Results tagged ‘ Mat Latos ’
May 5, 2013 – Reds @ Cubs; Lineups!
Edwin Jackson is the Cubs last hope in this series as the Reds go for the sweep. Jackson has not been good so far this year, so what better time to start than today. It won’t be easier as he and the Cubs will face red-hot (get it?) Mat Latos, first pitch scheduled for 1:20 PM CST on WGN, the weather is perfect for a baseball game, let’s go Cubs! Here are the lineups.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Marmol leads Reds to victory
Another game, another loss that the opponent didn’t have to earn. Jeff Samardzija battled his way through six innings in this one and thanks to a pair of Alfonso Soriano two-run homers was in a position to get a win. Then Carlos Marmol took over in the eighth inning. It was apparent right from the get go that Marmol didn’t have it, he walked the first hitter he faced on four pitches, he then walked the next batter, then he hit Brandon Phillips on a 1-2 count, that was the end of 
the day for Marmol. Sveum was forced to go to Hector Rondon to try to get out of it, but he allowed all three inherited runners to score, and just like that a 4-2 lead turned into a 6-4 deficit and this one was over. The Cubs probably didn’t deserve this one based on their offensive performance, but there they were late in the game with chance to steal one, and the bullpen imploded once again, frustrating loss after frustrating loss, they really are piling up.
At The Plate – I’m shocked that the Cubs scored four times in this game, I’ll tell you why. The Cubs only had three hits all day, and only had seven (3 hits, 2 walks, 2 HBP) base runners. Alfonso Soriano was a one man Army in this one as he went 2-for-3 with two home runs, four RBI’s, a walk, and two runs scored. Despite a couple of costly at bats yesterday from Alf, he seems to be getting locked in at the plate as he is now hitting .279 on the season. Another guy that has been hot recently is Anthony Rizzo, he was the only other Cubs player to register a hit, he was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, he was also hit by a pitch.
On The Mound - Jeff Samardzija saw his pitch count rise quickly in this one, but was able to bear down towards the end of his outing to get deeper then many thought today. Shark went six innings giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits while walking three and striking out five. James Russell worked a scoreless inning while walking one walk and striking out one. Carlos Marmol didn’t retire anyone in facing three hitters, he gave up three runs while walking two and hitting one. Hector Rondon struggled with his command initially out of the pen but did a solid job. Rondon went two innings out of the pen giving up one run on two hits while walking two (one intentional).
Up Next - The Reds will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon as they send Mat Latos to the mound to face Edwin Jackson. It’s time for Jackson to turn things around for the Cubs as he has been below average in the early going for his new team. First pitch is scheduled for 1:20 PM CST on WGN, and the weather is supposed to be great.
Game Highlights:
Full video recap
Soriano goes deep, twice
Barney starts a double play
Sliding catch by DeJesus
Thanks for reading,
- George
Series Preview – Reds @ Cubs; May 3 – May 5, 2013
The Cubs come into this series playing well, okay, play well for most of the game I guess. The Cubs could have very easily taken three out of four from the Padres, or two out of three from the Reds last month, but they just can’t get out of their own way. Today the Cubs welcome those Reds to Wrigley Field for a three game weekend set, and hopefully some revenge as well. The Reds took two out of three from the Cubs in Cincinnati the last time these two teams met. 
It was a great series, and the Cubs pitchers shut down the Reds vaunted lineup, but couldn’t find a big hit the whole series, or a closer the whole series and ended up losing two out of three. It will be another challenge this weekend for the Cubs pitchers as the Reds continue to hit and score runs, they have scored 128 runs, good enough for sixth in baseball compared to the 100 runs the Cubs have scored which is 26th in baseball. The Reds team ERA is also impressive, currently they sit fourth in the Majors with a 3.32 ERA, the Cubs are not too far behind though, they have a team ERA of 3.72, that’s good for twelfth in the Majors. This should be a good series, hopefully the results are better this time around.
Last Series:
The Cubs split a four game series with the Padres at Wrigley.
