Bleed Cubbie Blue - Cubs vs. Brewers Saturday Game ThreadsA Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47557/cubbieblue.png2013-04-21T08:00:09-05:00http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/rss/stream/40078232013-04-21T08:00:09-05:002013-04-21T08:00:09-05:00Brewers 5, Cubs 1: A Comedy Of Errors
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs played their worst game of the year Saturday night. That's about all you need to know; if you dare, the details are below.</p> <p>Despite the headline to this post, Saturday night's <a href="http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2013_04_20_chnmlb_milmlb_1" target="_blank">5-1 Cubs loss to the Brewers</a> wasn't very Shakespearean at all, unless you want to consider it more tragedy than comedy. And if you're a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Cubs</a> fan, you probably aren't laughing at this one, except ruefully.</p>
<p>So how did the Cubs err? Let us count the ways.</p>
<p>Starting the fifth inning, <span>Alfonso Soriano</span> made an error on a playable ball hit by <span>Logan Schafer</span>. After a walk and two groundouts, the second of which scored a run, <span>Starlin Castro</span> booted what should have been an inning-ending grounder by <span>Norichika Aoki</span> (in fairness, it wasn't a routine play and Aoki is fast, but Castro should have made the play). That scored another run, neither of which would have scored without the poor defense.</p>
<p>Fast-forward -- or maybe slow-forward, because it was the next inning -- Ryan Braun led off with a single, and <span>Edwin Jackson</span> struck out Rickie Weeks. Then Jackson got <span>Jonathan Lucroy</span> to hit a comebacker. Easy inning-ending double play, right?</p>
<p>Wrong, of course, or I wouldn't be writing it this way. Jackson did an excellent impression of <span>Matt Garza</span> and hurled the baseball far over the heads of Castro and <span>Darwin Barney</span> into center field. A well-executed squeeze bunt and a single brought in two more runs.</p>
<p>So that's four unearned runs, which were the difference in an otherwise close game; it appeared until the defense fell apart that Jackson was going to throw his best game of the young season. That's great, but it doesn't matter if you can't play defense, and once those kinds of things happen, teams that do that have a tendency to curl up and surrender. That's what happened to the Cubs; from the sixth inning on they had just two baserunners. <span>Dave Sappelt</span> doubled in the eighth, and <span>Anthony Rizzo</span> singled in the ninth.</p>
<p>This made a winner out of <span>Hiram Burgos</span>, who was making his major-league debut.</p>
<p>I should probably store that sentence somewhere, because I'm pretty sure you can remember many times when it's happened before, and it's likely to happen again; the only thing I'd need to change is the pitcher's name.</p>
<p>The good news, if there is any, about this game is that after 16 games, it's really the only one played this poorly overall. One-tenth of the season is gone, and if the Cubs have "only" 10 games like this all year, that's progress of a sort. Nevertheless, I'm sure the coaching staff went over this one with the players in great detail.</p>
<p>There's one more small good thing that happened Saturday night: the Cubs got a hit with a runner in scoring position; that wound up scoring the only run. (Baby steps.)</p>
<p>Here's a bit of Cubs-related news you might have missed: former Cubs prospect <span>Hak-Ju Lee</span>, now playing at Triple-A Durham in the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Rays</a> organization, suffered a serious knee injury Saturday <a href="http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130421&content_id=45377658&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb" target="_blank">and could be out for the year</a>. I feel badly for Lee, who seemed on the cusp of a major-league career. (There's video at the link; it's not pretty. <span>Travis Ishikawa</span>, the baserunner, also appeared to be hurt.)</p>
<p>The Cubs will try it again Sunday in Milwaukee, with <span>Scott Feldman</span> facing <span>Wily Peralta</span>. The Cubs have now lost 16 of their last 18 in Miller Park, so a Sunday win would be unusual, if nothing else.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/4/21/4248320/cubs-brewers-recap-edwin-jackson-starlin-castro-errors-mlb-scoresAl Yellon2013-04-20T20:55:01-05:002013-04-20T20:55:01-05:00Overflow Thread 3: Cubs vs. Brewers, Saturday 4/20
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<figcaption>Mike McGinnis</figcaption>
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<p>----</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/4/20/4243862/overflow-thread-3-cubs-vs-brewers-saturday-4-20-6-10-ctAl Yellon2013-04-20T20:10:06-05:002013-04-20T20:10:06-05:00Overflow Thread 2: Cubs vs. Brewers, Saturday 4/20
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<figcaption>Mike McGinnis</figcaption>
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<p>----</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/4/20/4243856/overflow-thread-2-cubs-vs-brewers-saturday-4-20-6-10-ctAl Yellon2013-04-20T19:10:03-05:002013-04-20T19:10:03-05:00Overflow Thread 1: Cubs vs. Brewers, Saturday 4/20
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/4/20/4243850/overflow-thread-1-cubs-vs-brewers-saturday-4-20-6-10-ctAl Yellon2013-04-20T16:00:04-05:002013-04-20T16:00:04-05:00Cubs vs. Brewers Preview, Saturday 4/20, 6:10 CT
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<figcaption>Mike McGinnis</figcaption>
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<p>The Cubs have had very little luck in Milwaukee the last three years. Perhaps Saturday night will be different.</p> <p>Last night, I wrote about the Cubs' inability to win games in Milwaukee since 2011, after having been dominant there from 2007-10. Naturally, a lot of that has to do with the Cubs not being a very good team over the last two-plus years, but they have been able to win in other NL Central parks. Cubs record in NL Central parks since the start of 2011 (not including Houston, since they're now in the American League):</p>
