Series Win vs. Brewers

July 1st, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; vs. Washington Nationals; Ted Lilly, 6-4, 4.03 ERA, vs. Jason Simontacchi, 5-5, 5.81 ERA

The Cubs played on WGN today, and won 5-1. The hitting was great. The pitching was phenomenal. Theriot was back in the lineup. He had 3 doubles. Marquis went 7, yielding 1. Marmol went the 8th and 9th, striking out 4. The Cubs now, 6.5 back, 40-40 record. They won that series, 3 series wins in a row.


Yesterday, in my blog during the Brewers 13-4 rout of the Cubs, I mentioned that the pitching and hitting in yesterday's game wasn't in sync. Today it was. Marquis gave up 1 run, a homer to Corey Hart in the 6th. The Cubs scored the runs that ended up being the game winners in the bottom 1st inning.


It was a very solid way to end the home-stand. The Cubs were good defensively, as well. The most recent example was in the 9th inning today, when Marmol gave up a double to begin the inning. The very next play Mark DeRosa robbed the Brewers of back to back doubles and a run. Solid style of play, that's how to describe the Cubs over the last 9 games, winning 8.


This upcoming series should be a breeze. Well, maybe not, but atleast it should be easier than facing the Brewers for 3 days. We have to face the 33-48 Nationals, and then the 35-46 Pirates. That takes up 7 games of our schedule. It would sure be great if we could win 5 or 6 of those games. Tomorrow, Lilly vs. Simontacchi. The stats are at the top. Then, it's Zambrano vs. Micah Bowie, then Rich Hill vs. Matt Chico and Sean Marshall vs. Jason Bergmann. The only 1 of those I see us losing is Bergmann vs. Marshall.


Bergmann's ERA is 3.47, Marshall's 3.50. That being said, Bergmann is 1-5, which tells me that the Nat's don't give much run support. You don't have to look at any stats other than the ERA and record to determine that.

Thanks,

Ryan