The Reds lost two out of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis
Game Times and Broadcast Information:
- Friday, May 3, 2013 – 1:20 PM CST on CSN Chicago
- Saturday, May 4, 2013 – 12:05 PM CST on CSN Chicago
- Sunday, May 5, 2013 – 1:20 PM CST on WGN TV
Starting Pitchers Scheduled:
Cubs:
Game One – Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 2.29)
- Career vs. Reds (21 appearances, 6 GS) (2-2, 3.72)
Game Two – Jeff Samardzija (1-4, 3.35)
- Career vs. Reds (17 appearances, 3 GS) (1-2, 4.09)
Game Three – Edwin Jackson (0-4, 6.27)
- Career vs. Reds (3 GS) (1-0, 2.57)
Reds:
Game One – Mike Leake (1-1, 4.34)
- Career vs. Cubs (11 GS) (4-2, 3.46)
Game Two – Tony Cingrani (2-0, 1.50)
- Career vs. Cubs (1 GS) (0-0, 2.57)
Game Three – Mat Latos (2-0, 1.83)
- Career vs. Cubs (6 GS) (3-2, 2.58)
Bold Prediction:
The Cubs are playing better baseball, but it’s still not good enough to win games consistently at the Major League level. I think too many mistakes pop up again this weekend and the Cubs lose two out of three to the Reds. Prove me wrong….please?
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Baffled by Latos in Loss
If you like a good old fashion pitchers duel, then this one was for you. Jeff Samardzija and Mat Latos went toe-to-toe in this one, and it almost didn’t even happen. Both pitchers received visits from the trainer in the first inning, Latos after being hit with a hard ground ball off the bat of Julio Borbon, and Samardzija ripped up the nail of his index finger on his pitching hand while trying to knock down a ground ball. Both pitchers stayed in the game, Samardzija 
with blood dripping from his hand and both were outstanding. Todd Frazier was the only player to make an impact on offense for either team as he connected on an estimated 480 foot home run in the sixth inning, and that was enough for Latos and the Reds. The Cubs threatened in the eighth but once again couldn’t make contact to score a run. Alfonso Soriano pinch hit in the eighth and struck out with runners at second and third with only one out. Then DeJesus was robbed by Zack Cozart on a ground ball back up the middle, if it gets through the Cubs lead 2-1, it didn’t, Cubs lose.
At The Plate – As I mentioned, the Cubs really didn’t get much going off of Latos, Broxton, and Chapman in this one. Julio Borbon had a solid day as he made good contact a few times, he went 1-for-3 with a double. Both Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo were 1-for-4 in the loss, Castro was also caught stealing. Luis Valbuena and Cody Ransom were the only other Cubs that registered his in the loss.
On The Mound - Jeff Samardzija was solid again, this time while battling an injury, and still ended up with a loss, his fourth of the season despite an ERA of 3.03, sounds like much of the Cubs staff. Samardzija went six innings giving up one run on seven hits while walking three and striking out eight. Shawn Camp and James Russell gave the Cubs a shot late as they each tossed a scoreless inning out of the pen.
Up Next - The Cubs travel to Miami to take on the Marlins in a four game weekend set. Edwin Jackson will start things off against Kevin Slowey at 6:10 PM CST.
Game Highlights:
Samardzija’s gutsy outing
Samardzija get’s nicked up
Navarro guns down Votto
DeJesus with a diving grab
Thanks for reading,
- George
April 24, 2013 – Cubs @ Reds; Lineups – Game Delayed (UPDATE)
Solid match up today as Jeff Samardzija takes on Mat Latos in the rubber game of the series. It’s raining in Cincinnati at the moment and the game will not start as scheduled (11:35 AM), instead everyone involved will meet to see if they should postpone the game or just wait it out around 11:15 AM. Here are the lineups for today should we get underway. (UPDATE) Game scheduled to start at 1 PM CST now, could change, but that’s the plan.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Find a Way to Win Despite Another Blown Save
Same thing every night it seems as once again the Cubs blew a ninth inning lead, this time it was Carlos Marmol giving up a game tying single to Joey Votto. Marmol then loaded the bases and narrowly escaped the jam, lucky he did as the Cubs responded right away in the tenth. An unlikely power source did the trick, Darwin Barney took Manny Parra deep to start the tenth, how unlikely you ask? I’ll tell you my inquisitive friend, that was Barney’s first home run away from Wrigley Field, in his career. The Cubs were able to tack on another insurance run for good measure and Kevin Gregg nailed down the save, with the tying run on base of course. Lost in this was the 
performance by Carlos Villanueva, he was sensational, but had to settle for a no decision and Carlos Marmol got the win…. yeah, the win stat in baseball doesn’t always tell the truth, sometimes it’s just a dirty liar, okay, Cubs win!
