Crosstown Showdown: White Sox 4, Cubs 3

Alfonso Soriano steals his first base of the season,
beating the tag from shorstop Alexei Ramirez

Peavy returns from DL, wins despite ineffective start

CWS leads 2-1

It was yet another one-run loss for the Cubs, who have lost in this fashion in three of their last four losses.  A comeback attempt for the third straight game fell short and the Cubs dropped their second in a row.

The Sox got their first two runs off Doug Davis in the fourth when A.J. Pierzynski tripled home two runs.  The Sox also got a third run in the inning from a squeeze play by utility man Brent Lillibridge.  This play represents the Sox' best attempt to play smallball.  But the truth is that such a play wasn't even necessary in that situation, especially considering Lillibridge's knack for clutch plays this season.

A Starlin Castro RBI single put the Cubs on the board, but the Sox got an insurance run just a half-inning later thanks to an error by trippin' second baseman Blake DeWitt.  Of course, Davis could have prevented the run from scoring by not hitting Lillibridge with a pitch, but the bottom line is the inning should have already been over.

Incredibly, Carlos Pena hit his third homer in as many days, as if competing head-on with counterpart Paul Konerko, who actually didn't homer in this game to end his consecutive-game-with-homer streak at five.  Pena has gathered respect from all of his teammates as the calming influence as well as the defensive leader of this team, and it's great to see him catch fire offensively, too.

Jeff Baker redeemed himself for his big strikeout last night and singled home a run in the rally that knocked Peavy out of the game in the 6th.  Unlike the night before, the Cubs were very patient with Peavy, who had serious trouble locating his breaking pitches and gave Pierzynski a workout behind the plate.  His slider was all over the place, including bouncing in the dirt.  Much of Peavy's success in his career can be attributed to the fact that everything he throws, from his running fastball to his changeup to his slider, is hard, hard, and harder.  He's got a 'hot' heater and a power slider, a lethal and winning combination.  But when he loses control, everything kind of flies off the end.  The result: 104 pitches and 10 baserunners allowed through only 5.1 innings.

The Cubs bullpen was absolutely perfect on this night, throwing three innings and striking out four while allowing no baserunners between rookie Chris Carpenter, Jeff Samardzija, and Sean Marshall.  Unfortunately, the Sox bullpen almost equally as good.  Sox closer Sergio Santos has a save in each of the last two games; he has thrown a total of 26 pitches between the two games, including only three balls, no baserunners, and five strikeouts.  This, this is the definition of dominance out of the 'pen.

Overall, this was a very entertaining series, with intriguing battles between the first basemen and Ozzie Guillen and Geovany Soto's catcher's mask.  The Cubs lost two of three but now head to Kansas City for a weekend series against the Royals who are only one game better than the Cubs record-wise.  They're also only 20-21 at Kauffman Stadium and have the bottom end of their starting rotation going, so the Cubs could capitalize.  After all, the Cubs will finally be playing someone at their own level.


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Crosstown Showdown: Cubs 6, White Sox 3

Three key Cubs step up big in win over streaking Sox

CHC leads 1-0

Last night the Cubs and Sox met for the first of six games this season.  The news coming up to game time and in the 1st inning was all about Carlos Zambrano and his temper tantrum last season at The Cell, which nearly led to him being kicked off the team.  But a different Zambrano emerged, despite another bad first inning.  He gave up three in that first inning before calming down and staying as cool as the other side of the pillow for most of the game.  Through 8 innings, Zambrano allowed only those three runs.

The blow up actually came from the other side as Ozzie Guillen was ejected arguing a fair or foul call on home plate.  These disputes are rare because such an instance was very rare but nonetheless the umpire called Alexei Ramirez out after Geovany Soto tagged him with the ball which the ump thought he had picked up off home plate.  The Sox claimed the ball had rolled off and Soto grabbed it in foul territory.  Guillen, in his frustration, kicked Soto's catcher's mask towards his own dugout, prompting eruptions of laughter and hysteria from the Cubs dugout.  Even Soto, standing near Guillen behind home plate, pointed and laughed along with his teammates.

The three keys to winning the game for the Cubs were Zambrano, Starlin Castro, and Carlos Pena.  Castro knocked in the first three runs with a two-RBI single and a solo homer, and Pena gave the Cubs the lead for good with a big three-run homer to the right field bleachers off a stumbling Gavin Floyd.

Carlos Marmol, who puts the fire in fireman, aka closer, gave up singles to catcher A.J. Pierzynski and center fielder Alex Rios just to give Cubs fans a headache before retiring Mark Teahen and left fielder Juan Pierre.

This win was huge in my opinion.  It proved that the Cubs' improved competitive play against the Yankees wasn't a fluke, and that they can hang around with an American League team.  Also, the current Chicago fad of hating on the Cubs takes a big hit with every win they get over the White Sox.  It's as if the bandwagon shrinks, if even just a little.

