Cubs Blow Lead, Come Back To Beat White Sox 6-5
by Al Yellon on Mar 13, 2010 8:00 AM CST
in Recaps
41 comments
The original gameday link I had for last night's 6-5 Cubs win over the White Sox had the Cubs listed as the home team, so that's how I listed it in the game preview.
So, I was surprised when the Cubs came up to bat first. (According to this link for Gameday today, the Cubs will again serve as the "visiting" team this afternoon in Las Vegas.)
No matter. Cubs pitchers didn't allow a hit for the first five innings, but that didn't stop the White Sox from scoring a run off Tom Gorzelanny, who walked the bases loaded and then wild-pitched a run in. He wound up striking out the side in that second inning and his other two innings were decent enough. Still, neither he nor Jeff Samardzija has been impressive in their attempts to make the starting rotation.
Omar Vizquel, who has been around so long that one of his teammates his rookie year was Jeffrey Leonard, who made his major league debut in 1977, broke up the no-hitter in the sixth with a single off Jay Jackson, who got hit pretty hard and allowed three runs. The Cubs got those runs right back in the top of the seventh off Jhonny Nunez. Then Ryan Braun came in to put out the Cubs rally. No, not "that" Ryan Braun -- this Ryan Braun, who threw some relief innings for the Royals in 2006 and 2007 and who is trying to make the White Sox as a non-roster invitee.
Offensively, the Cubs put on a pretty good show, with 11 hits and seven walks. Mike Fontenot had three of them and Geovany Soto (now hitting .600) had two. Josh Vitters hit a triple and Ryan Theriot was 1-for-2, bumping his spring average to .667.
Theriot also stole two bases off Sox catcher-in-waiting Tyler Flowers and helped Len Kasper out on the pregame show. If you're outside the Chicago area and couldn't watch the game, Bob Brenly was not there due to recovery from knee surgery, so Len did the game solo with some help from various people. Theriot did a decent job talking with Len about the team on the pregame. Some guy whose name I forget from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority did some marketing for Vegas for about an inning, and then the Tribune's Dave van Dyck spent some time in the booth.
And one final question. New White Sox outfielder Juan Pierre has worn #9 his entire career. He's wearing #1 for the White Sox -- #9 is retired for Minnie Minoso. Isn't it a White Sox tradition this year to unretire numbers? Why didn't they ask Minnie? He's still around -- in fact, he lives within walking distance of Wrigley Field.
Just askin'.
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Question for any of you who've been able to watch ...
how has Byrd looked in center?
Looked pretty good last night...
… especially going back on balls.
One other thing about Byrd — from the few times I’ve seen him on camera, he always looks like he’s enjoying himself, having fun playing baseball.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I saw the same thing
Nice to see some smiles.
There goes one over the fence...a Tru-Link fence.
by truelinkfence on Mar 13, 2010 9:05 AM CST up reply actions
the bench
Loved giving him crap when he tripped and fell going to 1st
by cozmotaylor123 on Mar 13, 2010 9:43 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Appears to be
the antithesis of one MB. Good to see he’s relishing the opportunity to play in Cubbie blue.
''I'm really not a Facebook or Twitter guy. I'm a prime rib and baked potato guy.'' - Sweet Lou
antithesis of bradley?!
"The roar from the crowd really fired me up," Burish said. "In warmups there were a lot of signs. One said 'Burish, my grandma is pregnant.' I don't know what that means. I skated by it and said, 'it's not mine.' "
by jesus christos on Mar 13, 2010 11:10 AM CST up reply actions
tiny fail
I saw you in that coffee shop, breaking the fifth commandment. Congress passes these things for a reason, Lois.
Currently 34,839 on the Season Ticket Wait List - Expected age of being #0: 119
by hansman1982 on Mar 13, 2010 11:50 AM CST up reply actions
looks good and boy does he hustle
Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 13, 2010 10:29 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
I would love to watch the game today, but the archive at MLB.TV is not available
Last the 4:00AM start (Munich time) was just a bit too late / too early…
"A waist is a terrible thing to mind." - Terry 'Fat Tub of Goo' Forster
@Twitter as @brommmietze
Awesome game!
our guys looked pretty good last night.