At The Plate – I know it’s easy to pin the blame on the bullpen with all of these close losses, but one of the other fingers has to be pointed at the offense as well, tonight was a perfect example. The Cubs jumped on the board early in this one, plating two runs in the second, that was it until the tenth, more times than not, that won’t be good enough. Hello Cody Ransom! Ransom made his Cubs debut tonight as was terrific, he went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Alfonso Soriano has located the fountain of youth, it’s in Cincinnati, weird place for it, but anyway. Soriano was 3-for-4 but his aggressiveness on the base paths was refreshing, he stole second and third on consecutive pitches which set up the first run, the Cubs need more of that. The Cubs stole four bases tonight, the two from Soriano, one from Sappelt, and one from Julio Borbon. Dave Sappelt had a solid night out of the lead-off spot as well going 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, and an RBI. Darwin Barney had the game winning hit, a solo home run in the tenth which was his only hit in four at bats.
On The Mound - What else can be said about Carlos Villanueva, he has been outstanding in the early going and only has one win to show for it. Villanueva went 8.1 innings giving up two runs on just three hits while walking two and striking out six. Carlos Marmol blew the save, he worked two-thirds of an inning giving up one hit which allowed the tying run to score while walking two and striking out one. Kevin Gregg did a solid job in nailing this one down, I don’t expect any Cubs pitcher to go 1-2-3 in a save situation, he gave up two hits while striking out two to earn the save.
Up Next - Great match up in the series finale tomorrow morning at 11:30 AM CST on CSN Chicago. Jeff Samardzija battles Mat Latos, a series win would be fantastic, but again, the Cubs are trying to win a series tomorrow when they could be going for a sweep.
Game Highlights:
Cody Ransom goes deep in debut
Big double play
Darwin Barney’s game winning blast
Sappelt’s RBI single
Slick play here from Cody Ransom
Thanks for reading,
- George
Series Preview – Cubs @ Reds; April 22 – April 24, 2013
Time to start playing good baseball, and getting some wins, and no better time than right now. The Cubs travel to Cincinnati to take on the first place Reds for a three game series beginning tonight. The Reds have been playing solid baseball as of late as they are 6-4 in their last ten games, and have won seven of eight. The Cubs are the exact opposite, having lost three straight and only winning three times in their last ten games. The Reds are also clicking on all cylinders at home as they have an impressive 10-3 home record, if they could do anything on the road they might have a three or four game lead in the division, but they are only 1-5 away from Great American Ballpark. As bad as the Cubs have been, they are only 4.5 games out of first in a tightly packed Central Division, time to get hot, hopefully it starts tonight.
Last Series:
The Cubs came up empty in Milwaukee, getting swept in the three game series.
The Reds took three out of four from the Marlins in Cincinnati.
