Results tagged ‘ Starlin Castro ’
September 10 – 12, 2012; @ Astros – Series Preview
The Cubs are heading into this series on a high note coming off a three game sweep in Pittsburgh, a sweep that put a major dent in the Pirates playoff hopes. It will be quite the different atmosphere in Houston as this three game set will be a battle for the first pick in the draft. 
Huge crowds usually don’t turn out for these types of series, couple that with the NFL season getting underway and it could be a very empty ballpark. The Cubs shouldn’t worry about that, they should worry about going out there and getting better with each game, and trying to win a job for next year. Two guys that have jobs locked up for next year, Starlin Castro, and Anthony Rizzo, are leading the Cubs charge as both are red-hot at the plate. Castro is hitting .333 in September, and Rizzo is hitting a whopping .382 during the month, unfortunately that hasn’t translated to many win as the Cubs are a less than stellar 3-6. If the Cubs want to extend their winning streak this week they are going to need the starting staff to step up as it will now be without Samardzija for the rest of 2012.
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Here are the pitching matchups for the four game series.
Monday September 10, 2012
Cubs: Chris Volstad (2-10, 6.23 ERA)
Houston: Dallas Keuchel (1-7, 5.54 ERA)
Tuesday September 11, 2012
Cubs: Justin Germano (2-6, 6.95 ERA)
Houston: Jordan Lyles (3-11, 5.55 ERA)
Wednesday September 12, 2012
Cubs: Travis Wood (5-11, 4.42 ERA)
Houston: Fernando Abad (0-3, 5.30 ERA)
Season Series: Chicago leads 5-4
Prediction: Cubs win series 2-1
Thanks for reading,
- George
Samardzija Saves His Best for Last
Talk about an exclamation point on a season, Jeff Samardzija went the distance in his final 2012 start in a 4-3 victory over the Pirates. It was known for a couple of days that Samardzija would be making his last start of the season tonight, so he was ready to empty the tank tonight, and he did. Samardzija gave up three runs, two earned, on four hits while walking one and striking out nine in his first career complete game. 
A fantastic season for Shark as he was not guaranteed a spot in the rotation until the last week of spring training, he finished the year 9-13 with a 3.81 ERA, and 174.2 innings. The Cubs did just enough with the bats to help Samardzija get his ninth win of the season and put another dent in the Pirates playoff hopes. Four runs was just enough, but the Cubs could have had so much more tonight as they were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left ten guys on base. Tony Campana, hitting ninth tonight, was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a walk, and a stolen base, the Cubs had four stolen bases in all. Alfonso Soriano went deep again tonight, his 27th home run of the season, David DeJesus and Welington Castillo each had two hits in the victory. Two in a row, the Cubs go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon.
Game Highlights:
Samardzija Goes the Distance
Castro Hit by Pitch
RBI Single from DeJesus
Soriano’s 27th Home Run
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Go Down Fighting, Literally, Kinda
The Cubs could easily be accused as a team just going through the motions this year as they have a had a number of lifeless losses and currently sit 35 games under .500. Tonight was more of the same against the Nationals until Bo Porter, former Cub, and the Nationals third base coach, lit a fire under the club. After the Nationals stole a couple of bases, and Jayson Werth swung at a 3-0 pitch with a five run lead, catcher Steve Clevenger went to the dugout to get a new glove. Apparently Bo Porter didn’t like it, and started barking at the Cubs bench, Jaime Quirk took exception to Porter and the two got in a shouting match which resulted in benches clearing. 
Miraculously, Bo Porter, who started everything stayed at his post at third base, and Quirk was ejected. Fast forward to the 6th, the Cubs were determined to get the last word as Lendy Castillo threw at Bryce Harper, and missed. Harper walked towards the mound with Clevenger intercepting him before he could get too far, but the benches and bullpens were empty once again, this time with vigor. Nats reliever Michael Gonzalez kept running his mouth, which resulted in some more pushing and a possible sad attempt at a punch from Clevenger. Clevenger, and Corpas were ejected along with Gonzalez, that was the end of the extracurriculars, the butt kicking resumed after that. I will say this, it was nice to see a Cubs team answer the bell and finally say enough is enough, however when you are getting blasted night after night it makes you look rather sad. I was still happy to see it.
Now onto the third straight embarrassment on the field. Justin Germano got the start for the Cubs tonight, and didn’t fare much better then the Cubs starters that preceded him in this series. Germano was done after four innings, he gave up seven runs, six earned, on seven hits while walking two and striking out two. Germano left trailing 7-2, this was after the Cubs actually held a lead of 2-1 in the second inning. The Cubs had some success early against Nats starter Jordan Zimmermann as they scored in the first and second to take an early lead. Anthony Rizzo had a great day at the plate going 3-for-4 with his 12th home run of the season. Starlin Castro also did his best to keep the Cubs in this one as he was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, and a run scored. On to Pittsburgh.