" It’s spring fever - you don’t know what it is you want, but it fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so. "--Mark Twain
More and more I'm liking Marshall for the rotation
and Gorz for the pen.
How about Thomas Diamond? His Spring stats are great. Did he look impressive last night?
Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"
Me too.
Diamond looked good. I think he deserves heavy consideration for a bullpen spot.
2010 is OUR year.
I wouldnt say impressive
but certainly got my attention. He had a few outs that could just as easilly been hits. He did get himself out of a jam in his first inning.
There goes one over the fence...a Tru-Link fence.
by truelinkfence on Mar 13, 2010 9:08 AM CST up reply actions
The back end of the rotation, a relative strong suit............
………..for the Cubs over the past few seasons, it looking very shaky.
Gorzy couldn’t find the plate last night and Shark (who I’ve never believed to be a MLB talent) has disappointed so far. Already relying on Carlos Silva to rebound, it is hard to picture a quality performance at the back end.
This could change when Lilly returns, but any guy coming off injury is a question mark. I do like Randy Wells, but will he be bitten by the sophomore jinx?
Let’s face it: After Dempster and Psycho, the rotation is filled with uncertainty. Good thing the bullpen is in tact………
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." ~ Frank Sinatra
+1
Wells has the makeup for a long successful career. He is the least of our problems.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Mar 13, 2010 9:05 AM CST up reply actions
Was at the game here In Vegas....
1) Theriot, Fonty and Geo all looked sharp.
2) Baker turned in some great plays at third
3) Nady’s bat looks slow, even though he hit a screaming line out to right. Definitely a work in progress and a possibility for someone else to break with the club in April.
4) We are going to like Marlon Byrd; he goes about his pre-game business and at-bats with a purpose.
5) I hope Sam Fuld lasts the season; his complete disregard for his physical well-being on diving catches is really something.
6) The home plate umpire must have had a date with the gaming tables: ***6*** called third strikes gong into the bottom of the 4th.
7) And, ladies and gentlemen….the crack of the bat of Josh Vitters is special!
Baker has an arm
as we all do. But he can put some zip on that thing. Millar really didnt have to move all that much on some hot long throws.
There goes one over the fence...a Tru-Link fence.
by truelinkfence on Mar 13, 2010 9:11 AM CST up reply actions
Sam Fuld---observation
Was Sam just having a bad night in the field? He appeared to make it a couple of balls then miss catching them. I’m thinking about the plays in foul territory. Was that just a matter of not being familiar with the field? Also the play later in the game where he drifted to the wall, appeared to be there in plenty of time and the ball hit off his glove. It just seemed very uncharacteristic of Sam.
good call...
about not being familiar with the field. Not much room between the left field line and the wall at Cashman. Also the wall is sort of a half wall that barely comes up to your waist.
What was w/ WSCRs coverage last night?
It was a freakin’ call-in show and Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson couldn’t have cared less about the game they were watching and “broadcasting”. The ballgame was in the back ground w/ obvious action going on, and it was obvious they love talking about themselves. They were shouting over the crowd at times and, instead of addressing on field action, they were stammering about robin ventura’s ankle in 1992.
I would never have guessed that anything had happened on the field after the fourth inning. Say all you want about how Ron takes tangents or Len and BB are corney, but the white sox radio broadcast last night was abhorrent.
Come visit me inside Wrigley along the Addison side mezzanine fence straight up from 1st base.
well do yourself a favor, my friend, and never watch/listen to the Sox tv guys...
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
No choice!
That feed was all that MLB.com was offering for radio….it was a truly sad excuse for a game broadcast.
"I tried to let Ryan know that [jumping over the dugout railing] was a thing that maybe just athletes should stick to." -- Ted Lilly, 28 July 2009
by CaughtInTheVines on Mar 13, 2010 9:39 AM CST up reply actions
Ugh..
