Them's The Breaks

definition of winning ugly today.
I thought Wards AB was bad today also, he never saw a strike and then struck out with two on.
I give Marquis credit, he should of been knocked around, but got out the first two innings with just the one run.
I know a lefty was throwing today, all be it at tops of 82 MPH, I would of started Pie today, yes I know Johnson has favorable numbers against Moyer, but Pie is sitting to much. Would love to see a run of games for him, 10-12 in a row, see what he can do.
Hey you take the win, and at 7-5, not to bad considering they really haven't played well at all.

That HR was a blown call, pure and simple. And you didn't mention
the failed "double steal."

I'm still worried about what these extra-inning messes are doing to
Santo's stamina and mental health.

you mean wood pitched the 8th and 9th, not the 10th?

sitting behind home plate in the Yankees/Red Sox game wearing a Cubs hat?

...on Jackie Robinson day?

I assume that is just the irony of scheduling..

...I am happy for him that he didn't mess up today, hopefully his confidence will build and mistakes will be fewer when he plays.

But, I keep reading about problems.

Here's how I see it: last year we played like absolute crap for all of April got off to a horrible start. This year, we're playing like absolute crap after two weeks, and at least we're 7-5.

That's a positive, because at some point (I hope) we'll actually start to play good baseball.

They trashed him for failing to score from 2nd on a single to RF... where the right fielder was actually conceding the run. Pagan merely jogged his way to third base.

I always liked his athleticism, but he has a baseball IQ of zero. Put his name on the back of Cedeno's jersey, and you wouldn;t be able to tell the difference.

is that all of those extra inning wins came away from home - where not batting last and having the ability to end the game suddenly both work against you.

I know that historically, the home team wins most games, but can anyone tell me, stat-wise, how often the home team wins an extra inning game? That's a stat I'd love to see.

To honor the 42 hot dogs he will eat on the off-day tomorrow.

that last year we had very few close calls go our way....DeRo's homer may be a sign of good things to come...We need the breaks cause we are playin' like S*IT!!!

..Soriano spends the day off in the batting cages!

But lookin at the standings, we are in thetoughest division in baseball.. WE would have #2 most wins in AL, and we're sittin 3rd in our division. fyi...

I have been very frustrated by some of Lou's managerial decisions in the past, but I loved his left-right switch pinch hitting today with Soto and Pie. We may have lucked out, but BRAVO nonetheless.

I'm sure there have been more than what I remember, but other than today's game, I can think of only one other Cubs game I've watched where they got a break that won the game for them (a Rockies game years ago, where the Rockies could have tied the score in the 9th, but for the ball rolling into some drain pipe past the bull pen, resulting in a ground rule double - the next batter made an out). I've lost track of the number of games I've watched where they had a break go against them, and they lost.

Having said that, the 99 years of futility, we all know, is the product of ownership that didn't care about winning. I really don't understand our ownership right now, but we seem to have management that cares about winning. For that, we have the '03 Cubs to thank, who somehow broke the contentment with "getting close."

This team really hasn't played well. Our starting pitching hasn't gone very deep in games (have we had a starting pitcher make the eight inning yet?), and Soriano and Ramirez (both batting in spots we need to have be productive ones) aren't hitting close to their career averages.

Yet, we are 7-5. We've got good talent on this team, and certainly, on paper, they are better than last year. I just want to see them win it once.

He could be good value at the deadline, or he could come up and we could move Fukudome to CF.

for heart stoppages like the one howry gave me. we need this off day baddddd. nice road trip 4-2 i believe and now were going home for 8. go cubbies.

Like winning two series - I'll take it.

he had to work a lot harder in the 2nd inning because of Blanco's PB and Theriot's rag arm on Bruntlett's IF hit. Long innings take a lot out of any P, especially one who has been ill. Perhaps he could have gone 6 if the 2nd would have been easier?

BTW, DeRo has as many HR as his good buddy Chipper Jones right now. (Doubt if I'll be able to say that on May 1st.)

....that I would try and be as even keel about this season as I could, and judging by the responses I got when I overreacted last week to a loss, I'm not the only one. So I'll say the cubs are 7-5, despite:

-Our 3rd baseman has been an absolute abortion, at the plate and in the field. Has he made one good throw? Derrek Lee is now 7'4"
-Our Left fielder
hasn't been much better.
-We've had exactly 4 good starts this season, out of 12. Maybe 5 if you count Hill's against Houston. Either way, this isn't good, and the one scary thing about this club, because an overworked bullpen in April WILL result in a tired one come September.
-Our defense has been....let's call it "abstract."

