Pitching Ends 7 game win streak

June 30th, 2007

Cubs; FOX; vs. Brewers; 10-2, bottom 6; Rocky Cherry vs. Ben Sheets

Well, not yet, but we're down by 8 in the 6th. That's not the worst thing. Sean Marshall gave up 7, 6 earned, over 2 innings. That's worse than Rich Hill yesterday. That leads me to my next point. You know why we've had a 7 game win streak? Both our pitching and hitting picked eachother up. If we pitched bad, we came back, if we pitched good, we scored enough to win.

Now, we have to ride our hitting further than ever. Our pitching is going. These are the stats of our last 4 starts. Lilly, 6 innings, 4 earned. Zambrano, 6 innings, 2 earned. Hill, 5 earned, 3 innings. Today, Marshall, 2 innings 6 earned. Where has this pitching gone? Unbelievable. Our pitching was so good earlier this year when we couldn't score. Now our pitching is so bad when we can't not score.

The Cubs just added 2, 10-4. Going to the top 7th. Another thing I want to say is that Scott Eyre is in a deep funk. Today, when we called up Cherry, we sent down Petrick. Billy Petrick is a rookie who has had an OK stint with the Cubs. Let me tell you this though; his ERA wasn't 7. That is what Scott Eyre's ERA is after today 2 inning appearance, yielding 2 earned.

Scott was good last year, Lou, get over it. Don't look at last year's stats, look at this year's. They don't even compare. Last year: 3.38 ERA, 2nd in relief appearances. This year: 3rd in relief appearances, 7.00 ERA. That is what I'd say to Lou, or Rothschild, or whoever sends down chubby, sucky relief pitchers.

So, to make my point all the clearer, The Cubs need to pull their heads out of their arses and find a way to pitch and hit good at the same time. That is the only possible way the Cubs have of contending. Craig Counsell homered, 11-4. Top 7 still.

Now, let me bring attention to another thing that could setback the Cubs 1,000 years. Zambrano motioned to reporters for them to look at a pair of red catchers shingaurds. He then told the reporters it was a gift for his next catcher, Yadier, refering to cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. I have a few theories on this.

First of all, the Cubs starting catchers, Rob Bowen and Koyie Hill, are both hitting under .200, and this could mean that Hendry is shopping for a catcher, and Yadier is his target. This doesn't seem too unlikey to me, as Yadier is a good defensive catcher, which we could use in the post Barrett era.

Another theory is that Zambrano is angry he hasn't been given a contract extension yet so he is trying to get under the Cubs' skin out of anger. This is also possible, as Zambrano does have a fiery temper.

My third theory is that he has been talking to the Cardinals about signing a contract with them at years end, or is being traded there at the trade deadline. This is reasonable for Hendry to do because: a) it saves 12 million, and b) SI said the Cubs could contend with out him. This wouldn't fit for the Cardinals though, because then they'd have 2 aces in a 1 ace rotation.

My last theory is this. The All-Star game. Yadier is making it as a backkup catcher. Zambrano should make it as a starter. He said he was available for the ASG. This is another theory because everyone plays in the ASG except reserves. Yadier is a backup, Zambrano most likely won't start, so there you go, my 4 theories.

Thanks,

Ryan