Results tagged ‘ Wandy Rodriguez ’
Cubs Bats as Cold as the Weather in Loss to Pirates
It was rather obvious early, the Cubs offense was awfully disinterested in this one. Wandy Rodriguez and the cold temperatures combined to keep the Cubs at bay as they could only manage two 
hits all night. The Cubs opportunity came in the seventh inning when they put the first two on, and then loaded the bases with one out only to come up empty. It really was a story of one inning both ways tonight for the Cubs as Edwin Jackson was decent except for the fourth inning. Jackson struggled with his command in the fourth and gave up two runs in the frame which was more than enough for the Pirates in this one.
At The Plate – How many ways can I say bad? I guess I’ll just leave it at that, the Cubs approach and the subsequent results or lack there of left a lot to be desired. Alfonso Soriano and Alberto Gonzalez were the only Cubs to register hits in this one, both singles.
On The Mound – Edwin Jackson was really good early, then got into deep count after deep count and had to exit after five innings of work. Jackson gave up two runs on three hits while walking one and striking out five in his Cubs debut. Hector Rondon made his Major League debut, tossing a scoreless inning while walking two, and striking out two. Michael Bowden gave up one run in his inning of work on two hits. Shawn Camp and Hasanori Takahashi each had scoreless outings.
Up Next – The rubber game of the series. Travis Wood will take on James McDonald at 11:35 AM CST, love morning baseball! Look for the normal Cubs lineup sans Welington Castillo tomorrow.
Stat Of The Night – Here I will feature a stat, either from the game, or a trend, could be good, or bad, or alarming. Tonight it’s alarming, the Cubs are 0-for-13 as a team with RISP, yikes.
Game Highlights:
The Cubs had two hits, there are no highlights worth watching, I promise.
Thanks for reading,
- George
April 3, 2013 – Cubs @ Pirates Preview/Lineups
Pitching Matchup – Cubs: Edwin Jackson (0-0, 0.00) vs. Pirates: Wandy Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00)
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
When: 6:05 PM CST
TV/Radio: CSN Chicago / WGN 720
The Run Down: The Cubs look to go 2-0 for the first time in what seems like forever. Edwin Jackson will make his Cubs debut, and have to battle his emotions and stay within himself in order to have the command he will need to work deep into this one. With Wandy Rodriguez heading to the mound for the Pirates the Cubs will go to their lefty lineup today which features a number of back ups including Dave Sappelt, Alberto Gonzalez, and Scott Hairston.
Thanks for reading, go Cubs!
- George
Cubs Rally Falls One Run Short
Sure these games don’t matter much to the Cubs, but watching them battle to the final out is at least fun to watch, for those of us who are still watching. Jason Berken, who was claimed from the Orioles made his Cubs debut today and didn’t have his best stuff but he didn’t get any help from his defense. Berken lasted four innings giving up six runs, only two earned, on eight hits, 
while walking one and striking out two. The Pirates were able to build a 6-1 lead by the fifth inning and that’s when the Cubs started to turn the tide in this one. The Cubs were able to push across two runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-3, but the Pirates were able to get one back in the seventh on Clint Barmes solo shot to push the lead to four runs. Refusing to quit the Cubs scored once in the eighth and two more times in the ninth to cut the Pirates led to one. Unfortunately the Cubs couldn’t tie it up in the ninth as Dave Sappelt struck out with the bases loaded to end the threat, and the game. Four different Cubs had two hits in this one, Anthony Rizzo, Alfonso Soriano, Starlin Castro, and Dave Sappelt. Darwin Barney also had a spectacular day with the glove as he made several fantastic plays to rob various Pirate hitters of base hits. Game three of this series is tomorrow afternoon, and the series wraps up on Monday Night.
Castro’s Trip..Double
Barney’s Great Catch
Game Highlights:
Soriano’s RBI Single
Valbuena’s RBI Single
Barney Great Play
Another Defensive Gem From Barney
Rizzo’s RBI Single
Thanks for reading,
- George
September 14 – 17, 2012; vs. Pirates – Series Preview
The Pirates comes to town looking very much like the 2011 version of the club that collapsed down the stretch and finished with a below five hundred record yet again, and nothing like the surging contender earlier in the year. The Pirates sit just two games over five hundred now and are
losers of six straight games, three of those against the Cubs in Pittsburgh last week. The Cubs on the other hand are playing solid baseball, winning five out of their last six games, all on the road which is really saying something given how bad they have been away from Wrigley this year. Solid starting pitching and the long ball have paced the Cubs in September as they have ten home runs, 5th most in the National League this month. No one has contributed more to that total than Alfonso Soriano as he has five home runs in just 12 games this month. After being pulled in the third inning two nights ago, and missing yesterday’s game it sounds like Anthony Rizzo will be back in the Cubs lineup tomorrow, that collision could have been much worse.
Here are the pitching matchups for the four game series.
Friday September 14, 2012
Pittsburgh: James McDonald (12-7, 3.93 ERA)
Cubs: Chris Rusin (0-2, 5.73 ERA)
Saturday September 15, 2012
Pittsburgh: Jeff Locke (0-1, 4.11 ERA)
Cubs: Jason Berken (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday September 16, 2012
Pittsburgh: Wandy Rodriguez (10-13, 3.72 ERA)
Cubs: Chris Volstad (3-10, 5.99 ERA)
Monday September 17, 2012
Pittsburgh: Kevin Correia (10-9, 4.29 ERA)
Cubs: Travis Wood (6-11, 4.23 ERA)
Season Series: Series Tied 6-6
Prediction: Cubs win series 3-1
Thanks for reading,
- George
Wood, Rizzo Lead the Way as the Cubs Sweep Astros
Break out the brooms, thanks to an outstanding effort from Travis Wood, and timely hitting, again, from Anthony Rizzo the Cubs swept away the Astros on Sunday, it was the Cubs fifth win in their last six games. After just under an hour rain delay both offenses seemed less than ready to swing the bats as both pitchers were breezing through the early innings. The Cubs staged a rally in the 6th, Starlin Castro was intentionally walked with Travis Wood at third and one out bring Anthony Rizzo to the plate in a big spot. Rizzo wasted no time, lacing an RBI single through the right side on a first pitch curve ball to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead, it turned out to be the game winning hit, Rizzo’s third in five games already. Jeff Baker followed with a double down the left field line that scored Castro and Rizzo all the way from first. That was more than enough for Travis Wood as he shut out the Astros over 7.2 innings only allowing three hits, while walking none and struck out four. Wood improved to 3-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.05. Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 8th save of the season, the third straight in this series. Full box score and highlights after the jump.
June 28 – 30; vs. Astros – Series Preview
The Cubs are slowly becoming fun to watch thanks to the promotion of Anthony Rizzo. Finally something to watch and look forward to in an otherwise lost season for the Cubs. The Astros have the fewest road wins in all of major league baseball(9) so that bodes well for the Cubs this weekend. Nothing really jumps off the page that impresses you about the Astros, but they have been able to score some runs as they sit 9th in the NL. Where they struggle is on the mound as their team ERA is good for 14th in the NL, just ahead of the Cubs. The Cubs are going to have to take advantage of the poor Astros staff because you know the Astros hitters are going to score some runs as its projected to be in the mid 90′s all weekend, which usually means the ball with be flying all over the park. The Cubs should have some extra incentive to stick it to the Astros as they swept the Cubs earlier this season in Houston. Full preview/breakdown after the jump.
