Game 21 Recap:Cubs 7 Rockies 6 (10 innings)

10,000th

FranchiseWin!!!

The Cubs kicked off a road trip tonight in Colorado looking for the 10,000 victory in the franchises history. In true Cub fashion it was a struggle but they did become the second franchise in American sports (the San Francisco Giants are the first). It took a couple of comebacks and two tries at the save but in the end it was white flag time

The boys in blue opened up the scoring in the second inning with a Kosuke Fukudome triple followed by a Mark DeRosa sacrifice fly and a Geovany Soto solo home run. Then in the fifth inning the Cubs extended the lead with another triple, this time by Derrek Lee. Aramis Ramirez then doubled bringing in Lee making it a 3-1 game.

The Rockies then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a big five run inning chasing Cubs starter Rich Hill. Hill had gone five scoreless innings allowing only a pair of hit to the Rocks, until Clint Barmes lead off the sixth with a homer. Hill walked the next batter, Todd Helton, and was pulled in favor of Michael Wuertz. Wuertz continued to struggle giving up a pair of hits and a pair of runs. Sean Marshall was then brought in to face lefty Brad Hawpe; who he struck out for the first out of the inning. Jon Leiber was then brought in to finish the inning and gave up a three-run shot to the first batter he faced – Troy Tulowitzki. Leiber then retired the next two batters that he faced but at that point the damage had been done; the Cubs trailed 5-3.

The Cubs got one run back in the top of the seventh when they strung together three hits to start the inning capped by Lee driving in Reed Johnson with an R.B.I. single. However after a Ramirez strikeout and a Kosuke walk the Cubbies left them loaded when DeRosa lined to the shortstop who flipped to second to double up Lee.

The Cubs then took the lead in the top of the ninth when Aramis Ramirez hit a two run homer. However, Kerry Wood blew his second save in six chances. But the Cubs picked him up in the top of the tenth when Ryan Theriot, drove in Mike Fontenot, who had pitch run for Geovany Soto who lead off the inning with a single. Carlos Marmol came in to pitch the bottom of the tenth and he was perfect to record his second save.

Number and Notes

W: Wood (2-0, 3.75, 2H, 1R, 3K)

L: Wells (1-1, 2.12, 2H, 1R, 1BB, 1K)

S: Marmol (2, 1.76, 0H, 0R, 0K)

Most Valuable Cub: Geovany Soto 4-5, 2B (7), HR (3), and lead off the top of the tenth with a single.

Number of the Day: 2 – The Cubs hit that many doubles, triples, and home runs. The second home run was a two-run shot temporarily giving the Cubs the lead. Also it took two tries to get the save resulting in Kerry Wood getting his second win of the season and Marmol his second save. Lastly the Cubs became the second team to reach 10,000 victories.

Bob Howry pitched a perfect eighth inning. Lou Pinella put Felix Pie into run for Derrek Lee after Lee’s one-out single in the top of the ninth. The move turned out to be moot as Ramirez homered allowing Pie to walk around the bases. At the time the move seemed questionable as Lee has good speed for a first basemen having stolen as many as 21 bases in a year, and had one tonight. The Cubs played their fifth extra inning game of the year tonight and moved their record to 4-1 in extras. Overall they have played 12 extra innings. The current six game winning streak has improved the club’s record to 15-6.

Swag Shop Special – Sizzlin Snake & Eggs

Get your snake and eggs while you can

By this time, basically any person halfway following 2008 MLB baseball can tell you the Arizona Diamondbacks are not only the biggest surprise, but also the team with the best record in all of baseball.  Their story doesn’t start and stop by looking at their 15-5 record.  Timely hitting or flawless pitching isn’t the sole cause of their best-in-the-bigs record.  No, the D-Backs have completely and utterly dominated baseball for the first three weeks of 2008.  They have scored the most runs, tallied the most RBI, boasted the highest slugging percentage, recorded the fourth highest team average, lead the league in team ERA, and their staff has surrendered the fewest hits throughout the league.  Like I said, complete and utter domination on the MLB that has nevertheless carried over to the fantasy realm.

No fantasy expert would have ever predicted that 5 of the top 30 Yahoo fantasy hitters would represent the snakes from the desert.  The top-notch corps consist of Mark Reynolds (5), Conor Jackson (12), Eric Byrnes (20), Justin Upton (21), and Chris Young (30).  Aside from the rejuvenated, 32-years-young Byrnes, all of these fantasy gems are 25 or younger.  It is phenomenal that these guys are making such a fantasy impact at such a young age.  Scouts criticized the Arizona organization for calling these young guns up to the show during the heat of a pennant race last year, but fighting through tough games and winning a playoff series may prove to be the perfect experience needed to increase their confidence from start to finish in 2008.  They know they are good, they know they can beat good teams, and now they are not one bit scared to do so.  Kind of a been there, done that mentality. 

