In the preview to Friday night's game, I wrote:

All of this is another way of saying that I don't think either team can score any runs in this series. Someone will have to, of course; you can't have 0-0 ties in baseball. Ready for three 1-0 games?

Maybe instead of making predictions like this, I should go buy Powerball tickets or something.

The Cubs lost their 10th consecutive game Friday night, 1-0 to the Pirates. Baseball-reference.com's database of games goes back to 1918, 93-plus years' worth of data. In all that time, before Friday night, the Cubs had only 12 games in which they had 10 or more hits and could not score. Three of those were extra-inning games, so that makes Friday's game just the 10th time in nearly 100 years they had such a reign of offensive incompetence. The last game before Friday was on June 22, 2009; before that, it hadn't happened since 1991.

I've got more of this sort of thing, but you'll have to follow me past the jump.

Continue reading this post »

It's my birthday today so after I finish writing this, I'm taking the rest of the night off. I'm telling you this now. So if you ask a question at midnight tonight, don't expect an answer by 2 am.

I was a Tony Zych meltdown away from having a pretty nice birthday present, as three of the four teams in the Cubs system won.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs made the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) blue, 2-1.

Rodrigo Lopez started the game, threw one pitch and was removed for an injury. (The pitch was a strike, though.) So Jay Jackson took over for Lopez and was pretty good, allowing but one run on three hits over five innings. Jackson walked two and struck out five.

Carlos Marmol pitched the sixth inning tonight on a rehab appearance. He gave up a walk and a double with one out, but then got a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat.

Scott Maine loaded the bases with two-out in the ninth inning, but got a foul out to end the game. Maine pitched two scoreless innings and collected his third win of the season. Maine allowed one hit and he walked two while striking out one.

The game was tied 1-1 going to the ninth inning when Luis Valbuena hit a two-out solo home run. Valbuena went 1 for 4. It was his sixth home run this season.

Steve Clevenger caught six innings tonight. He was 1 for 3 with a double and he scored Iowa's first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Brett Jackson.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies held the Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) at bay, 4-3.

Eric Jokisch made his first appearance in Double-A this season a very good one. Mobile could only manage one hit off of him over five innings. The bad news is that he issued his only walk before it and the hit was a two-run home run. Those were the only two baserunners Jokisch allowed. He struck out three.

Alberto Cabrera allowed a lead-off triple to Evan Frey in the ninth and allowed him to score on a wild pitch. But that was still good enough for his fourth save. Cabrera allowed one run on one hit over one inning. He struck out two.

Left fielder Jae-Hoon Ha led off the game with his second home run of the year. Ha went 1 for 5.

Catcher Luis Flores also hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. Flores also doubled in a 2 for 4 game. Flores walked once and scored two runs.

Third baseman Matt Cerda was 0 for 3 with three walks. He stole a base and scored a run.

Center fielder Jim Adduci was 2 for 2 with a walk and a stolen base. He also exited the game in the eighth with an apparent injury after he was tagged out on a play at the plate. Adduci had one RBI.

Continue reading this post »

The Cubs have lost nine straight games, in which they have been outscored 55-27. During that streak they have been shut out once and scored just one run (each time on a solo homer) in two other games; they have scored a total of six runs over their last four games.

You think this is bad, and you'd be right about that.

Meet the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates, who are hitting .217/.266/.346 as a team. They rank last in the major leagues in runs (126 -- 24 fewer than anyone else), BA, OBP and total bases, and first in batter strikeouts. They have scored one or no runs in 14 of their 44 games, and are likely holding on to their 20-24 record by means of being 11-9 in one-run games. That's a lot of one-run games at this point in the season -- almost half their total. They are on pace to score 464 runs, which would be the fewest in a non-labor-dispute season since the 1968 White Sox scored 463.

Of their regulars, Andrew McCutchen is hitting .338/.391/.543 -- All-Star level production. The rest of their everyday players have batting averages of .253, .221, .220, .219, .212, .203, .186 and .178.

Meanwhile, Pirates pitching ranks fourth in MLB in ERA and has an above-average ERA+ of 112 (the Cubs', by comparison, is 91).

All of this is another way of saying that I don't think either team can score any runs in this series. Someone will have to, of course; you can't have 0-0 ties in baseball. Ready for three 1-0 games?

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus RF, Castro SS, Mather CF, LaHair 1B, Soriano LF, Cardenas 3B, Barney 2B, Hill C, Dempster P

Pirates lineup:

Tabata LF, Harrison RF, McCutchen CF, Alvarez 3B, Walker 2B, Hague 1B, Barajas C, Barmes SS, Burnett P

Continue reading this post »

The latest from around MLB...

