Day: June 6, 2006

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Cubs drop to 23-34
Astros rise to 28-31

POTG: I’m just going to keep giving it to RP Carlos Marmol (2 IP, 2 H, 3 K) when there are no good options.

Runner up: LF Matt Murton (2 H, R), PH John Mabry (2B, RBI)

Dishonorable Mention: RP Bobby Howry. I don’t know what was going on, but the 8th inning took roughly five hours to complete, and he was stalling on the mound for most of it. The hour of game before the top of 9th was some of the most boring baseball ever invented. I wanted to kill the announcers when they started making “B” jokes, but I believe they wished death too.

It looked worse than that; a team not struggling to hit like the Astros would’ve murdered him last night.

“It’s a long process,” Wood said. “I sure would like to get to the end of the tunnel, see the light. I can’t reach it yet. It’s more difficult mentally than physically to get out there and not have your good stuff.”

Good thing we have all the time in the world!

Manager Dusty Baker said Wood “threw the ball pretty good,”

And I thought I had low expectations for this start.

“It’s usually never really good when you go 3 2/3,”

And give up 4 runs in the process.

What’s great about Kerry’s post game interview is he liked to say the obvious.

“It definitely would’ve been a little easier if I don’t throw [the ball to third] away,” Wood said.

Lineup funnies:

Baker opted to sit second baseman Tony Womack, hitting .273 against lefties, and catcher Michael Barrett, who had a .316 average off lefties and was 9-for-18 on the trip.

Womack’s a sample size question, but sitting Barrett was pretty dumb – why not wait for a righty? I think Blanco’s started had more to do with Kerry than anything, because Barrett came in as soon after Wood left.

Digression: walks per plate appearance, top 5

.207 Derek Lee (DL)
.200 Ryan Theriot (IOWA, limited AB)
.115 Henry Blanco
.111 Todd Walker
.093 John Mabry

Really could use a nice Marshall game today..

UPDATE!: I hope you’re sitting down for this.

Kerry Wood flew to Cincinnati Wednesday morning to have his shoulder examined by Dr. Timothy Kremchek.

I think I just won a bet. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ME.

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Cubs keep on rising to 23-33
Astros are falling, and can’t get up, 27-31

POTG: SP Z! (8 IP, H, 2 BB, 8 K, QS, W #53; hitting: HR, 4 RBI, R) – this was slightly easier then yesterday

Runner Up: CF Juan Pierre (2 H, BB, 2 SB), 1B Todd Walker (2 H, 2 R), 3B A-RAM (2 H, RBI), RF Jacque Jones (2 H, HR, R, 2 RBI), SS Ronny Cedeno (3B, 2 H, 2 R)

I don’t know if the Cubs are starting The Greatest Comeback In The History Of The Franchise, or are just getting a few cheap wins on the way to playing their expected .500 level the rest of the year. Maybe you can’t believe in a comeback, and don’t want to watch a team with a miserable record, I can’t blame you for that.

However, if you’re not watching this team once every five games, I don’t know what you’re in this for. Z! has reached the rare peak level where any and every start has a chance to turn out like this one did. You are fortunate as a fan when you get to see any player at this level, and the Cubs have been fortunate quite a bit in the last decade (Sosa for a while, Wood and Prior there for shorter periods – that’s why we still care about them, if you’ve forgotten – and Derek was in that zone a bit last year.) If you’re missing Carlos’ starts because the record is 23-33 and not 33-23, I have no use for you and you ought to give up on baseball entirely.

There were just two near hits before the one Walker had no shot on; the line drive to A-Ram (which is always a tougher play than it looks, because he’s caught the ball before we can even see it), and Pierre’s huge run down in the gap. The signature play of this game was the strikeout of Berkman, where Z threw strike three twice and didn’t get the call, but didn’t lose focus either and got the swinging third.

I like to think that how this start ended explained why Z was so angry after last start. He believes – he KNOWS – he’s capable of putting out starts like this, and when he doesn’t, he’s going to be upset at the world. If you could be this awesome, wouldn’t you be upset when you weren’t?

Z just turned 25. If he plays 16 more complete seasons after this day, he can get to 300 by averaging 16.47 wins per season. Not impossible, though he’s only gotten 16 once so far.

Obligatory non-Z comment: Pierre has 19 SB, which is good enough for enough for second in the league, but completely silly when you compare his OBP to the other guys

23: NYM Reyes (310 OBP)
19: CHC Pierre (288)
17: FLA Ramirez (371)
16: CIN Lopez (371)
15: SDP Roberts (360)

If Pierre could actually get on at a decent rate, he’d be lapping the league.