On the pitching side, it is not uber-shocking to see Brandon Webb and Dan Haren near the top of the fantasy rankings.  But ranked THIS high wasn’t entirely anticipated.  ESPN the Magazine predicted that Webb and Haren would be the best one-two punch in the NL.  Currently ranked 3 and 8, respectively, the duo is undoubtedly exceeding the Mag’s expectations.  However, who could have guessed that teammate Micah Owings’ mound performance would be equally impressive?  Ranked 6th among all pitchers, the 25-year-old is 4-0 with a 2.44 ERA and just shy of one K per inning pitched.  These stats far surpass his last year’s rookie campaign where Owings posted a 4.30 ERA and 8 total wins in 27 starts.  Owings, a highly-esteemed prospect since his 2007 debut, may be on the verge of a huge, breakout year, a year or two prior to anyone’s estimation.

So it all comes down to the Rattlers being able to sustain this production throughout the duration of the season.  By the end of 2008. will we still see 5 D-Backs in the top 25?  Will 3 D-Back hurlers remain in the top 10?  It is hard to say yes, but at the same time, there is no reason to make me think they won’t.  No doubt, it is still very early into the season, and much can vary throughout the upcoming weeks.  In the past, we’ve even witnessed teams that have dominated their individual divisions for the majority of the season, produce noteworthy fantasy numbers, then fold late in the year.  A prime example is last season’s Milwaukee Brewer debacle.  They were more than poised to win the central but could not keep it together.  The 2007 Brew Crew was comprised of talented rookies (Ryan Braun, Cory Hart) and promising, yet inexperienced players (Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy) none of which felt the effects of a full MLB season prior to 2007.  In other words, playing a full season’s worth of games can be problematic for a team that relies very heavily on a group of inexperienced ballplayers.  The Brewers kind of disappeared.  It is difficult to remain completely cohesive as Milwaukee appeared to be during the first half when success is entirely contingent upon the promise of a inexperienced group.

On the exterior, the D-Backs have a similar montage to the 2007 Brewers.  They have group of young players at the core, and most of their offensive production is being generated from guys 25 and younger.  Just like the young talent guiding the 2007 Brewer campaign.  After taking a closer look, however, the nucleus of Arizona’s offense differs from the 2007 Brewers.  Byrnes, Jackson, Young, Stephen Drew, Reynolds have all experienced full seasons with approximately 500 plate appearances.  This was a luxury the young Brewers lacked last season which ultimately factored into their demise.  Couple the high-pressure post-season ball games with the corps’ endurance, and your looking at an offense with a combination that reeks of fantasy value.  The same theory can be applied to the D-Back pitching rotation.  Haren, Webb, and Randy Johnson have all tallied multiple 200-inning seasons and Owings started 27 games last year, which is just about 5 starts removed from a standard complete season.  Their pitchers have the experience too.  Arizona has both position players and pitchers that have felt the weight of a big-league season which should result in an NL West crown and numerous fantasy owners’ championships.  I anticipate sustained success from both the D-Back batters and pitchers.  Try and corral a snake or two if you can.

Game 20 Recap: Mets 1, CUBS 8

Tuesday was a day of firsts:  Ronny Cedeno clubbed his first career grand slam, Ted Lilly picked up his first win of the season, and a Cubs played had to backtrack on a comment about the team and the World Series after the Cubs drilled the Mets 8-1 Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

On Tuesday, the player, Cedeno, recanted what he reportedly said Monday when he mentioned that the Cubs are “thinking about the World Series,” according to the Associated Press.

Although he took back what he said, the reserve infielder Cedeno played like he meant it Tuesday.  Cedeno, who started the past two games at short while Ryan Theriot has been shelved with back pain, opened the scoring in the fourth by driving in Koskue Fukudome with a double to right, before blowing the game open with the grand slam in the eighth.

Cubs starter Lilly (1-3) had to work out of a few jams, but he was good enough Tuesday.  In the fourth, Lilly escaped a 1-out, bases-loaded situation by inducing popouts from the Mets Carlos Delgado and Damien Easley.  In the sixth, Lilly did surrender his only earned run of the day after he loaded the bases by giving up a walk to Carlos Beltran and base hits to Delgado and Easley.  Brady Clark then hit a fielder’s choice to second, which scored Beltran.

Lilly was helped in large part by the Cubs offense, which has been amongst the best in the Majors of late.  During the eight-game home stand, which the Cubs finished with a mark of 7-1 following Tuesday’s win, the team averaged just over eight runs per game.  Although the Cubs have been hot lately, and they won by seven runs on Tuesday, the team could have scored a lot more as the Cubs left 13 runners on base.

The win moved the Cubs to 14-6 on the season, 1.5 games ahead of Saint Louis, and 2.0 games in front of Milwaukee.  The Cubs last started 14-6 in 1975, but that team went on to finish fifth in the N.L. East with a record of 75-87.  Tuesday’s win also gave the franchise 9,999 total wins, second in the Major Leauges, behind the Giants.

Looking ahead, the Cubs will hit the road for a 5-game trip, before ending April at home against the Brewers.  Due to a scheduling querk, the Cubs will head to Denver for a brief 2-game series Wednesday and Thursday, before going to Washington D.C. to take on the Nationals in the new Nationals Park for a 3-game weekend series.

(Image credit: http://www.usflags.com/images/products/Product-4484.jpg)