This is attributed by three very costly errors (Though only two are on the box score).
Once again Baylor comes to mind. With that bullpen why go to Heredia? We were doing so well?
But every day the Astros don’t gain ground is one day closer to the end of the season.
Faserro is having some serious problems of late. His last few outings have been terrible and this afternoon, he blew a decent lead by giving up a grand slam on a 1-2 pitch. The indestrucable bullpen is starting to look a little more vulnerable. Also, those pesky Astros won and shaved a game off the lead.
Could someone please post the formula for computing magic numbers? I had a thread about it last year (involving the Cardinals), but apparently it got pruned.
TIA
Poor ol’ “Gramps” Fassero. Started out like white lightning and is fading fast. I made the classic mistake of turning the game off yesterday because I thought we had it in the bag.
But big ups to Bill Murray! I hope I can be famous soon so I can be a ‘notable cub fan’ 
For those questioning the sanity of calculating magic numbers in July, note that I was calculating the Phillies magic number back in April.
And it’s 57. Of course, they’re two games behind the Braves today, but who’s counting?
sup The Mariners magic number is 34.[/sup]
(changing subject) Has anybody seen this?
As is probably not surprising, I attribute Fassero’s problems to Don Baylor. Of course, at this point, I’m ready to attribute global warming to Don Baylor, so take that with as many grains of salt as you feel are required.
However…the Grand Old Man of the Bullpen has appeared in 59 games this season, second most in the entire major leagues. On top of which, he’s warmed up in quite a few of the games he didn’t pitch, not to mention some multiple-warmup occassions in the games he -did- appear in. All this pitching takes a toll on the old arm (and the young arms, too, but more on that in a moment). So, really, this was probably sort of predictable. Of course, there’s also the fact that Fassero had no right to be pitching so well - he’s really sucked the last few years.
On to the abuse of the other bullpen members. Kyle Farnsworth has appeared in 53 games, fourth most in the league. Guess what, he couldn’t be used for a game or two in the Cardinals series last weekend because of a sore elbow. Coincidence? I think not.
Of course, it’s fair to ask Baylor’s other options are. Yes, Heredia sucks, but a lot of that has to do with Baylor using him incorrectly. OK, he’s a left-handed pitcher. That doesn’t mean he should only be used against lefties. Felix has problems getting the first hitter he faces out. A good manager would realize that and work around it by, say, letting him start an inning and pitch the whole thing, so getting the first hitter out doesn’t matter so much. Baylor, being a not-good manager, puts him in with two men on and wonders why he always gives up a run. Then, he stops using him at all and wonders why Fassero’s arm gets tired. Admittedly, Felix isn’t as good as Jeff, but using Felix in a few more games in May would mean we’d still have the Good Mr. Fassero for the games now.
And this is before we get into Baylor’s sick little fetishes with really crappy players (ie Girardi, Coomer, Sarge Lite, etc.)
The -real- magic number for the Cubs is the amount of money it would take to buy out Baylor’s contract and hire a real manager…
Cubs 2 Dodgers 1
51
Houston won, Cubs lost. Lead down to 2.5. It’s getting mighty tight.
Is it time to panic yet? That Astros kid, Oswalt, threw one HELL of a game last night.
Christ, what do we have to do?
It’ll be time to panic when Rondell White and Mueller come back and the Cubs are still only scoring 2 runs a game. I don’t even know why they’re doing so poorly. They have the talent, theres just no execution. These guys make average pitchers look better than they are. How do they beat Chan Ho Park and lose to James Baldwin, a guy they’ve seen and hit well? How?!
Dodgers 3, Cubs 2 (10 innings)
Houston 4, Montreal 1
Lead now only 1.5 games. It’s getting close, real close.
Here’s a little something to ease your mind SouprChckn.
The Cubs are headed back to Wrigley to face the last place Rockies while the Astros are off to Atlanta to face the first place Braves. Hopefully the Cubs will extend their lead a bit.
[sub]They better, because the red hot Giants will be in Chicago as soon as the Rockies leave.[/sub]
The Cubs and Braves beat the Rockies and Astros by a combined score of 11-9.
Magic Number = 49
That was one crazy game but I’m glad to see the W. Only bad thing is that Tapani didn’t get the win, he pitched a good game.
That’s right Cubs fans.
Rockies 0 Cubs 2
Magic Number = 48
Let’s hope the Braves can hold up their end of the bargain.
Umm…
Rockies 1 Cubs 2
Cubs got walloped big time today.
Colorado 14
Cubs 5
3 solo HRs by Sosa was interesting to see, those babies went way away.
On another note, Baylor put in Heredia and he gave up 6 runs in 1 2/3 innings. In the press conference afterwards, it sounded like he was ready to ship him out or send him down. That’s a plus.