Cubs vs. Brewers: Series Preview

June 28th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; June 29th, 2:20 PM ET; Rich Hill, 5-5, 3.13 ERA, vs. Yovani Gollardo, 1-0, 2.70 ERA

Life of Luxury, people. Get used to it. Now that the Cubs have won 6 in a row, we have the mometum on our side to possibly win a series against the Milwaukee Brewers. They have momentum, too, winning 3 in a row (a sweep). That puts them 7.5 games ahead of us in the NL Central. Wildcard you ask? 6 games out. It looks a little grim, until you realize that our pitching sucks, sure, but in this series, just 3 games, we scored 24 runs. That, people, is 8 runs a game. If we can score 8 runs a game I don't care if we give up 6 over 9 innings and have the worst team ERA in MLB history, we'll win ballgames. An 8-6 win is still a win right?

Back to the point though, which is a side by side comparison of the Cubs and Brewers. I'll most likely be wrong, you know that surely if you read my Cubs vs. Rockies preview. I said statistically, the Rockies win the series 2 games to 1. The actual outcome was that the Cubs sweep. I choose to do this either way so you, my loyal viewers, don't have to think. You don't have to look on MLB.com and tire your arthritis riddled bones. I'm doing it for you. Enjoy!

Pitchers Preview:

Game 1: Rich Hill vs. Yovani Gollardo. Gollardo has 2 starts this year. He has gone 13.1 innings this year, averaging 6.2 per start. He has 4 earned runs. If he goes 6.2 against us and gives up 2, like the averages say, it'll be a tough game to win. Hill had 5 starts in April. His ERA for that month was 1.77! In June he had 5 starts again. His ERA for May was 4.66, raising his ERA to 3.06. This Month, June, he has had 5 starts, tomorrow is 6, and his ERA is 3.26 for this month. He's gone into the 6th inning all but once, against San Diego on the 17th, giving up 5 earned in 3 innings. Overall though, Hill has had 15 starts, 10 quality starts, 3.13 2007 ERA, which leads me to believe 1 thing: Advantage Cubs.

Game 2: Ben Sheets vs. Sean Marshall. Sheets is 9-3 with a 3.09 ERA. If the year ended today, I'd give him Cy Young. He is a talented pitcher, the anchor of the Brewers staff, and he is going to be a key to the further success of the Brewers this year. Marshall last year had 24 starts, and a 5+ ERA. Every start I ask myself, "Today will we see old Sean or new Sean?" This year, all but 1 quality starts in 7 total starts. That game he gave up 4 runs over 4 innings. Other than that, he has given up 2 at most in every start this year. This game's outcome? Too close to call.

Game 3: My guess is as good as yours. Marquis vs. To be determined. Marquis has been amazing this year, well, early at least. I think we are starting to see shades of his '06 season, and I hate it. He and Ted Lilly need to just settle down and give up fewer runs. Lilly's ERA is up to 4.03, Marquis' is up to 3.46, both were in the low 2's.

Sorry I ran out of time to do the hitters comparison right now. It's 10 o'clock now, and I just don't have time, but I promise on my next Series Preview edition, which I do on off-days, like I did against the Rockies, with hitters, will have hitters.

Thanks,

Ryan