lead.

The first hero of last night’s game, one Bryan LaHair, led off the bottom of the fourth with yet another solo jack to tie it up. Unfortunately, that’s all the Cubs would do (besides, of course, stranding a bunch of runners in scoring position).

The Cardinals, meanwhile, took advantage of a gassed Volstad to score three runs in the sixth. Carlos Beltran drove in one with a double, and then MVP and Hero of the City of Saint Louis, David Freese, cranked a two-run homer to left center to kill the hopes and dreams of the Cubs faithful. Just to add insult to injury, he would also tack on a totally unnecessary insurance run in the seventh off of Shawn Camp.

» Continue reading “Cubs Game Recap: No Sweep Today”