Results tagged ‘ Andres Blanco ’
Lilly Snares Tenth Win!
Gotta love when the starting pitching is dead on. Two games in a row we’ve watched our starting pitchers go out and really keep us in there for a win. Lilly pitched eight innings of shutout ball, I was kind of hoping they were going to let him go all nine and get the complete game shutout, but Piniella doesn’t let our pitcher’s go that long and it’s probably not a bad thing to keep their arms from getting tired here in the final stretch. Marmol came in a pitched a scoreless ninth and the Cubs went on to win the series against the Astros! Yay! 
Let’s hope Dempster can pitch just as well today against the White Sox in our makeup game so that we can start the road trip with a winning record at home.
Derrek Lee continues to lift this team up and carry them. Had it not been for his two run homerun in the fourth, we might not have won. At least not in nine innings. He smacked his 27 on the year and is ending this year with a bang.
I was very disappointed that Yahoo Sports had no pictures of our two amazing catches by the middle infielders. I love expanded rosters which brought Andres Blanco back to us and we got to see why defensively he is major league material. With a lay out catch that very well saved a run and his range. When Theriot gets a day off, which is not often considering this is his third and his only when he wasn’t sick with the flu, but when he does get one off I would much rather see Andres Blanco at short as opposed to Aaron Miles. Then there was the running, sliding into the Astors bullpen catch by Mike Fontenot. How can they not post a picture of that? It was a ball that everyone else had given up on, but not Fontenot. He went after it without regard to himself and it was a great catch! No thanks to the Astros bullpen who didn’t move a muscle out of his way, I hope he took some of them out.
Here is hoping we win today and then can go pound on the Mets, hopefully sweep them this time. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 2 Astros 0
~Milli~
Avoiding The Sweep In Style!
So it started with some great pitching, man Ryan Dempster sure was on! He didn’t walk anyone until the eighth inning and then they pulled him. It’s obvious that he is a great pitcher and today he got just enough run support and amazing defense for the win.
Jake Fox never ceases to amaze me. He had a four for four game, with a homerun and an RBI single! Sam Fuld also played in this game, he didn’t make the spectacular catch, but he sure ran his little butt off to get there. He did have a single in the first inning to follow Theriot’s single, however they were killed by a D. Lee double play and a Rammy pop to second.
Aramis Ramirez hit his first triple of the year in the sixth inning, followed by Fukudome doubling and then Fox singling him in. Man that was a fun inning. So that accounts for all three runs, but there were some great defensive plays as well.
How about Mike Fontenot? He made two great plays in this game, I was so happy to see him in there. It has been so long that he has started a game and then when he is scheduled to start we either get rained out or I don’t get to see it. 
I really like Mike Fontenot and I
really feel if Piniella gave him the opportunites to work through his slump like he has Soriano, we would have seen improvement, unlike Soriano. Which we can blame his bad playing on his knee and hope that truly is what is wrong. We all know that this team is better than they have been playing and Soriano is one of the main problems right now. Hopefully a few days rest will help him to come back and be able to swing, at this point I would rather pay him his millions to warm the bench.
Piniella is being a bonehead right now saying he is going with his veterans when it is his rookies that are getting it done. Why put Jake Fox and Sam Fuld on the bench when they have proven that they can offer so much more? Jake Fox is my hero as far as his attitude goes. He doesn’t care where he plays or if he plays, he just works hard to be ready when he is called upon. I love this guy! Everyone should take a page out of his book on attitude because I think he has the best one.
I read a lot of comments about how people feel the lineup should look and this is my thoughts, assuming of course everyone is healthy. The first name is the everyday player and the rest are backups. For second base, it really is hard for me to put Baker first because I am a huge Fontenot fan, but while Baker is getting it done he should get most of the playing time. For shortstop, nobody is arguing Ryan Theriot, he is amazing in offense and defense. Though he has played in the majority of the games I suppose he does deserve a game or two off.
