I don’t blame Lou for putting Guzman in as much as I blame the bats for going silent again.

have been pitching like aces recently and we can’t score enough runs to win. With the starts that we have been getting, it is a bit depressing that we haven’t gone on a big run here. It feels like several times recently that we have lost 2-1 or 3-2, etc.

ugh.

I understand this happens in baseball, but you are right reduce the pressure for him.

Not going to lie, when he hit the foul wall yesterday i figured we lost him again for 15-30 days.

Bradley looks busy at the plate. I have not seen much of him before this year so I don’t know if this is how he has always been. The guys looks like he has ants in his pants and is not fully focusing on each pitch.

I root for him because in order for us to succeed he has to but I will admit I am getting tired of his lackluster performance. To me the biggest thing I see that tells me he is pressing is that it seems on 3-0, 3-1, and 3-2 counts he is swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone trying to hit a five run homer instead of taking his walk. For someone who has shown a good batting eye up to those points, it is maddening.

and strolled to the plate. No batting cage swings or nothing. Really looked bad and not prepared. I wonder if the coaches go over how a guy may pitch him… Say if you’re on the bench. Samson comes in, all the bench players should be looking at what the guy throws and how they’ve thrown to them in the past.

2 years for this guy. oh man

Dempster v. Ortiz. I like our chances.

Poor range and weak arm do not make for a good major league shortstop.

You’re right also that it wouldn’t have been an issue if the offense had done its job.

He got behind the last three batters in the 8th and threw a couple pitches very far out of the strike zone… These are signs of fatigue.

If Z had gone in to the game in the 9th, the headline would have been, “Why the hell didn’t Lou use Guzamn in the 9th?”

Ted is also a badass

Jim Edmonds – why?
Mark DeRosa – how?

Plus, it’s time to let game 1 of the 2007 NLDS go. They lost for the same reason that day – they didn’t score.

Maybe Carlos could’ve gotten the game to extras, maybe not. I wonder whether Lou was testing Guzman by pitching him in the ninth inning. I still think Angel will continue to be good this season, but last night was a good example of why it’s far too early to make Guzman closer.

As many others have noted, this team has got to figure out how to put more than one or two runs on the board. Seriously, seven or eight run explosions aren’t necessary. With this starting staff, just get three or four up there and we should have a lot of Ws to cheer about.

They don’t hit Wandy in Houston but have hit him in Chicago.

You are glad we’re not lynching Bradley, but then you go ahead and put some blame on Fukudome?

The Cubs led the league in runs scored last year. The hitting coach last year was Gerald Perry.

The hitting coach this year is Gerald Perry. Suddenly he’s lost the ability to be a good hitting coach?

Every team has slumps, every team loses games, every team has good games thrown against them.

It’s pretty easy to blame coaches when things are going bad. How do we know what discussions are going on between coaches and players? You can tell someone things, but that doesn’t mean they listen.

Milton Bradley has been in the Major Leagues for years. It’s Gerald Perry’s fault that he’s stinking up the joint?

Maybe the Cubs score in the 10th and win it.

Fox would not have been allowed to do that. That’s the difference.

One guy switch hits and can play 3 infield positions.

The other guy can’t play any infield positions adequately enough.

Z, Demp and Wells

So we miss him. I’m guessing Danks for sure, probably Floyd,

June 11 and outside my window right now it’s 56 degrees.

it feels like seasonal affective disorder. This shouldn’t happen in June! And what’s worse is that it should continue until late next week. Ugh.

and odds are Tejada scores on it anyway. Dome tried to fake Tejada out and throw him out at home.

you don’t watch games anymore? Len and/or Bob peeve you off or somethin’?

The Twins are much less potent on the road than at home, particularly for NL teams. I think the Twins have an unreal home field advantage to NL teams in the metrodome since there aren’t any turf or non-opening roof stadiums in the NL.

I’ve seen roving and shrinking zones these last two games.

I did think Pence swung but that call can go either way every day in MLB. If the Cubs hit a little more they win. Don’t think the umps did a horrible job.

Anything of note?

…but I’m actually glad to see Micah in the starting lineup.

I hope they on the bench tomorrow when the bitter Itchy is attending the game vs. the Twins!

where Soriano gets dropped in the lineup because of his poor performance at leadoff? I know this topic has been beaten to death at least in regards to the type of hitter he is, ie a power hitter should bat lower in the lineup. My question, however, is strictly performance related. Piniella has sent other players down the order (Lee, Fukudome, Soto) because they didn’t produce. Why not Soriano? Piniella even gave Soto a few days off and that seemed to work well. Why not with Soriano?

Starter is cruising along, gets into 8th or 9th.

Leave him in, or pull em and put in your best relief?

Leave in the starter, and the opposing team gets a hit for a winning run in a tight game, and the manger is blasted.

Take him out, and the relief blows a great starting pitching performance……

Well, the relief should be blasted. In todays game, where pitchers as a rule do not pitch complete games, and more attention is given to daving arms for a long hot summer of baseball. Lou made the right baseball decision.

The fact that it did not turn out good is not his fault. It is the relief pitcher’s fault. That is their job, get outs, alow no runs. Otherwise, what are they there for taking up roster space?

Al is doing to ole second guessing thing. But Lou had a make the decision, and he made the right one. The player on the field did not do his job. (and well, the batter did do his job, sometimes the opposing player simply plays better and negates the best desicion a manager can make.

That is why games are not won on paper, but on the field with real people, etc.