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<pre>Pittsburgh: 12-7
Cincinnati: 4-11
St. Louis: 4-14
Milwaukee: 2-16</pre>
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<p>So that's good in PNC Park, bad in GABP, horrendous in Busch Stadium and... well, maybe they'll win one game in this current series. It's time to turn those records around.</p>
<p>And if you didn't see the pregame ceremony at Fenway Park via MLB Network today, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/ktlincoln/watch-the-red-sox-honor-boston-and-the-marathon-set-to-jeff" target="_blank">you need to watch this montage</a> and <a href="http://deadspin.com/heres-bostons-emotional-return-to-sports-at-fenway-an-476592714" target="_blank">this video of the ceremony and National Anthem</a> (yes, it includes David Ortiz's speech -- NSFW, though most of you probably aren't at work today).</p>
<p>Cubs lineup:</p>
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<pre>DeJesus CF, Castro SS, Rizzo 1B, Soriano LF, Schierholtz RF, Navarro C, Valbuena 3B, Barney 2B, Jackson P</pre>
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<p>Brewers lineup:</p>
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<pre>Aoki RF, Segura SS, Braun LF, Weeks 2B, Lucroy C, Schafer CF, Maldonado 1B, Betancourt 3B, Burgos P</pre>
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<td class="ysptblhdr" align="center" height="18">
<h2><center>
<h2><i>Today's Starting Pitchers</i></h2>
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<td class="ysptblbdr2">
<table class="yspwhitebg" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="700"><tbody>
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<spacer type="block" height="1" width="1"></spacer><spacer></spacer>
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<tr>
<td class="yspscores" align="center" width="45%">
<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7241" target="newwindow"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2194871/162017418.jpg" alt="Edwin Jackson" border="1" height="480" width="320"></a><br><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7241" target="newwindow"> </a><center>
<h2>Edwin Jackson</h2>
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<h2>Cubs</h2>
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<td align="center" width="10%">vs.</td>
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<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/9372" target="newwindow"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2502681/hiramburgos.jpg" alt="Hiram Burgos" border="1" height="480" width="320"></a><br><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/9372" target="newwindow"> </a>
<h2><span>Hiram Burgos</span></h2>
<br><h2>Brewers</h2>
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<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=5842" target="newwindow"> </a><center>
<h2>vs. StL</h2>
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<td class="yspscores" align="center">--</td>
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<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=32572" target="newwindow"> </a>
<h2>vs. Cubs</h2>
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<th></th> <th>W-L</th> <th>G</th> <th>GS</th> <th>CG</th> <th>SHO</th> <th>SV</th> <th>BS</th> <th>IP</th> <th>H</th> <th>R</th> <th>ER</th> <th>HR</th> <th>BB</th> <th>K</th> <th>ERA</th> <th>WHIP</th>
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<td class="td-name td-first">2013 - <span>Edwin Jackson</span>
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<td>0-2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>16.1</td>
<td>16</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>6.06</td>
<td class="td-last">1.59</td>
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<p>Edwin Jackson faced the Brewers <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201304080.shtml" target="_blank">April 8 at Wrigley Field</a>. He pitched all right... just not really well. That's been the case for all three of his starts so far this year. One of these days, maybe he'll put together a decent enough outing to win. So far, he's been pretty unimpressive in blue pinstripes.</p>
<p>Hiram Burgos raced through three levels of the Brewers' system in 2012, posting a 1.95 ERA and 1.035 WHIP in 171 innings. He's off to a good start at Triple-A Louisville this year. He will be making his major-league debut tonight; you know what that usually means for Cubs teams.</p>
<p>Today's game is on CSN Chicago.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp?ymd=20130401#date=4/20/2013">Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_20_chnmlb_milmlb_1&mode=gameday">MLB.com Gameday</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/CHC.shtml">Baseball-reference.com game preview</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/116923/pregame">SB Nation game preview</a></p>
<p>Please visit our SB Nation <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brewers</a> site <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brewcrewball.com/">Brew Crew Ball</a>. The usual caution is advised.</p>
<p>Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStreamâ„¢, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.</p>
<p>In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.</p>
<p>You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "<a href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chicago Cubs</a> Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (<a href="http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/game-threads">you can also find them in this section link</a>). They will also appear in this StoryStreamâ„¢. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.</p>
<p>Discuss amongst yourselves.</p>
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/4/20/4243756/chicago-cubs-milwaukee-brewers-preview-saturdayAl Yellon