Hot Stove Buzz #2

It's been a very busy week of transactions, and here on Day 3 of the Winter Meetings we find ourselves with a whole bunch of players in new uniforms.

-The Padres have acquired Jason Bartlett in a trade with Tampa Bay for two relievers.  After losing Miguel Tejada to San Francisco, the Padres have their starting shortstop.  Bartlett had a very down year in 2010, surprisingly only hitting .254.
-The Cubs want Matt Garza, and are one of four teams going after him.  The Rays, on their end of the trade, want prospects according to Tim Dierkes of mlbtraderumors.com.  I think that these prospects are definitely going to be pitchers, preferably relievers.  Unfortunately, the Rays are unloading a lot of their guys and it kind of looks like rebuilding all over again.  They had a nice three year run in winning with a star-studded team, but their small market limitations have caught up to them.
-The Orioles acquired Mark Reynolds in a trade with the Diamondbacks.  Interestingly, the Orioles have been very active on the hot stove this offseason, something we don't usually see from them.  They are now also looking into acquiring Kevin Gregg and J.J. Hardy or Brendan Ryan.  Sounds like Buck Showalter brought that winning stuff to the air in Baltimore and the front office is finally picking up the slack and getting some deals moving.  This should be a memo to other perennially bad teams that don't have front offices willing to go after who they need.
-Who knows what is going to happen with Cliff Lee?  Lee's agent just left the hotel in Florida where the baseball Winter Meetings are, and this is annoying to general managers.  Specifically, the Yankees and Rangers' respective GMs would like to know if they are going to be dishing out $100+ million or not.  No biggie, though.
-The Nationals signed Jayson Werth to a 7 year deal worth $126 million.  Many in the baseball community consider the 8 year, $136 million deal from the Cubs with Alfonso Soriano to be one of the worst contracts of the 2000s considering Soriano, coming off a 40 homer-40 steal season, has never hit more than 33 homers or stolen more than 19 bases with the Cubs.  But let me make an argument to call this one a bad contract, right off the bat (no pun intended.  With Jayson Werth, we are looking at a guy that is 32, has 120 career homers, has 87 homers and 251 RBI in the last three years, but only had 33 homers and 155 RBI in his career before that.  Werth averaged 29 homers and nearly 18 steals from 2008-2010, so far the highlight years of his career.  Alfonso Soriano, on the other hand, had averaged more than 37 homers a season from 2002-2006, the five years before the signing, and had averaged more than 34 steals a season from 2001-2006, the six seasons before the signing.  Soriano was 30 when he was signed, two years younger than Werth.  In his four seasons on the Cubs, Soriano has averaged only 26 homers and 13 steals per season.  He's hitting for a low average now, has virtually no speed, is a minus defensively, and has a bat that can only be counted on for 20 homers a season.  With four years still remaining on Soriano's contract, he has gone from being a 40-40 player to a 20-5 player.  If Werth is 32, has only proven himself for three seasons, and had less talent to begin with, how long will it be before the Nationals realize they made a big mistake?  Werth was a late bloomer, so he probably has three more elite seasons.  But after that, who knows.  These elite contracts with huge salaries towards the end snuff out trade talks extremely fast, as the Cubs could tell you.
-Adam Dunn decided to come to Chicago, but to the wrong side.  The Sox signed Dunn for four years, $56 million.  This is a great signing because it fits the White Sox.  With a great hitters park in US Cellular Field, Dunn could hit upwards of 45 homers in 2011 and beyond.  The Tigers were the main competitor to get Dunn, but they were less aggressive after their signing of Victor Martinez because Martinez can play first base.  The Nationals weren't too happy about the signing, so they are forced to look for other options.  Sox GM Ken Williams tried to get Dunn at the trade deadline but a potential deal never materialized, so he was stuck with Manny Ramirez.  The Sox may deal some of their main guys like Carlos Quentin so it's good that whatever happens the Sox have a definite guy to bat cleanup everyday.
-Paul Konerko, also of the White Sox, signed a new deal with the Sox for three years and $37.5 million.  On MLB Network today, A.J. Pierzynski said that he knows for a fact that Konerko took a discount for coming back to his 'hometown'.  Now with Adam Dunn, these two make a great combo in the middle of the lineup that can be counted on for 75 homers.  Now that there is some big pop.