Those last two are worrisome, though the defense should at least be average by seasons end. But the team is 7-5, and the rotation should straighten out. Al's analogy of Lilly to Arroyo is interesting, but not accurate, as Arroyo blew in the AL except outside of his first year, and lilly's thrown up several good seasons, whereas now he's just throwing up. Still, I forsee us considering ourselves very fortunate we didn't move Gallagher in the near future.

I know other players have contributed a lot and I don't want to diminish their importance nor their accomplishments. But Lee's bat and especially his glove have been magnificent.

Today's circus catch to end the ninth inning was a perfect example of how Lee makes the club better. But think about the game-winning play. Ryan Howard is so terrible on defense that he cost his team the game. Had it been a slick fielder like Lee playing first base instead, he steps out of the base and blocks Utley's bad throw, limiting it to a one-base error. Instead, the ball got away and Cedeño reached home.

Although I would have rather won both series, 4-2 is a very good outcome. We need to improve and beat contenders like the Phillies more often, though, but the season is young and a few adjustments will acheive that goal.

The biggest adjustment the team needs is in the starting rotation. Marquis was suspect before the season started, but with Hill's and Lilly's shaky starts so far, the rotation is weak to succeed in the long run. This may tax the bullpen if the bad starts continue and then the losses will pile up. Let's hope it doesn't get to that.

Finally, Soriano's very slow start shouldn't last all season long but it doesn't look to me that it will end soon. He appears unable to hold on when pitched low and away. He is also starting his swing consistently late, which suggests the guy is unsure about what the pitchers are throwing at him. Therefore he is late on fastballs and slow pitches alike. It seems Soriano is going to have to work on his mind as welll as his hitting mechanics if he wants to get out of this prolonged slump.

...to have D-Lee? Every sports report (especially those on audio) would have you believe Utley did a Dunston and threw it so far off the bag, not even with assistance of a fishing net on a long pole would have helped. Oh, how incorrect. That throw was off the mark but not that difficult to catch. If Ryan Howard would drop a few pounds (sort of like a smaller brother of Prince Fielder) and learn how to stretch, he catches that ball. D-Lee? Just a slight lean and grab. Yeah his 6'5" frame helps but like I said the throw was not that bad.

I'm looking at the previous 69 posts before I write and there's wayyyyyy to many panic'ers. It's 12 games in. In the NFL that's 75%, in MLB that's 7.5%. There's a few concerns (less than last year) but it's not time to panic. We're due for these breaks. Hey, last years' team would have gone 1-5 on this trip, losing all the games except the last one in Pgh.

Ugly wins are better than pretty losses. Would be nice to have a few coasting wins in here somewhere and we never seem to have those against the Reds. This team must play better. Soon.

...but I could go for a nice clean win on Tuesday. I'll be at the park Tuesday so I'm glad to see the weather is warming up a bit.

Side note, Randy Johnson will be starting tonight for the D-backs, if he stays healthy they could be a scary team in the playoffs.

that part of his game has improved a lot, but he is a run-producer who happens to play 2B.

That being said, I argue this end with all my non-Cub fans. DLee is significantly better defensively than any other 1B in the league and has been for a few years. It becomes obvious when we watch Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard try to play the position. Night and day difference.

Seriously, who else can you put in DLee's category in the whole league? Just in terms of defense.

Former Memphis Chick DLee sure made a nice play on that smash from Carlos Ruiz in the 9th that got the game to the 10th. Wood was able to go two innings (very encouraging) to shutout the Phillies in the 8th and 9th. Howry got a save in the 10th that should build his confidence. That DeRosa home run was fair all the way looking through my Cubbie blue colored Harry Caray glasses.

...a lot of people here feeling/thinking the same way I am. That is, a year ago at this time, we were all tearing our hair out about the fact that the Cubs weren't winning close games and weren't hitting home runs.

Now here they are with three of four extra inning wins, and don't forget the 3-2 win over Houston on 4/6. In addition, the Cubs are ranked fifth in the league in home runs, if I'm reading baseball-reference.com correctly.

Yeah, the guys have gotten more than few lucky breaks lately, but there's still plenty of talent on this team -- much of which has yet to come to fruition. I have my concerns, naturally, but I'm pretty far from hitting the panic button.

I didn't realize that Lou ran out of position players when he batted Z. Thank you for mentioning that, as I thought Lou got a little crazy there. (But only a little crazy, given Z's batting average and athleticism.) Still, Z looked like a runaway train on the way to first. :D

Great, if ugly, win guys! Put those brooms away, Philly fans!

Dave