I'm bringing my glove tonight!
Not because the wind is blowing out -- although it might be, it's a very pleasant 78 degrees and sunny right now -- but because I'm likely going to be the only one in my corner of the bleachers during batting practice. Maybe I can collect some baseballs today.
Also, in honor of Dave's Rockford Riverhawks playing their first Frontier League playoff game vs. Evansville tonight, I'll be wearing my Riverhawks cap.
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Hill is coming off the best start of his career last Friday against the Giants. A reminder, with 24 games left in the season the Cubs still do not have a complete game; the major league record for fewest CG in a season is one, held by the following teams: TB, 2001 and 2005; NYY, 2004; COL, 2002; HOU, 2003, and tied thus far this year by the Nationals. No team has ever failed to have a CG for a full season.
The club record for fewest CG in a season is three, set in 2004; this record is almost certainly going to fall, as it doesn't seem possible for that many CG to be thrown in 24 games, especially with Carlos Zambrano's status for the rest of the year iffy.
The Cubs beat Duke at Wrigley Field on August 5, the first time they had defeated him in five tries -- he's 4-1 lifetime with a 1.66 ERA (which was 0.56 before that August 5 game). Duke has lost three in a row and has struggled in his last two starts, suggesting that at 179.1 innings he may, at age 23, be about at his limit.
Discuss amongst yourselves.