Road Trip Wrapup: Seattle, Chi Sox

Record: 2-4
Final Record: 33-42
Games Behind First: 8.5 GB

The Cubs should've known heading into Seattle that if they were going to score a lot of runs in this series, it was going to have to be in the first game against Jason Vargas.  Vargas is a solid pitcher, but doesn't compare to the likes of Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez, the starters for the next two days.

Franklin Gutierrez provided the only scoring on Tuesday night, cranking a two-run homer off Ryan Dempster who otherwise had a great start.  Jason Vargas didn't allow a run and the Cubs were finished just like that.  Any chances the Cubs had offensively were wasted.

Cliff Lee didn't make it any easier the following night, only allowing a solo homer to Tyler Colvin.  A whole bunch of RBI hits and a home run by Michael Saunders made it a big mess that finished 8-1.  Cliff Lee had a huge lead to work with and the Cubs were done Wednesday.

The Cubs grinded out a win Thursday afternoon in extra innings.  Ted Lilly got a real nice start and Marlon Byrd singled in the winning run in the 13th allowing Tom Gorzelanny to pick up his first career save.  Good baseball was to be seen today fundamentally (no errors) and smart decisions put the overwhelming fact was that the Cubs just need to score more.  They managed just four runs in the entire series!  Four runs!  Combined with the Sox series, and there were only 14 runs on the entire road trip, over six games!  Over the first five games of the trip, the Cubs scored six runs!  Sometimes how bad the Cubs offense is can just be amazing.

For info on the second Sox series, read the Crosstown Classic: Round Two post right below this one.

Crosstown Classic: Round Two

This time the series shifted to the South Side for a three game set.  After a disappointing showing in the first series, the Cubs knew they had to win two here to split the series and maybe some figured out that, no matter what, the Cubs had to win Sunday to take the first BP Crosstown Cup.  For the Cubs to get that Cup, they would also need to win either Friday or Saturday.  If they won Friday and Saturday, they would still need to win Sunday because the tiebreaking rule in this Crosstown Cup is that the team who wins the last game takes the series for the year.

There was another big moment in the Crosstown Classic on Friday, this one going against the Cubs, but not from the White Sox.  Carlos Zambrano gave up four in the first, including a three-run homer to Carlos Quentin, and returned to the dugout attacking at first no one in particular and then Derrek Lee.  Apparently he wasn't pleased that Lee didn't dive down the line for Juan Pierre's leadoff double, because Pierre scored a run and Zambrano thought the team didn't go all out on defense.  He paced the dugout screaming after the 1st inning and came up to Lee and shoved him backwards a bit while verbally attacking him.  Zambrano was suspended indefinitely and placed on the restricted list, not to return until after the All-Star Break.  Some reports have mentioned that he won't return to the mound for the Cubs ever.  Jim Hendry says he will be back, but the public criticized Carlos' decision to go out to dinner with Ozzie Guillen at the Wit Hotel and the night after his blowup.

Paul Konerko hit his 19th homer in the 8th to be the go-ahead run as the Cubs offense was slowed by Freddy Garcia who allowed just two over seven innings.  As the story of Carlos Zambrano swirled around the Chicago sports media community, this game went somewhat unnoticed for a Cubs-Sox game.  Aramis Ramirez hit a home run in this one, his first since June 5th and his longest out of his six home runs this year, flying 418 feet to center.  Sox won 3-2.

The Cubs offense came out stronger Sunday putting up eight runs in their 8-6 victory avoiding a sweep.  A three-run bomb by Tyler Colvin and doubles by Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto made it 6-2, followed by another Paul Konerko homer.  The Cubs extended their lead thanks to an Alfonso Soriano homer and Tyler Colvin RBI single but their comfortable lead wasn't as comfortable after a bunch of hits brought the Sox within two in the bottom of the 9th.  The Cubs closed it, however, and improved to 2-4 on the season against the Sox.

The Cubs have lost the season series two straight years against the Sox and haven't won it since 2007, but the Cubs took away some positives even after being beaten badly Friday and Saturday.  Not that the Cubs could possibly hold any momentum, as they were beaten by the Pirates 2-1 on Monday.

All-Time Head-to-Head Dominance

Well, the Cubs aren't playing too great of baseball recently.  This sure would be a great time to distract from the on field product and take a trip down memory boulevard to be humbled by Cubs history.  Time to dig up the Cubs All-Time Head-to-Head Records, brought to you by baseball-reference.com which by the way is an unbelievable website with every MLB stat ever, no crap just stats.  Anyway, the Cubs are a winning franchise for sure.  While the Phillies made headlines just a while ago with their 10,000th loss in franchise history, becoming the first franchise to achieve such futility, the Cubs got their 10,000 win in franchise history also becoming the first franchise to achieve this mark.  It was at Coors Field in April 2008.  The following head-to-head records are from 1901 onwards.