Incident #1 – Bo Porter NOT Ejected
Incident #2
Brett Jackson’s Great Catch
Game Highlights:
Barney Triples Home a Run
Thanks for reading,
- George
Nats Pound Cubs Into Submission
No doubt about this one, as the Nationals pounded out 19 hits, six of which were home runs, and 11 runs en route to an 11-5 victory over the Cubs. This one was ugly from the get go as 
Chris Rusin couldn’t command anything and was awesome at finding the barrel of the Nationals bats. Rusin only lasted an inning plus giving up five runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out one. The Cubs used seven pitchers in this one, and everyone one of them gave up at least two hits except for Jaye Chapman who pitched a hitless, scoreless inning in his major league debut. This one was basically a spring training game, Sveum threw out almost every pitcher possible to see what they had, most of them didn’t have much. Offensively it was a weird night for the Cubs, hitters two through five were 8-14 with a triple, a home run, two walks, five RBI’s and five runs scored. The rest of the Cubs were 0-for-19 with two walks, yikes. Luis Valbuena, Anthony Rizzo, Alfsonso Soriano, and Starlin Castro all had two hits in the loss. Soriano had a great night at the plate going 2-for-4 with a home run, a triple, and three RBI’s. The Cubs set a franchise record tonight by playing their 51st player of the year, not really sure if that’s something to be happy about, probably not.
Game Highlights:
DeJesus Makes a Great Catch
Soriano’s 26th Home Run
Castro With a Leaping Catch
Castro’s RBI Single
Chapman’s First Career K
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Threaten Late but Fall Short
Jeff Samardzija is probably getting used to this, as it seems to be happening a lot, such is life being the ace of a team trying to build its entire organization from the ground up. Yes, I said ace, Samardzija is starting to become every bit of the word, today was another step in that direction. Samardzija made one mistake in his seven innings of work and it resulted in an Adam LaRoche solo homer that gave the Nats a 1-0 lead early. 
They would tack on an insurance run in the eighth, and survived a Cubs scare in the ninth to escape with a 2-1 victory. As I mentioned Samardzija worked seven strong innings giving up one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out eight, unfortunately he finished his day with his 13th loss of the season. The Cubs couldn’t solve Ross Detwiler today as they could only manage four hits against the southpaw who won his 9th game of the season. Starlin Castro was one of the Cubs who found some success at the plate today as he was 2-for-4 with a double in the loss. Welington Castillo continues his push for the 2013 starting role behind the plate as he finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI, he also picked off a runner at first late in the game.
Game Highlights:
Castillo’s RBI Single
Mather’s Nice Catch
Castro’s Slick Play
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Win Wild One at Wrigley
I mentioned while watching the end of the game, it really doesn’t matter what the Cubs record is, seeing them win a game like that is fun and gets you pumped for what this team could be one day. What a crazy day at Wrigley, haven’t seen one of these summer day games in a while. This one started out well enough as the Cubs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead behind a Starlin Castro triple and Anthony Rizzo double, then things got familiar. By familiar I mean bad, as in the Brewers started beating the crap out of Cubs pitching, again. The Brewers scored five times in the 3rd, and two more times in the
fourth to take a 7-3 lead. They weren’t done there as they plated two more in the 6th to make it 9-3 and all but assured themselves of a four game sweep. Not so fast, the Cubs came roaring back in the bottom of the sixth inning, they scored six times on four hits to even the game at nine. It didn’t take long for the Brewers to grab the lead back as they scored once in the 7th and once in the 8th to build an 11-9 lead heading to the ninth. That’s when the Cubs of 2012 turned into the Cubs of 2015, okay I’m getting ahead of myself, but the Cubs ninth inning is exactly what everyone is hoping to see on a daily basis on the Northside of Chicago. Each guy worked the count and made sure that the pitcher was the one in trouble, the end result was a thrilling 12-11 walk off victory, the 50th of the season. The Cubs walked 11 times this afternoon, that is outstanding, a number of guys had tremendous days, too many to mention here, the box score can do the talking. I will say this, Starlin Castro had an outstanding day at the plate, not just because of the results, but because he worked every at bat especially in the ninth when he got down 0-2 before working the count to 3-2 and singling up the middle. Great win!
Sveum Postgame
Game Highlights:
Full Video Recap
Rizzo’s Game Tying Double
Castro’s Big Hit in the Ninth
Cubs Six Run Sixth
Jackson’s Big Double
Rizzo Just Misses a HR
Castro Legs Out a Triple
Thanks for reading,
- George
Offensive Struggles Continue For Cubs in Loss
Let’s not kid ourselves, this is pretty bad, sure it’s something that needs to happen in order to get better, but it’s really bad. The Cubs had one more hit than they had last night, a whopping four, at least two of those hits went for extra bases, bright side right? Another piece of good news is that the Cubs only struck out seven times as a team tonight, a moral victory if you will. 