• The New York Yankees are for sale, according to a New York Daily News story, which was, of course, vehemently denied by the Steinbrenner Family. Unnamed sources told the Daily News that, following the Dodgers' sale for $2.15 billion, the Steinbrenners were "enthused" about that price, and got to wondering just how much the Yankees might sell for. Hal Steinbrenner is painted as an uninterested owner and chairman, who doesn't really care about baseball (again, something that's been denied). My thought? Aren't sports franchises one of the toys you buy when you have billions of dollars? If so, what do you do when you sell one for three or four billion? Buy a country? There's only so much you can do with gigantic sums of money in your life, and owning a team like the Yankees seems like one of the coolest.

Continue reading this post »

The Chiefs celebrated the tenth anniversary of the opening of their ballpark tonight. They also won, making them the only Cubs team to win since Tuesday. I think if everyone lost tonight I'd just make up better news.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs fell down the Tacoma Rainers (Mariners), 7-2.

Chris Rusin started and took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits over four innings. One of the runs was unearned. Rusin walked four and fanned two.

Shortstop Luis Valbuena had two doubles in a 2 for 4 game. Valbuena scored once and had one run batted in.

Center fielder Brett Jackson was 2 for 4. DH Ty Wright was 2 for 3.

They kept first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the park today. He was 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies fizzled against the Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks), 3-2.

Starter Dallas Beeler turned in a decent start, but got no support. He pitched six innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He was wild, however, as he walked five and hit one batter. He did strike out five as his record dropped to 1-4.

Center fielder Jim Adduci hit a solo home run in the third inning to tie the game at one. He now has four home runs on the year. Adduci was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Shortstop Junior Lake was 2 for 4. He now has a six game hit streak.

Continue reading this post »

Here's a list of Cubs pitchers:

Trachsel, Foster, Mulholland, Gonzalez, Tapani, Trachsel, Rojas, Mulholland, Gonzalez

Here's another list of Cubs pitchers:

Cruz, Bere, Borowski, Lieber, Wood, Cruz, Bere, Clement, Lieber

To those lists we can now add:

Dolis, Camp, Volstad, Samardzija, Dempster, Maholm, Garza, Wood, Samardzija

Those are the losing pitchers in the most recent nine-game losing streaks by the Cubs, the first in 1997, the second in 2002, and the third, after Wednesday night's 5-1 loss to the Astros. (It should be pointed out that the "Wood" in the 2002 list and the "Wood" in the 2012 list are different pitchers... and that the "Cruz" in the 2002 list is still pitching as an effective setup man for the Pirates.)

The unfortunate thing is that the third list can, and very probably will, get longer, as the Cubs visit Pittsburgh beginning Friday. Since the Cubs' last pennant in 1945, the team has lost 10 straight four times (1948, 1954, 1962 and 1994), 11 straight twice (1954 and 1973), 12 straight twice (1970 and 1981), 13 straight twice (1982 and 1985) and 14 straight once (the club record, in 1997).

All of those appear in reach, even though the Padres are the Cubs' Wrigley Field opponent beginning Monday and San Diego currently sits just one game ahead of the Cubs.

Continue reading this post »

I know this is the last thing any of you want to hear tonight, but everyone lost today,

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs couldn't climb the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), 8-3.

Brooks Raley made his Triple-A debut and had some problems, giving up runs in four of the five innings he pitched. Raley allowed five total runs on six hits, although two of the runs were unearned. Raley walked three and struck out four.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo hit a solo home run in the sixth inning; his 16th of the year. Rizzo was 2 for 4.

Third baseman Josh Vitters was 3 for 4 with a double that just missed leaving the yard. Vitters had one RBI.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies had their picnic baskets stolen by the Mobile Bay Bears (Diamondbacks), 8-6.

Nick Struck had a rough start tonight, giving up six runs in only three innings. Struck gave up eight hits, including one home run, and walked two. He added to his misery with two wild pitches. Struck fanned three as his record fell to 4-5.

Left fielder Rebel Ridling hit his fourth home run in four days with a man on in the first inning. It was his fifth home run this year. Ridling was 2 for 5.

Jae-Hoon Ha didn't start for the Smokies tonight for only the second time this year, but he came off the bench to pinch-hit his first home run of the year. It was a solo home run in the seventh inning. Ha stayed in the game and went 1 for 2.

James Adduci was 2 for 5. He scored once and batted two in. First baseman Justin Bour was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Shortstop Junior Lake went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Continue reading this post »