Chicago Cubs All-Time Record: 10,196-9,641 (.514 winning %)

Chicago Cubs Most Played Opponents (Most Games Against):
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (2,144)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (2,140)
3. Philadelphia Phillies (2,024)
4. Cincinnati Reds (2,000)
5. San Francisco Giants (1,899)

Chicago Cubs Most Beaten Opponents NL (Most Wins):
1. St. Louis Cardinals (1,083-1,040)
2. Philadelphia Phillies (1,058-953)
3. Pittsburgh Pirates (1,027-1,107)
4. Atlanta Braves (1,024-849)
5. Cincinnati Reds (1,007-977)

Chicago Cubs Most Beaten Opponents AL (Most Wins):
1. Chicago White Sox (36-39)
2. Minnesota Twins (11-10)
3. Kansas City Royals (9-6)
4. Cleveland Indians (7-7)
T5. Oakland Athletics (4-2)
T5. Seattle Mariners (4-4)
T5. Texas Rangers (4-5)
T5. Toronto Blue Jays (4-5)

Chicago Cubs Most Defeated Opponents NL (Most Losses):
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (1,027-1,107)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (1,083-1,040)
3. San Francisco Giants (903-978)
4. Cincinnati Reds (1,007-977)
5. Philadelphia Phillies (1,058-953)

Chicago Cubs Most Defeated Opponents AL (Most Losses):
1. Chicago White Sox (36-39)
2. Detroit Tigers (3-11)
3. Minnesota Twins (11-10)
4. Cleveland Indians (7-7)
5. Kansas City Royals (9-6)

Chicago Cubs Winningest Opponents NL (Best Winning %):
1. San Diego Padres (236-190, .554)
2. Atlanta Braves (1,024-849, .547)
T3. Colorado Rockies (77-68, .531)
T3. Milwaukee Brewers (104-92, .531)
5. Philadelphia Phillies (1,027-1,107, .526)

Chicago Cubs Losingest Opponents NL (Worst Winning %):
1. Arizona Diamondbacks (39-53, .424)
2. Houston Astros (308-355, .465)
T3. San Francisco Giants (903-978, .480)
T3. Washington Nationals (266-288, .480)
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (1,027-1,107, .481)

All 30 Major League Baseball teams have played at Wrigley Field, but the Cubs have never played at Fenway Park in Boston (coincidence?) and at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, home of the A's. The Angels became the last team to play their first game at Wrigley Field last Friday, winning 7-6.  The Cubs are 2-0 at neutral sites after beating Houston in both games in Milwaukee in 2008, effectively ending their hopes at a wild card berth in the playoffs.  Carlos Zambrano no-hit Houston in the first game, and Ted Lilly came close to doing the same the next day.

First Basemen Front and Central

The first basemen of the central divisions of baseball may be as stacked as they ever have been in the history of baseball.  Ferocious power hitters and tenacious defenders, these guys have their names all over the offensive leaderboards.  All eleven of the eleven central teams have a great first baseman.

National League
The first basemen of the NL Central have combined for 69 homers this season, including 15 by Albert Pujols and Joey Votto each, 10 by Garrett Jones and Derrek Lee each, 6 by Lance Berkman and 13 by Prince Fielder.  St. Louis' Pujols, a three-time MVP of the NL, can be counted on for consistent power production like this for years to come.  Votto is one of the NL's top young stars, leading the Reds in their push for first at age 26.  Fielder, also only 26, has had great power for years now and became one of few Milwaukee Brewers to hit 50 home runs in a season back in 2007.  Derrek Lee, who mashed 46 HR in 2005 and 35 HR in 2009 on the Cubs, really hasn't hit as well as anyone would've liked him to in 2010 but he got hot this last weekend and looks to keep his roll going.  Lance Berkman is on the downside of his career at 34 but still is the main run producer for a failing Houston Astros offense.  Jones took Pittsburgh by storm in 2009 after his summer call-up, a thrilling young talent who, with Andrew McCutchen, has given something for Pirates fans to root for.

American League
The first basemen of the AL have combined for 65 home runs, including 7 by Billy Butler, 17 by Paul Konerko, 8 by Travis Hafner, 19 by Miguel Cabrera, and 14 by Justin Morneau.  Butler is the offensive face of the Kansas City franchise, a young slugger with dominant power still in developing stages.  Paul Konerko is having a big comeback year, flashing back to his 40 HR days of old.  Morneau is leading the AL in walks and has become a perennial fixture for the Twins.  Hafner's career has been damaged much by injury, and he hasn't played a full season since 2007 but could be getting back to his old productive self.  Cabrera has been the best offensive player in the American League in 2010.  If the Tigers make the playoffs, he is my surefire MVP.  His 19 HR and 60 RBI lead the AL, and the .328 AVG ain't too bad either.