First Base: Derrek Lee / Jake Fox / Jeff Baker
Second Base: Jeff Baker / Mike Fontenot
Shortstop: Ryan Theriot / Andres Blanco
Third Base: Aramis Ramirez / Mike Fontenot / Jake Fox
Left Field: Jake Fox / Sam Fuld / Reed Johnson / Alfonso Soriano
Center Field: Sam Fuld-Reed Johnson (platoon) / Kosuke Fukudome
Right Field: Kosuke Fukudome / Milton Bradley / Sam Fuld / Reed Johnson
Catcher: Geovany Soto-Koyie Hill (platoon)
That is just my thoughts. I feel that catcher is such a demanding position and Hill does a nice job at it that we could platoon it. Use Hill when there is a rightie pitcher let him switch hit. Sam Fuld and Reed Johnson play so much alike to me that I love to see both of them out in the field when Johnson is off the DL of course.
This was a much needed win for us, we were definitely losing faith. Maybe we could make a run for the division and if not, this is still always going to be my team! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Sunday: Cubs 3 Dodgers 1
~Milli~
Sam Fuld Only Bright Light In Loss
This was another game I didn’t get to see, I’m really tired of missing Ted Lilly pitching, but again from what I understand he pitched pretty well only allowing the two homeruns and he had absolutely no run support. Same story, different day.
However, what was different about this game is Soriano sat his butt on the bench and two GREAT plays were made over in left field, where surprise Sam Fuld was. This guy is AMAZING. They played him on Friday and he had a nice diving catch and robbed Manny of a homerun, yesterday he got a ball right against the wall and then caught a fly ball which sent him into the fence. He, to me, plays like Reed Johnson. They don’t care what their body’s have to go through to get to the ball, but they are going to get there. Keep Sori on the bench and let Sam Fuld get some playing time! Not only did he have those two great catches, but he stole his first two bases in this game! Yay! PLAY SAM FULD!
I get to watch today’s game, hopefully we can keep from the sweep, if we lose we’ll be back at the five hundred mark. Sad. Well, here is hoping that the homestand and Big Z can bring us some luck. Though, that isn’t to say that Gorzelanny hasn’t done well. He had the one bad stint, but other than that he has done a great job at giving us chances to win games. Too bad our bullpen can’t help hang onto it.
Ryan Theriot is bench sitting with a bruised knee. The Dodgers seem to have it in for him after
being taken out by Matt Kemp which didn’t make him too happy I’m sure it didn’t feel great. I know that this is the job of the person running to second to break up the double play, but he had to go way out of his way to get him and I yelled at them that if they hurt Theriot I’ll come beat them. Theriot is the one constant on this team, we NEED him. Then there
was the try for the ball up the middle that sent him to the ground again. After all was said and done he ended up with a bruised knee and was held out of yesterdays game, he did pinch hit but nothing came of that and we lost. I hope he’ll be back in today wih Blanco on the DL Miles is the other choice at shortstop and I just don’t feel like he has the arm for it.
Let’s give Fontenot a start now, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him play other than pinch hit and it’s rather sad. Maybe his time on the bench has helped him get better? That would be nice. Here’s hoping that we keep the Dodgers from sweeping us and that Piniella is smart enough to put Sam Fuld somewhere in the outfield! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Dodgers 2 Cubs 0
~Milli~
Derrek Lee Once Again Saves Kevin Gregg
Carlos Zambrano was unusally erratic last night and managed just three innings. Later it was said that he had a stiff lower back, which could be why he was having so many problems finding the strike zone. Hopefully his next start, he’ll be a little more sharp and back to the Big Z that we are used to.
The Cubbies started out very strong in the first two innings. Fukudome was walked in the first and later erased on Blanco’s FC (Theriot starting the night with a rare one off). Lee singled and Blanco moved to third. Rammy doubled Blanco and Lee in, with Lee making a great slide to get his hands under the catchers legs. Doesn’t have to be pretty just has to get the job done.
Then Rammy would move to third and score on a wild pitch and throwing error. In the second, the Cubbies tacked on another three runs with Fontenot starting the inning doubling, Hill grounded to second base which moved Fontenot to third. Fukudome walked again, followed by a walk issued to Blanco to load the bases. Lee singled again scoring Fontenot and Fukudome and then Rammy singled Blanco home. Score was quickly 6-0, however the Marlins would fight back in the eighth to come within one run of us.
