Cubs 9-5, -1.5 (2nd...but 1st in the Wild Card!), take series
Reds 6-9, -5.0 (5th)
POTG: SP Z!!! (3 H, 2B, R, RBI - also pitched some: 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, BB, 5 K, W [2/84], QS [3])
Runner Up: 1B D Lee (HR, 3 H, BB, 2 R), RF Fukudome (2B, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI), LF-3B Mark DeRosa (2B, 2 RBI, BB), C Soto (SF, H, 3 RBI, R), SS Ryan Theriot (2 H, R, 2B)
There will come a time when the Cubs will need the extra offense Murton would've provided over Eric Patterson. They scored 12 runs last night, so this clearly isn't the time to be concerned about that.
Z was great in this game. He's been locked in more in other games, but this was all about being economical with pitches from early on. The Reds were toast by the third, so the real goal here was to not blow up and limit the bullpen usage. The Cubs got out of it with just Hart having to be used - any win with no Marlo and no Wood in April is a very good thing.
Lee remains great, but this was more the Josh Fogg implosion game than anything else. the cubs didn't do much against the guys who followed him, but they didn't really need to do much by that point.
Lots of added benefits if the Cubs can just take on more. It'd theoretically involve Lilly getting on track, which would be good for the overall rotation, and it'd put the Reds in a big hole already. It's too early to bury a team, but it's always a good time to put some distance on them.
Edinson Volquez has pitched 5 and 5 1/3 in his two starts this season. He's pitched really well for those stretches, so I'm thinking he's a Juan Mateo/Carlos Marmol type who has the stuff but the not endurance. The Reds bullpen has seen a lot of innings so far this series, so they might need to stretch Volquez today. We'll see how that goes.
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