Significance?  69 HR by NL 1B, 65 HR by AL 1B.  What's the big deal?
Well, many scouts and baseball personnel like Ryne Sandberg agree, power at the corners is crucial.  Ryno's theory is simple: power in the corners (1B, 3B, RF, LF) and speed and defense up the middle (C, 2B, SS, CF).  There is more power in the Central than any other division in both leagues, where there are 59 HR from the NL East (Ryan Howard, Ike Davis, Adam Dunn, Gaby Sanchez, and Troy Glaus) and 44 HR from the NL West (James Loney, Aubrey Huff, Todd Helton, Adam LaRoche, Adrian Gonzalez).  In the AL, there are 49 HR from the AL East (Kevin Youkilis, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Pena, Lyle Overbay, and Garrett Atkins) and 26 HR from the AL West (Daric Barton, Mike Napoli filling in for Kendry Morales, Justin Smoak, and Casey Kotchman).  While steals are on the rise in today's game, the home run ball is becoming underrated as the home run in critical in the winning formula.  With no power, there are no wins.  With no power, you get the 2010 Seattle Mariners who are last in the league in home runs and their home run leaders are Milton Bradley and Mike Sweeney with a whopping six.

The Final Home Run Stats
AL East: 49
AL Central: 65
AL West: 26

NL East: 59
NL Central: 69
NL West: 44

Want more on home runs?
Check out hittrackeronline.com and tatertrottracker.com for all the stats you want.

Homestand Wrapup: Chi Sox, Oakland, Los Angeles (AL)

Record: 4-5
Final Record: 31-38
Games Behind First: 7.0

For info on the first series against the Sox, go see the Crosstown Classic: Round One post right below this one.

Baseball fundamentals, specifically fielding, have not been a bright spot on the Cubs teams of recent years. When the Cubs were able to win with teams like 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008, scouts cited the Cubs' high level of talent which made up for that.  However, the lack of fielding was put on display in bad fashion as the frustrated Cubs allowed too many unearned runs coming from errors and simply bad baseball.

Oakland put the pressure on the Cubs defense in game one of the series, winning 9-5 getting help from four errors committed by the Cubs, including Derrek Lee's first career two error inning.  Not only is Lee's bat unreliable these days, his former Gold Glove defense is failing him.  This game was completely ugly and the Cubs did not deserve to win.  Lee made up for it by smashing a homer to left in the 2nd Wednesday night, and the Cubs put up a zero in the error column in a 6-2 win.  Ryan Dempster pitched well and Alfonso Soriano amazingly put down a bunt, trying to play smallball on a team built for the homer.  But hey, if it works, I'll take it.  The Cubs got a surprising win on Thursday in comeback fashion with Kosuke Fukudome being the MVP in this one.  He scored to tie the game at 2 on Xavier Nady's sac fly in the 8th and hit a walk-off single to right to win it, 3-2.  Randy Wells was efficient and I was glad the Cubs were able to pull out this one.  The Cubs really need to be able to come back late in games, especially at home.  The opposing teams will play their bullpens more conservatively and basically just cruise to a win unless the Cubs make 'em earn it.  If they can't come back, at least make it a ballgame.

The Cubs did just that in the opener against the Angels.  In the former California and Anaheim Angels franchise's first ever trip to Wrigley Field, the Cubs' evil defense committed three errors and by the time the Cubs looked up at the scoreboard in the 8th it was 7-2 LA in front.  Tyler Colvin blasted a three-run homer in the 9th to make it a two run game for Derrek Lee, who redeemed himself for his error earlier in the game with a homer.  The rally died, though, and Fernando Rodney finished it.  There isn't much to talk about on Saturday.  It was all Angels.  Literally all Angels.  Howie Kendrick hit a leadoff homer for the first of his three RBI, and the game was pretty much over after Torii Hunter's blast two-run blast to make it 6-0 in the 5th.  Ted Lilly was nothing like his dominant self from the heroics of the Sunday nighter against the Sox a weekend ago.  The Cubs couldn't manage a run and fell 12-0.  Sunday was a nice rebound, and they really needed it.  Lou Piniella has now admitted he has done everything he can with this personnel to win, and the Cubs need to believe that.  It's on them now.  A 12-1 win like the one the Cubs got on Sunday would have been a whole lot sweeter if the mood didn't suggest that a win that day was probably more crucial than any other game so far this season.

Up next for the Cubs is Safeco Field in Seattle where the Cubs are 2-1 in franchise history.  2002, the first time the Cubs ever played the Seattle Mariners franchise, saw Mark Prior throw 124 pitches through seven shutout innings and 11 Ks to pick up a 2-0 win.  Freddy Garcia beat the Cubs in the next one 4-2, but Jon Lieber took the finale 5-1 and the Cubs won the series against the divisional contender at the team who were led by none other than manager Lou Piniella.  The Cubs also took two of three in 2007 at Wrigley Field, so the Cubs are 4-2 all-time against the Mariners.      

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.    

Road Trip Wrapup: Pittsburgh, Houston, Milwaukee

Final Record: 27-33
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?