Final Record: 55-76
Games Behind First: 20.5 GB
Mike Quade was the Cubs manager of record starting Monday, August 23, 2010 making him the first manager to do so not named Lou Piniella since Dusty Baker in 2006. Quade made an impact right away by ending the Tyler Colvin at first experiment, at least temporarily. Blake DeWitt hit leadoff for the first time and apparently that was the right move as he homered in the 3rd. The Cubs would get four more in that inning and eventually lead 9-0 in support of Casey Coleman, enjoying his first successful start in the bigs. Coleman went 6.1 IP allowing just three hits and two walks for one run. Livan Hernandez dropped to 8-9 after getting lit up for 10 hits in the first 4.1 innings when he was yanked. The Cubs got the ever-elusive series opening win, something that escaped them 11 series in a row earlier in the season. On Tuesday night Carlos Zambrano made the start having not been too bad in his starts in August. He did his best yet against Washington, certainly looking like the ace of old and of the $91.5 million contract he earned for his job. He went 7.1 IP to earn the win and struck out eight, walking just one and allowing five hits. Walks had been his only problem since returning to the rotation and he solved the problem in this one. For the second straight year Alfonso Soriano homered at Nationals Park, a three-run shot in the second to near the same spot as the one last year. After the Nats got one back in the 3rd, Tyler Colvin answered in the 4th with a two-run shot scoring Soriano, making it 5-1. Things got a little dicey with Carlos Marmol in the 9th as Adam Kennedy hit a three-run double to bring the Nats within one. Against all odds, the Cubs escaped and won 5-4. It had been a rough year for Jason Marquis when he took the mound Wednesday afternoon. At 0-6, his record wouldn't get any better on this day. He did his best, allowing one over 7.1 innings after the game remained scoreless for seven innings. On the other end was Ryan Dempster, removed after seven innings and only 79 pitches and having allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out eight. This had to have been his best start this season, as he improved to 12-8. And thus, the Cubs completed a sweep of Washington, improving to 26-36 on the road, not too bad considering the Cubs record overall.
Playing the Nationals was easy enough, even for a struggling team; the Cubs' infusion of youth would be put to the test when they went to Cincinnati for the second and final time in 2010. The last time they were there was a trip plenty familiar to Starlin Castro. His hot hitting all season began with a major league record tying six RBI in the first game off Bronson Arroyo including a three-run homer in his first at-bat. For his unbelievable effort this season, I have officially nicknamed him StarStro. But he's no Astro, he's just taken his hitting to a new plateau. Castro would go 0-for-4 in the opener against Johnny Cueto, but he wasn't the only Cub to struggle in this one. The only Cubs scoring would come on a Colvin RBI double, as Jay Bruce homered thrice powering the Reds to a 7-1 win. The last Red to do that was Drew Stubbs on July 4th against who else? The Cubs. Cueto improved to 12-4 as Tom Gorzelanny struggled to take the loss. Xavier Nady launched a bomb in the 2nd inning on Saturday night, getting the Cubs going. Bronson Arroyo was efficient through seven but got the loss as Randy Wells did better allowing two over six. Joey Votto homered to center to tie the game but Kosuke Fukudome hit a two-run homer for the lead and the Cubs never looked back. Give Carlos Marmol the save, his 24th. The Reds came out in their red alternate uniforms for Sunday, and they were certainly ready to put up a fight. Kosuke Fukudome hit a two-run homer in the 8th to tie it 5-5 for the third tie of the day. The poor defense of the Cubs would cost them once again this season as on a single by Ramon Hernandez in the 8th, the runner on first pedaled around to third. Fukudome lined a throw from right to third that was offline, and a poor cutoff job from the Cubs and a poor job of getting in front of the ball by Aramis Ramirez cost the Cubs a run. The runner scored, one of two that would score in the inning. Francisco Cordero then came in and worked a one-two-three ninth for his 35th save.
Mike Quade has to be pleased with his team's performance on its best road trip of the year. He was humbled when announced as manager, but has since quickly opened up to the media, not hiding his opinion about the team. He made a few changes and has the team pretty much the way he envisioned it when he took over, allowing him to comfortably settle in in his first major league managerial job. The sweep of Washington was impressive, with Carlos Zambrano having to be the most important player of the series. His start gives the Cubs two options: they could take that as a positive sign for next year, although there is no promise he is done with his anger issues, or they could use that to showcase his talents to up his trade demand. I would go for the second option, and it appears the Cubs will too. With such a big salary, the Cubs will want to dump at least a sizable chunk of it. Jim Hendry has said the Cubs are just a few pieces from winning in 2011, an opinion I believe in. Clearing some space will give the Ricketts more options with their money.
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