MLB.com was underwriting that? you should get a full refund.
I was just listing over the air and got upset. I don’t normally talk back to the radio, but I was, and my gf started yelling at me. if I didn’t like baseball so much and know that i can’t help myself, i’d say i’d never listen to those blowhards again. i’m not looking forward to it, though.
As for the tv, I think stone has made harrelson palatable. besides, I can always mute it. maybe the common denominator for terrible terrible terrible broadcasting is dj.
Sorry to be so negative… I went to bed real angry b/c of that cr*p last nite. Thanks for listening.
Come visit me inside Wrigley along the Addison side mezzanine fence straight up from 1st base.
by section229beer on Mar 13, 2010 9:55 AM CST up reply actions
I listened to the Soz broadcast too.
I don’t have cable, and after the 4th inning, it was a talk show with some late updates on the game. It was terrible, but they did say it was an interactive broadcast.
by braziliancubsfan on Mar 13, 2010 10:19 AM CST up reply actions
Just goes to show...
….that “interactive” isn’t always “better”!
"I tried to let Ryan know that [jumping over the dugout railing] was a thing that maybe just athletes should stick to." -- Ted Lilly, 28 July 2009
by CaughtInTheVines on Mar 13, 2010 12:56 PM CST up reply actions
Geo looks like a different player, all for the good. Vitters looks like he can be
a relly good big league hitter, although he made be of the mold of recent Cub player – all hit, no field. He looks like a first baseman for sure.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Mar 13, 2010 9:08 AM CST reply actions
Samardzija
He is already 25 and doesn’t show any signs of being ready to contribute at the big league level. At this point, I would send him to AAA to pitch out of the pen. Maybe he can get enough consistency to be a setup man. I have no hopes for him as a starter.
by rlpete on Mar 13, 2010 9:19 AM CST reply actions 2 recs
Maybe he should
go back to what he does best- catch footballs.
''I'm really not a Facebook or Twitter guy. I'm a prime rib and baked potato guy.'' - Sweet Lou
Yes but...
He is 25, but I it is too early this season to write him off just yet. He’s got a plus fastball and had a decent amount of success in Mexico this winter. He probably won’t make the rotation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in the bullpen.
recd
the problem has been that he hasnt been able to develop in a less stressful situation such as AA or AAA ball where he can simply work on getting better not winning critical ball games
I saw you in that coffee shop, breaking the fifth commandment. Congress passes these things for a reason, Lois.
Currently 34,839 on the Season Ticket Wait List - Expected age of being #0: 119
by hansman1982 on Mar 13, 2010 12:15 PM CST up reply actions
Al, I see Minnie every now and then - next time I do, I'll ask him about #9 and Pierre.
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
Jaun Pierre has a healthy respect for baseball history and is a big fan of Negro League ball players. He wears
his uniform the way he does out of his admiration for the old-time players. I suspect he would have too much respect for a guy like Minnie to consider asking him to wear his uniform number.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Mar 13, 2010 11:14 AM CST up reply actions
Exactly my point.
That’s why Vizquel should never have even asked Aparicio.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
My guess...
And one final question. New White Sox outfielder Juan Pierre has worn #9 his entire career. He’s wearing #1 for the White Sox — #9 is retired for Minnie Minoso. Isn’t it a White Sox tradition this year to unretire numbers? Why didn’t they ask Minnie? He’s still around — in fact, he lives within walking distance of Wrigley Field.
Probably because Juan Pierre doesn’t have nearly the same career pedigree as that old man Vizquel.
Bump?
I generally think that bumping an average would mean increasing it. In going 1 for 2, Theriot actually lowered his average to .667. But it was great that he took two walks so his on base percentage was .750 for the game.
Has Soriano been playing? How is he doing? Haven't followed spring training.
"Hey-Hey! Home Run! Attaboy Ronnie!" ~ Jack Brickhouse
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