It’s really too bad when all of us fans are sitting at home glued to the TV hoping that Big Z will get a good base hit or something to cheer him up, so he will stop throwing a fit on the mound and keep us in the game. Z is a great pitcher, but I would hate to see him get stuck in another mental rut.

Was it discussed last night? Because I saw a guy early in the game wearing the HOWRY COW shirt. Wasnt SWL at the game? Fricken hilarious.

It let’s me know I’m among friends! LOL

I know it’s kind of silly for me to complain about aspects of last night’s game but I’m a Cubs fan, it’s my birthright.

yes, there is plenty to complain about, and I realize that a season is not won in June, but right now I’m enjoying the results.

Well, Cotts couldn’t have come in the 9th since he already helped out in the 7th. He threw 4 straight balls to lead off the inning, before finding his stuff and getting everyone else out.

Also, I’d like to mention Soriano was taken out in the double-switch in the 9th inning for defensive replacement Reed Johnson. Lou has now taken Soriano out in the 9th for the 2nd time in as many days I believe, granted it’s probably because he’s getting the last out for the Cubs on the offensive side, but it’s still good to see. I have my doubts if Soriano could have even caught that warning track flyball from Michael Barrett.

Bad news- Marmol got used AGAIN.

Is there any reason Lou is unwilling to use Cotts, Eyre and Lieber to simply eat some innings? Good lord, the poor kid’s arm is going to fall off.

At this rate Marmol will throw 110 innings this year- that may end up being more than Eyre, Cotts and Lieber combined.

really sounded like a home game on TV. Nice to see the Cubs pull out wins while giving rest to some of the regulars. Let’s hope that continues again tonight. Would love to see Dome play this whole series as a gapper or shot down the line could easily turn into a stand up triple as Z demonstrated last night but he definitely has earned a night off. Plus will be much more of the same when we move on to LA.

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

Stats slightly skewed from last night, but…

Carlos first inning in a game
29.2 IP, 5 ER, 1.51 ERA

Carlos second inning in a game (defined by Cubs batting in between)
8.1 IP, 5 ER, 5.40 ERA

My comment here is that in addition to being potentially overworked and effective so far this year, we are pushing our luck bringing him back for more work after he gets thorough one inning.

Well, I’ve waited long enough, and finally have to say it. How about Jim Edmonds? I wasn’t a big fan of his signing, but I stuck by the belief that he should be given a chance, and also noted the fact that he often starts out the season slow and then heats up. Is he heating up now? It sure seems like for a 37 year old veteran, that maybe he is.

Lou isn’t consistently using everyone in the bullpen now, bringing up another reliever would be pointless. If he is bringing in Marmol up 4 with a 12 man bullpen, would bringing up another pitcher really change that?

Side note, we are lucky to be able to watch Z, Len echoed that thought last night. I know Z was a bit unstable on the mound and that is where we need him most but last night watching him bust it for the triple and beat out that bunt was awesome, he is fun to watch.

Did I miss something, is he still with the big club? A 4 run lead heading to the 9th should see someone like him – first sign of serious trouble, go to your closer.

Just saw this show up on ESPN.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3423732

What a jackass. If he really wants the story to go away for Bartman’s sake, WTF does he keep talking about it!? He could have taken the high road after the last media mention of it…what purpose does it serve to rehash things AND re-blame the guy?!

...of him stating that he would have caught the ball shifts the blame off of Alou and back to the worlds most famous Renegades fan.

My point is that it’s fairly preposterous of him to say “forgive the guy” and also “I would have caught the ball” in the same breath.

Cards at Nats
Pujols vs Perez:
21 AB
14 H
3 2B
0 3B
5 HR
15 RBI
9 BB
1 K
.667 BA
.767 OBP
1.524 SLG
2.290 OPS

Not sure how many of you tuned in to the XM Broadcast, I did, and Jerry Coleman kept telling Andy, that Edmonds missed spring training, suggesting that it accounted for his horrible performance while with the Pads. I was not aware he had missed ST.

Len Kasper will chat live today with Baseball Prospectus at 12 PM CDT. You can go there and submit questions in advance if you like.

considering all the chatter about Cubs road performance.

is managing to win every game possible early since we have a tough schedule during the second half. Lots of road games.

Lou shouldn’t have emptied the pen last night - Lieber could have gone longer, as Cotts could have done the same. Marmol shouldn’t have been put in the position he was in - even though Wood should not be in with a 4-run lead—somebody else rather than Marmol needed to finish up. Marmol did his job in the 8th. Since Lou had started the parade, I think he had to complete the merry-go-round and keep Marmol’s count down.

However, Gonzalez is having a great season. Perhaps it was all him, but the lead-off walk was a bad sign.

Odds/ends….30K? In your dreams, Pads. 30K tickets, may have been distributed, 22 to 25K actually in the park, and 10-15K were Cubs fans. Look, they drew an average of 16K against the Nats last Mon-Wed. Bottom line, 30K—no way. There were acres of empty seats, and even counting the ‘park passes’ (the grass berm, and special standing area locations) I don’t belive the ‘announced’ attendence.

I say this because hundreds - some 800 tix were still on stub-hub this weekend…and many at reduced prices. If you are near SD, and want to get to a game - some good reserved field seats (at last look) were HALF price.

The Padres flagship radio station was giving away a number of tickets to Wednesday’s game on their post-game show last night. You had to go to their website to register to win. You had to use a ‘keyword’ to register.

It was….”Bartman.”