-Finally, Derek Jeter signed with the Yankees.  Of course, the Yankees overpaid with $51 million for three years, but Jeter still wasn't happy about it.  “To hear the organization tell me to go shop it when I just told you I wasn’t going to — if I’m going to be honest with you, I was angry about it,” said Jeter.  He can't complain about the money, though.  For a guy that in 2010 batted .270, his worst since his rookie season in 1995, hit only 10 homers, and stole only 18 bases, more than $15 million a year is out of the question.  The majority of that money is from respect for the Yankees all-time hits leader.  Personally, I think he should shut up and take the money.  I have no sympathy for a guy fighting over millions that don't even matter and are just a sign of respect.  If he's so generous and as great a guy as the media makes him sound, he wouldn't care about the money at this point.  But if anyone is dumb enough to give him that money, he should take it.
-Mariano Rivera signed for two years and $30 million with the Yankees.  And the reason you didn't hear nearly as much about it is because Rivera had the dignity to agree to a reasonable contract.  He didn't disrespect himself and the Yankees by making things difficult when there really were no other competitors in landing him.
-Aubrey Huff resigned with the Giants, being one of the key role players in the World Series run.  He only got a modest $22 million over two years, and although he is 33, he may have been able to get more money elsewhere.  Luckily for San Francisco, he signed before he could take any real time to examine other offers. 
-I'm going to go ahead and call a contract a bust.  Jorge de la Rosa, owner of a career 5.02 ERA, earned a two year, $21.5 million contract to stay with the Rockies.  De la Rosa only has a career K/BB ratio of 1.75, and I see another Oliver Perez contract in the making.  I'm sure De la Rosa is a great guy and all, but he's got to work on his control before I'm sold on a big contract for him, or even sold on him being anything more than a perennial #5 starter.
-This is very old news, but it needs to be stated.  Victor Martinez signed with the Tigers for $50 million and four years, a good signing because now you could see him at first base, catcher, or even DH.

-A.J. Pierzynski resigned with the White Sox for two years and $8 million.  He very nearly went to the Dodgers, but the deal fell through and he ends up with the Sox.

-Lance Berkman signed with the Cardinals for just one year and $8 million.  But with Albert Pujols at first base, where will he play, you wonder.  That's right, the Cardinals signed Lance Berkman at age 34 to do something he hasn't since 2007: play the outfield.  Try not to laugh.  There are going to be some 'Puma Moments in that outfield.

-Javier Vazquez got a year for $7 million from the Marlins.  The reason he only took only year is because he needs to rebuild his stock, something he can do in 2011 with his return to the NL.  His stock dropped significantly after a bad 2010 with the Yankees, and he wants to have a year this year similar to his 2009 with the Braves and then get a big multi-year contract to probably finish out his career.

         

Crosstown Classic: Round One

There have been plenty of skeptics the last two years of the relatively dull popularity of the Cubs-Sox series.  However, I believe this series really revitalized it once again.

On Friday, the buzz returned to Wrigley Field as the Sox fans marched in.  They had plenty to cheer about with Alex Rios and AJ Pierzynski both collecting four hits and a homer each.  Carlos Quentin poured on the score with a homer along with a bunch of hits in the late innings, and the Sox rolled 10-2.  The only highlight and scoring for the Cubs came in the second when Alfonso Soriano hit a two run homer, the 300th of his career just two days after Derrek Lee got his in Milwaukee. 

Carlos Silva had reason to be frustrated Saturday.  More problems with Xavier Nady cost the Cubs another win.  Paul Konerko hit an RBI single early on that would have been caught with Tyler Colvin or Kosuke Fukudome in right.  However, Nady pulled up instead of going all out.  There wasn't any scoring until the top of the 8th, when Konerko hit an RBI single to the same spot and once again Nady pulled up.  The Cubs pushed across a run in the 9th, and the tying run was on base at the end of the game.  If Nady had gotten both of those like Fukudome or Colvin would've, the Cubs had a win.  I'm aware that Nady is basically a DH, but I really think that for him to be making over three million dollars to be a fifth outfielder/backup first baseman he needs to be diving at every opportunity.  Guys like him aren't playing all-out ball.

Sunday night was what has made this series a big deal again.  This was the definition of a pitchers duel.  Ted Lilly and Gavin Floyd both threw 6.2 IP of no hit baseball, but Alfonso Soriano doubled ending Floyd's no hitter.  On the next pitch, Chad Tracy brought him home with a single up the middle.  That was all the scoring the Cubs would need, but Ted Lilly lost his no hitter in the top of the 9th in shocking fashion against former Cub Juan Pierre.  Carlos Marmol loaded the bases, but got Carlos Quentin to pop out to end the ballgame.  Ted Lilly pitched by far the best game of his career.  The only thing that consistently bothered me was Jon Miller's constant mentioning of the no hitters in progress.  Joe Morgan even mentioned later that it "used" to be an unwritten rule not to mention it on the air.  They just said that because they realized that fans weren't too happy about what they were doing.

This series is changed.  You can bet this won't be the last time the media reminds you of what happened this weekend, especially with Ted Lilly.  I'm just putting it out there that if the Cubs follow the regular rotation with Lilly, he will get the first start of the second Sox series.  If both the Cubs and Sox are done for the season, which the upcoming two weeks of interleague play could decide, enjoy the next Crosstown Classic series in two weeks as the only playoff atmosphere either team will have in 2010.