Trip Record: 3-6
Games Behind First: 7.5
It could be a long summer for these Cubs. The Cubs, who can't live up to winning expectations, haven't been able to beat even the bad teams the last two years. This road trip should have swung momentum in the opposite way it actually did, and with a 6-3 or 7-2 record the Cubs would be pumped to play the Sox to resume the interleague dockett. But here we are again, asking questions about how guys like Felipe Paulino can overwhelm the Cubs offense for the majority of a game.
The first two games in Pittsburgh were frustrating, but the way the Cubs played gave me an indication that they brought the winning attitude with their luggage this time. The lead on Monday, May 31 slipped off a rare bad outing by Sean Marshall, including a Garrett Jones homer. Hopefully Cub fans had something nice to do on this Memorial Day than allow themselves get stressed by this loss. The next one, however, on the next night, was nothing short of heartbreaking for me. It was one of the hardest losses to take this year, because of how fundamentally well the Cubs had been playing all evening. Like mentioned in an earlier post, it was Neil Walker who drove the Ted Lilly pitch out for a huge go-ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th, and before the Cubs could react it was game over. The next game was postponed, but on Monday the next week Carlos Silva squeaked out a quiet 6-1 win.
The Houston series was pathetic. I don't care to recap Friday except that Felipe Paulino 'dealing.' The Astros plastered together three runs, and that's it. Aramis Ramirez and Tyler Colvin both homered Saturday night and the Cubs responded well pouring on eight runs. Ryan Dempster went a strong 6.1 IP with 7 K, which made me think we were going to turn it around on the trip. But no, as Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer in a three run first inning off Randy Wells on Sunday. The Cubs left town having lost two of three.
After playing the makeup game Monday in Pittsburgh, the Cubs headed to Miller Park where they are already 3-0 in 2010. Two of the three games there were Pittsburgh-esque heartbreaking, as the Cubs fell in the opener because of a two blown leads in as many innings. There were no runs until a Cubs rally in the 8th, but a Corey Hart homer gave that lead away on one pitch. In the ninth, the Cubs put up another run only to put men on and Carlos Marmol surrended a go-ahead, walk off two run single to Casey McGehee. ESPN carried Wednesday's game, and the inconsitent Cubs offense put up nine including five homers coming from three hitters. The 9-4 win set the stage for a disaster Thursday. Xavier Nady hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, but blew it anyway in the bottom of the 10th. In a 4-4 game, Craig Counsell sacrificed Carlos Gomez to second with none out, but Gomez just kept going all the way to third. Nady made a dumb throw, a very ill-advised action in youth baseball, and the throw got away, scoring Gomez and ending the game. The whole thing happened so fast, it was unbelievable. Here's my question: Nady was at first because Derrek Lee had the day off. Understandable. But the fact that Lee is a three-time gold glover who hates days off and was ready to go merits the question of why wasn't Lee, in a big extra inning game, inserted for defensive purposes over a perennial DH in Nady?
The Cubs really screwed up this time. They played great baseball in seven of nine games, and easily could have won those seven. If the Cubs can't beat these teams, then who can they?
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