Alfonso Soriano may be a frustrating hitter who makes fans go crazy but he is sooooo important to this offense. It gets Theriot in the 2-hole where he gets to see some better pitches (he has been great tho). It gets Fukudome back in the 5 spot where he has been at his best.
Lou cannot possibly justify Soriano not starting LF tomorrow night.

Sorry, but I think Fukudome should have been the pinch hitter in the 8th with Edmonds at first. The reason is two-fold:

1) He’s more likely to stay out of the double play.
2) He’s a superior right fielder.

Yes, Ward could have put the Cubs in the lead with one swing, but you could see his bat just dripping the DP sap. DeRo played the Drew ball cleanly, but Fukudome likely makes a better throw to the cut off man, perhaps keeping the run from scoring.

Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a number of “head scratchers” with Lou, and in each case he’s chosen poorly. We’ll never know if these substitutions would have made a difference, but when the team is not playing well, he must push all the right buttons.

You could get the sense of frustration from BCB community too. Lots of unjustified heated arguements. Our bats were dismal again. Hopefully we’ll come out and get them tomorrow, and Soriano will provide a much needed spark. Harden pitched an amazing game. Not much to be said about him, he is as advertised (hopefully minus the DL stint). Let’s just hope we can get him another win (come Sunday?)

Night.

but it’s worth pointing out that D-Lee hasn’t homered since the 1st game of that White Sox series at Wrigley, on June 20.

Am I right, that the only tater hit was Fontenot’s yesterday?

the fact of the matter is all the Cubs need to do is make the playoffs. Once you’re in, it’s a whole new season and the hottest team goes to the finals. That’s how I’m looking at this, just make the playoffs, wildcard wIll get it done fine IMO.
So, even if the Brewers should overtake them, which is not a sure thing by any stretch, all the Cubs need to do is make the wild card.

it was a pitcher’s duel all night and that’s fine. It stinks because we finally got to their crappy BP and didn’t do anything with them. Qualls was one hit away from letting us blow it wide open in the 9th. Lee rolls into his 1,499th DP this season and A Ram continues his hitting woes. There you have it.

That’s what the Cubs could use. A double feature of their 1st half highlights followed by “The Dark Knight”. A little reminder of what got them where they are followed by some mindless fun to get ‘em loose.

I’d recommend Charlie Grimm and his banjo but Jolly Cholly has since joined the Choir Invisible.

the All Star break came at a time when they really needed it and they start the 2nd half like this? I would have thought they would have come out stroking the ball, refreshed and ready to grind out the rest of the season. They look dead tired already. They broke out on Sunday, but you would hope so, I mean, it’s only the Astros.

I know tonight was a frustrating loss—I was frustrated, too. But the overreaction to it by a lot of people here is nauseating. We’re four games into the second half. The lead didn’t shrink tonight. It’s been a great season so far.

Slumps are part of the game. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to have one right after the ASB, but … then again, baseball is a funny game.

(BTW, getting schooled by Randy Johnson is tolerable. Getting schooled by Brian Moehler isn’t.)

Perspective is key here. Many Cubs fans seem to be lacking it. I understand this franchise’s past, but that has nothing - NOTHING - to do with this team. Leave it alone.

Tomorrow is another day.

Gotta get’em tomorrow!

and they showed some from Lou’s post game press conference and he is pissed about the lack of hitting. He said he’s tired of seeing them rip the ball in batting practice and then do nothing during the games. Good. hope it helps.

Where’s the fire? Johnson isn’t an All Star and we got 2 hits? Pathetic. No more excuses, just go out and start proving you are better than this team that kicked your last year in the playoffs!! How can anyone believe this year is any different than last when the same guys don’t show up when it counts. We can’t keep wasting these great pitching performances. This road crap has got to stop or we can forget any playoffs.

Lots of good contact (at least from the cracks i heard thru the radio) and really nice plays overall from their defense.

Sucks to lose the first game of a series, especially when we got such a great outing from our starter… but it happens.

I just hope Rami’s bat wakes up.. we miss ya, buddy!! Jet lag from the plane home to the DR, maybe?