It’s a shame too as Jeff Samardzija turned in another solid outing as he winds down his first full season as a big league starter. Shark finished his night after seven innings, he gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits, he didn’t walk anyone and struck out ten. To think that at the beginning of the season the Cubs were “taking a chance” by putting Samardzija into the rotation, he has been a bright spot all year-long, and looks to be near the top of the rotation in 2013. The Cubs had nothing going offensively as Mike Fiers was as equally as impressive as Samardzija, shutting the Cubs down for 7.1 innings. Starlin Castro and Welington Castillo each had a double in the loss, but at least there was something to get excited about tonight if you were a Cubs fan. Congrats to Darwin Barney, who tonight set the NL single-season record with his 114th consecutive error-less game at second base. Wish you weren’t turning into Theriot at the plate, let’s avoid the sweep tomorrow afternoon!
Game Highlights:
Barney’s RBI Groundout
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Collapse Late Against Brewers
For whatever reason the Cubs can’t solve the Brewers, they not only lose to the Brewers, they get blown out by them. The Cubs raced to an early 3-1 lead last night but couldn’t hold it as Aramis Ramirez and company pushed across three runs in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. 
A Brett Jackson home run in the bottom of the sixth made it 5-4 Brewers, but that was as close as the Cubs would get as the bullpen exploded late. After giving up one run in the 8th the Cubs pen put on a show in the ninth surrendering nine runs on eight hits. The best performance on the mound in the ninth inning belonged to Cubs utility outfielder Joe Mather who tossed one-third of an inning giving up only a single. No word yet if Mather will have a shot to make the team next year out of the bullpen It was more of the same for the Cubs at the plate against Brewers pitching. By more of the same I mean striking out, a lot, as the Cubs fanned 15 times last night, this coming on the heels of striking out 39 times in the three game series in Milwaukee last week. As I mentioned Brett Jackson went deep, he is locked in right now, he finished the night 1-for-3 with his fourth home run, two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.
Game Highlights:
DeJesus Adventure
Castro Turns a Nice Double Play
Jackson Solo Shot
Soriano’s RBI Double
Thanks for reading,
- George
Volstad’s Winless Streak Ends at 24, Rejoice!
It was a long day at Wrigley today, to Chris Volstad the six and a half hour day was nothing compared to the over year-long wait to get back in the win column. Twenty-four, that is how many times Chris Volstad made a start on a big league mound between wins. 
For the majority of the day it didn’t look like this game would get played at all as the Cubs and Rockies sat through a two plus hour rain delay before getting underway just before four O’clock local time. Volstad was on right away as he was locating on both sides of the plate and keeping the ball down consistently for really the first time all year. Volstad avoided the big inning which is usually his downfall, he finished his day after 6.2 innings giving up no runs on three hits while walking three and striking out three to get the win. The Cubs offensive attack was finally just that, an attack, as they pounded out nine hits and scored five runs in the victory. Anthony Rizzo, who has been showing some fatigue of late had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-2 with two walks. Starlin Castro also had a good day at the plate going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three runs scored. Brett Jackson continued his solid series today as well as he was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored, he finished the series 4-for-8 with two home runs, three RBI’s, and three runs scored.
Game Highlights:
Volstad’s Great Outing
DeJesus’ RBI Single
Great Catch by Jackson
Castro’s Slick Play
Thanks for reading,
- George
Rockies Return the Favor, Rally to Beat Cubs
One day after the Cubs rallied from a three run deficit to win the Rockies did the same thing. The Cubs built a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning only to see the Rockies get two right back in the fifth. The Rockies didn’t stop there as they scored single runs in the 6th and 7th to take a 4-3 lead. 
The Rockies bullpen took it from there as they tossed five shutout innings to shut down the Cubs to even the series at one. Brooks Raley was in line for the win before the Cubs pen blew a one run lead. Raley finished his day after five innings giving up two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out four. The Cubs looked poised to put up big offensive numbers today after scoring three times in the fourth inning, but they could only manage one hit over the final five innings. Brett Jackson is really turning it on at the plate, he was 2-for-3 today with his 3rd home run of the season, a double, a walk, and two RBI’s. Anthony Rizzo, Alfonso Soriano, and Starlin Castro were the only other Cubs to record a hit in the loss, all singles. The Cubs ran themselves out of two innings as Joe Mather and Starlin Castro were caught stealing in big spots.
Game Highlights:
Jackson’s Two Run Blast
Thanks for reading,
- George
