yeah, hopefully the Cubs will be close enough to the Astros to have a shot in hell when they play in the last two weeks of the seasion.
Cubs have now lost three straight, while Houston has won four in a row. Sigh…
It could still happen. It’s been a century now, hasn’t it? That means the curse is lifted, right?
Well, remember, we’ve been playing real teams and the Astros just swept the Pirates for God’s sake!
But now we have Milwaukee for 5(!) and then St Louis over the weekend. Houston heads for Philly and then Pittsburgh again.
Christ! Who made this schedule up? When is Houston facing a real team?
Let me say it again…
Thank God for Milwaukee. In baseball, as in so many things, whenever Chicago feels down, it can always think of Milwaukee and feel a bit better.
Cubs 7 Brewers 4, first of two today.
Zambrano gets his first ever ML start tonight. Here’s hoping we can sweep this twofer!
Well, there was no doubleheader sweep, and really, the Cubs can’t afford to lose any more games in the series. Today was a chance to gain a game in the standings and they just couldn’t come through. They have to win the games against poorer teams while their competition plays above average teams to keep the race close.
Zambrano is good. He pitched poorly later in the game but he is good. He reminds me very much of Farnsworth last year (overpowering stuff with ridiculous amounts of movement). Give him a little more experience and confidence (a la Farnsworth this year) and he could be dominant.
On the upside, the Reds have found a way to defeat the Cards (quite dramatically too).
Yeah, just wait till LaRussa puts Andy Benes (6.90 ERA) in to pitch and clobber him. Man that game pissed me off. We had the lead going into the bottom of the 9th and the bottom of the 10th and couldn’t hang on either time for the win.
Replace Zambrano with Cruz. Last night’s game was ugly but you saw a lot of potential in Zambrano. Cruz is good, and good RIGHT NOW.
Word to the Cubs: STOP LOSING!
Cubs win!
Astros, Cards, and Giants all lose!
More games like that please.
Well Lance Turbo hasn’t updated in a while and I don’t really remember the magic number. I’ll just point out that the Cubs beat the Cardinals 2 out of 3 and won the season series.
The offense looks good and Sammy Sosa is hitting EVERYTHING.
Defense has played decently but has definitely gotten sloppier compared to the early parts of the season when the Cubs were rolling.
Bullpen has gotten back on its feet it seems. Fassero has stopped stinking, Farnsworth continues to not suck, Flash is Flash, Weathers isn’t giving up a run every outing, Van Poppel is Van Poppeling it up and Mahay is definitely better than Heredia (but not THAT much better). Cruz is very, very good and Wood appears to be coming back for September 1. Lieber will probably win 20 games and if the offense keeps on scoring, Tapani can actually give up a run and still win. Bere and Tavarez… uh, did I mention that the Cubs won?
Ah crap, prolly shoulda previewed. Oh well, guess you’re stuck looking at my words in all their bolded glory.
I haven’t reported the magic number in a while because it hasn’t changed much. It is now 37.
I’m alomost afraid to start talking up the Cubs now because every time I do they start losing. However, winning those last two games against the cards were pretty sweet.
Additionally, Houston’s next 13 games are against teams that suck while the Cubs next 12 games are against the Braves and Marlins. The Marlins are a middle of the road team and the Braves are the Braves. It is going to be hard to gain ground on the Astros in the next couple weeks.
There are plenty of bright spots for the Cubs right now though. McGriff is starting to produce. Bill Mueller is making things happen. Kerry and Rondell (or at least his bat) are due back on September 1, and the Cubs seem to be having an overall easier time scoring runs.
Also, I am 100% sure that the Cubs will not lose today.
God bless sports call in shows. I was laughing my ass off yesterday. Everyone that called in to the Score was calling for Kerry Wood to be cut and for Juan Cruz to take his place in the rotation.
EASY FELLAS. He won a game. A GAME. He’s a good kid, good pitcher. Let’s not sell the world for him. He can only pitch once every five days anyhow.
My new pastime with watching Cubs games is watching Don Baylor in the dugout. He always looks like he’s about to cry. I fully expect him to be weeping as they cut to him once or twice.
jarbaby
The Braves might be the Braves, but that is only really true in the tautological sense these days. They’re just sort of limping along, staying in first more through the Phillies’ ineptitude than anything else. While it looks like their offense might be coming around, it still looks like the Cubs’ only worry when facing the Braves will be whether they go up against the Big Three or not.
(and, actually, on that note, does anyone know who the projected starters might be for that series?)
And, umm, to dampen the spirit just a tad here, last I heard, Rondell wasn’t coming back at all this year. I could be wrong…
Cruz should have a place as a spot starter if nothing else. Give Tavarez a start or two off.
But, above all else, make Baylor cry. I want to see Baylor crying like a little girl, at least as long as it’s not costing the Cubs a game.
Just wanted to share that I was at Sunday’s game, very drunk in fact, and that Cruz is looking like a stud. Sammy is indeed en fuego, and I was heckling several St Louis people throught the game. Sometimes life is just too good.
Go Cubbies…I’m not ready to give up on them yet.
Projected starters for the next week:
vs Florida:
(8/28) Ryan Dempster vs. Kevin Tapani
(8/29) Matt Clement vs. Jason Bere
(8/30) J(esus?) Sanchez vs. Jon Lieber
It looks like the Atlanta series will be:
(8/31) John Burkett vs. Cruz
(9/1) Maddux vs. Wood
(9/2) Millwood vs. Tapani
However, the Atlanta series is a pretty much total guess on my part…espn.com only lists the starters for the next 4 days. But, Burkett’s the only ATL starter I didn’t see in the next 4 days, Maddux is going tonight, and Millwood’s following him, so, it should be close to right.
As for the Cubs, assuming Kerry doesn’t have a torn rotator cuff (which it seems like he doesn’t - thanks for scaring the piss out of all of us, Mr. Sutcliffe…), he’s scheduled for the 1st. Cruz went yesterday, so the 31st is 4 days, and then it should be Tap’s turn. What happened to Julian Tavarez, I don’t know. I don’t think he’s gotten anyone out in two weeks, though.
I know Crunchy’s pouting. 
Please, oh please, fellow Doper Cub fans…keep the faith
I am not losing that bet. No way am I buying a Cardinals hat, putting it’s foulness on my head, taking a picture and posting it here. No way.
Cmon, don’t y’all want to see Crunchy with a Cubs hat on? [sub]his head, of course[/sub]
For what it’s worth, this Phillies fan (magic number: 34!) will be a BIG Cubbies fan this weekend.
Alright, time to stop talking about the Cubs Lance Turbo, they lost again (What really stinks is that the Reds suck so bad, they can’t beat the Astros when we need them most). This team is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They don’t produce against the seemingly weakest of pitchers and DO produce against better guys. Mind boggling.
In other news, I’m going to assume that Wood is out for the season. He’s been pushed back to Sept 7 at the earliest, which seems like an awful long time for a guy who’s experiencing no pain.