Big Second Inning

July 15th, 2007

Cubs; ESPN; 7:05 PM ET; vs. Giants; Lincecum, 4-2, 4.63 ERA, vs. Hill, 5-6, 3.81 ERA

Today the Cubs completed a 3 game sweep of the Astros, although I hardly think they deserved it. Jason Marquis pitched a horrific game in which the Cubs won by the grace of God. In the first 3 innings of the game he gave up 6 runs. It wasn't just 1 bad inning, either. He had a flurry of bad innings. His final inning was the 4th, the only inning he didn't give up a run.

Any other day and I think the Cubs lose the game. The reason they didn't, in case you didn't hear, was a 6 run 2nd inning. The Cubs then scored the eventual game winning run in the 4th inning, creating a 3 game winning streak that puts them 3.5 games back of the Brewers.

Good things did happen today despite the fact that Jason Marquis decided to bring his F game to the ball park today. Derrek Lee hit his 1st homerun since June 3rd today. That is his 7th of the year. In other news, Alfonso Soriano hit 5th today. He went 0-4, while Ryan Theriot who led off today went 2-5 with a dinger. Overall I believe it was a well played game and look forward to any more good baseball the Cubs want to play.

Tomorrow Rich Hill starts against San Fransisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. There are a few good things about this game.

1. The offense is red hot again, and it looks like D-Lee may have his power stick back.





2. The game is on ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports.





3. Barry Bonds is stirring thing up by coming to town.

We shall see, my friends and readers, we shall see. I hope all goes well in this upcoming series vs. the Giants so the Cubs can remain contenders in the NL Central.

Thanks,

Ryan