Game Times and Broadcast Information:
- Monday, April 22, 2013 – 6:10 PM CST on CSN Chicago
- Tuesday, April 23, 2013 – 6:10 PM CST on WGN TV
- Wednesday, April 24, 2013 – 11:35 AM CST on CSN Chicago, MLBN
Starting Pitchers Scheduled:
Cubs:
Game One - Travis Wood (1-1, 1.83)
- Career vs. Reds (2 GS) (0-1, 5.25)
Game Two - Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 1.83)
- Career vs. Reds (20 appearances. 5 GS) (2-2, 3.99)
Game Three - Jeff Samardzija (1-3, 3.38)
- Career vs. Reds (16 appearances, 2 GS) (1-1, 4.67)
Reds:
Game One - Mike Leake (1-0, 4.26)
- Career vs. Cubs (10 GS) (4-2, 3.56)
Game Two - Tony Cingrani (1-0, 1.80)
- Career vs. Cubs (First appearance)
Game Three - Mat Latos (0-0, 2.73)
- Career vs. Cubs (5 GS) (2-2, 3.16)
Bold Prediction:
I’m going into this series extremely positive, the Cubs have been in too many close games to keep losing at the clip they are. Unfortunately, this is a tough place to play and the Reds are playing well and have more talent, I think the Reds take two of three from the Cubs. BUT, if the Cubs defense actually defends I think the Cubs take two out of three. Keep an eye on Tony Cingrani in game two of the series, he is an outstanding young talent, and highly touted pitching prospect. Soon the Cubs will have guys like that, at least I hope they will.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Put Up a Fight, Sorta, But Fall Short
It was an uphill battle all day long for the Cubs, they were battling not only the Reds but themselves for the better part of the game. Mentally the Cubs were out of it again, Soriano was making base running errors, mental errors in the field, and Luis Valbuena had a 
great time watching the game on the bases instead of actually playing it. With all of that the Cubs were able to erase a 4-1 deficit to tie the game at four in the eighth inning, and made things interesting in the ninth. Brett Jackson somehow managed to hit a double off of all world closer Aroldis Chapman, but was then caught stealing third with one out, that would be something the Cubs would do today, nothing was going right. So you can guessed what happened next, before you could blink the Reds led off the ninth with a triple and two pitches later the game was over with the Reds winning 5-4. Chris Volstad got the start today, and he did an adequate job, not horrible, not terrific, something in the middle, and that’s okay from Volstad. He went six innings giving up four runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four, if he gets hit I’m fine with it, he needs to avoid the walks and he did that today. David DeJesus led the offensive attack once again going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored in the loss. The Cubs only had seven hits but they were able to push across four runs as they were 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Cubs travel to Milwaukee to start a three game series tomorrow night.
Game Highlights:
Castro’s RBI Single
DeJesus’ RBI Double
Soriano’s Sac Fly
Thanks for reading,
- George
August 19, 2012 – Cubs Lineup vs. Reds
Chris Volstad will take the mound today against Mat Latos and the powerful Reds offense. Anthony Rizzo gets the day off and Luis Valbuena is bumped up to the three spot in the order. Here is a look at the rest of the lineup for Sunday, August 19. The game can be seen at 12:10 on WGN.
DeJesus – RF
Barney – 2B
Valbuena – 3B
Soriano – LF
Castro – SS
LaHair – 1B
Jackson – CF
Clevenger – C
Volstad – P
Go Cubs!!
-Mark
August 17 – 19, 2012; @ Reds – Series Preview
Tons of baseball to be played this weekend in Cincinnati as the Cubs and Reds square off in a four game series. Yes, that’s right, four games in three days as the teams will play a double-header on Saturday which is making up a rain out from May. After not seeing the Reds for three months the Cubs will round out this weekend seeing them in eight of the last eleven games. The Reds just took three out of four from the Cubs at Wrigley so it’s time for the Cubs to return the favor. If they plan on doing so they are going to have to put up more performances like they did against the Astros in the series finale. The Cubs offense has been awful as of late as they struggle to find consistency with a very young lineup. Surprisingly the Reds are having the same troubles, I guess it’s to be expected as they are still without Joey Votto but the Reds have only scored the 9th most runs in the National League. Equally surprising is how good the Reds pitching staff has been, they have the second best ERA in the national league, it will be a formidable challenge for this Cubs offense.
****
Friday August 17, 2012
Cubs: Travis Wood (4-8, 4.52 ERA)
Cincinnati: Bronson Arroyo (8-7, 3.95 ERA)
—
Saturday August 18, 2012 – Game 1
Cubs: Jeff Samardzija (8-10, 4.06 ERA)
Cincinnati: Johnny Cueto (15-6, 2.45 ERA)
—
Saturday August 18, 2012 – Game 2
Cubs: TBD (Most likely Raley)
Cincinnati: TBD
—
Sunday August 19, 2012
Cubs: Chris Volstad (0-8, 6.96 ERA)
Cincinnati: Mat Latos (10-3, 3.63ERA)
Season Series: Reds lead 6-3
Prediction: Reds win series, 3-1
Thanks for reading, go Cubs!
- George
