CS Welcomes a New Member to the Crew

The Cubbyswagger Crew welcomes Chris Salzman to the staff.  Chris will be covering fantasy baseball with posts every Monday and Thurdsday. He has over a decade of fantasy baseball under his belt.  We at Cubbysawgger.net are thrilled to have Chris on staff and that we are taking the next step in our baseball coverage.

Look for Chris’s first post this Thursday!

Game 14 Recap

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3 -12

Big “Z,” Carlos Zambrano, cruised and the Cubs offense put tonight’s game away early with a four run first and a six run third. After eleven batters and two Cincinnati pitchers the third inning came to an end with the Cubbies leading 10-1. The team then traded runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to close out the scoring. As the score would indicate it was a complete effort from the Cubs offense. Every stater reached base, as did Felix Pie and Daryle Ward off of the bench. Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome both continued their hot starts reaching base four times apiece; Carlos Zambrano threw in three hits of his own.

As expected Mark DeRosa, started in left field in place of the injured Alfonso Soriano; Mike Fontenot came in to play second base which was vacated my DeRosa. DeRosa was 2-3 with a walk and two R.B.I., and Fontenot was 1-5 with one R.B.I.. Eric Patterson, who was called up to fill Soriano’s roster spot made his first appearance of the year striking out in the eight. Patterson, the younger brother of former Cub and current Reds’ center fielder Corey Patterson, was the only Cubs’ position player to bat and not reach base. In his two plus innings the Cubs were able to tag Reds’ starter Josh Fogg for nine earned runs.

Carlos Zambrano bounced back from his below average start in Philadelphia with seven strong innings. On a night where the wind was blowing out (so strongly that the flags atop the famed scoreboard were taken down out of fear that they would blow away) “Z” gave up only two runs and kept the ball in the yard. During his post game comments Zambrano said that he saw that the wind was blowing out and tried to keep the ball down. He allowed only eleven fair fly balls and only three of them landed safely. Overall, Zambrano allowed eight hits over his seven innings while striking out five.

Numbers and Notes

W: Zambrano (2-1, 3.04 E.R.A., 8H, 2R, 1BB, 5K)

L: Fogg (1-2, 13.09 E.R.A., 7H, 9R, 2BB, 3K)

Most Valuable Cub: Carlos Zambrano (7.0 IP, 8H, 2R, 1BB, 5K) to go with 3-4 at the plate with a run, and R.B.I, and a double. “Big Z,” also made a great defensive play in the top of the second. Reds’ catcher Javier Valentin grounded up the middle, Zambrano snagged it and alertly threw to third to catch Edwin Encarnation who had strayed too far off of the bag.

Number of the Day: 11 – The Cubs brought that many batters to the plate in the bottom of the third, and were credited with 11 R.B.I. for the day.

Hitting well is nothing new for Carlos Zambrano. He is a career .215 hitter, with 15 doubles, 12 home runs, and 33 R.B.I., in his 8 year career. Zambrano won Silver Slugger award for being the best hitter at his position in 2006, the year he belted a half-dozen homers. Derrek Lee hit his 6th home run of the year and is on pace for 69 big flys this year. Lee didn’t hit his sixth home run in 2005 (his best career offensive year in which he hit 49 HR) until April 27; although he was hitting .430 that day as opposed to .393 this year.

Next Game

Thursday 1:20

Reds @ Cubs

Edinson Volquez (1-0, 0.87, 9K) vs. Ted Lilly (0-2, 9.95, 8K)

Image credits:
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80×60/cin.gif
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80×6

Game 14 Preview

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Wed., April 16
7:05 p.m. CT
TV: CSN Chicago
Radio: WGN 720 AM

Probables
Reds: Josh Fogg, RHP (1-1, 7.00 ERA)
CUBS: Carlos Zambrano, RHP (1-1, 3.20 ERA)

Story
It looks like Cubs manager Lou Piniellia will be forced to play a game of musical chairs with his lineup for a while as left fielder Alfonso Soriano was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday. Soriano strained his right calf muscle while fielding a routine flyball in the top of the first inning Tuesday night.

The Cubs recalled infielder Eric Patterson from Class AAA Iowa to take Soriano’s spot in the lineup. Patterson is batting .222 in 11 games for the Iowa Cubs on the season. Patterson is the younger brother of Corey Patterson, who was an outfielder for the Cubs between 2000-2005, and is now a Reds outfielder.

Lineups for tonight’s game aren’t posted yet, but it’s likely that Mark DeRosa will get the start in left field. DeRosa moved from his usual spot at second base to left following Soriano’s injury last night. During Soriano’s absence, DeRosa may be asked to play the role of utility man again. So far in his Cubs career, DeRosa has played at first, second, third, shortstop, right and left.

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano looked shaky and emotional at times during his last start April 11 in Philadelphia. In six innings of work, Zambrano gave up five earned runs and suffered the loss to the Phillies.

Josh Fogg, who made a trip to the World Series with the Colorado Rockies last year, will take the hill for the Reds. Fogg picked up a win in his last start April 9 against the Milwaukee Brewers, surrendering one earned run in five innings of work.

Both pitchers will need to keep the ball on the ground, as the wind will be blowing out of Wrigley at over 20-mph.

Derrek Lee will try to continue his blistering start Wednesday night. The Cubs first baseman is hitting .368 with five home runs and 12 RBIs in 13 games in the 2008 campaign.

Weather
Wednesday was a beautiful day in Chicago, with the temperature climbing over the 70-degree mark for the first time since last October. Game-time temperature should be about 65-degrees with a 20-mph-plus wind coming from the southwest. With the wind blowing out at over 20-mph, it could be a high-scoring, wild game at the Friendly Confines.

Image credits:
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80×60/cin.gif
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80×60/chc.gif