Ryan Theriot leads the team with the most games played, now sitting at one hundred. I believe he has had one complete game off this year. Talk about Hill being a work horse, Theriot has also been a staple to this team all year. He came in late to this game. Striking out in the sixth, singling in the eighth and then hitting a beautiful two RBI triple in the ninth. So I’m thinking 8-5 we have the game locked down. In comes Gregg, who looked very sharp for the first two batters and lost it tying the game at the end of the inning to take us into extras.
Derrek Lee hit his twenty-first homerun, which is more than he hit last year, to make the score 9-8 and thankfully we were able to hold onto it. Aramis Ramirez was hit by a pitch and later left because he was dizzy. I sure hope he is alright, we can’t afford to lose him again. It’s no joke that the bats started to warm up when he was back in the lineup. I saw cute little Fontenot help him into the clubhouse. Did I mention I am a huge fan of Fontenot’s?
So in a wild game where we saw the lead swap teams a lot in the final innings, Zambrano erractic, Marmol load the bases with one out and somehow manage to keep the lead and Gregg who tied the game blowing the save and still gettting the win for it. The most crazy part being Soriano moved to second…then to third…then to second…hmmm…at least it worked out and no balls were hit in his direction.
Rest Theriot so that he can play on Saturday!! Against the Rockies!! So I can see him and start Fontenot! I must see the Cajun Connection. I won’t get to watch todays game because it isn’t showing on my networks so I will keep track of it via the Cubs website. Go Cubs Go! Let’s beat the Marlins and then go on to beat the Reds.
Final Score (ten innings): Cubs 9 Marlins 8
~Milli~
6 Days Until Game Time!!
Cubs Smoke Astros Behind Randy Wells!
This game was incredibly fun to watch! The Cubs…every one of them, brought their bats today. We had several homeruns, Soriano belted a three run homer in the first, Rammy homered in the second…can I just take a minute to say how excited I am to have his bat back in the lineup?…and Andres Blanco hit his first homerun this year in the eighth!
The first inning was my favorite because it just showed how every guy is capable of contributing something. This is how the first inning broke down-
Reed Johnson-single, Ryan Theriot-eighteenth double, Derrek Lee-sac fly Johnson scores and
Theriot to third, Aramis Ramirez-singles and Theriot scores, Milton Bradley-walks, Alfonso Soriano-three run homerun, Baker walks and on wild pitch reaches second, Koyie Hill singles and Baker scores, Randy Wells-sac bunt. Every Cub did something to contribute to the game in the first inning and it was amazing!
Hoffpauir had his first career triple in the eighth inning and Fox drove him in after Fontenot walked and Bradley lined out. This was nine innings of shut out baseball and I’m surprised they didn’t leave Wells in to pitch the last inning, but Atkins did a nice job for us and we slaughtered the Astros! Hope the Cards lose tonight, Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 12 Astros 0
~Milli~
*Side note: Reed Johnson bounced a foul ball off of his foot in the first inning and has a fractured foot. He is to miss at least a month. I’m am so sad about this because I was hoping to see him at the game in Colorado. I wish you a speedy recovery, Reed!
10 Days Until Game Time!!
All-Star Pitching By Our Sole All-Star
Congratulations to Ted Lilly for making the 2009 All-Star team. I don’t think that they could have picked anyone better. He is really having a great year and though he doesn’t have as many wins as I think he should, he has had a lot of quality outings. The standing ovation he received today was well deserved.
I didn’t get to watch yesterday’s game, but as we were thoroughly stomped, I’m thinking I didn’t miss much. However, today’s game was a great one to watch. Everyone seemed to be picking up some hits, even Soriano had a couple this game. Derrek Lee and Jake Fox, both went deep. Fontenot had a couple of hits including a double and Theriot had a couple of hits. Soto and Fukudome had sac flies…it just worked very well today. Great job on taking the series and moving up in the division.
Tomorrow marks a hard day for Lou and Jim Hendry. They have to make some roster moves and I’m nervous to see what they will do. Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman are all coming off of the DL which to see Rammy again is going to be the highlight of my day, however, some guys have to go. I think they should option Baker and Hoffpauir. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Hoffpauir, but Blanco has no options and our only back up for short, Fuld is amazing on the field and batting. Fox is a power hitter and even off the bench he is going to be a big help to us. I know that Hoffpauir is a left handed bat, but so is Fuld. I’m not sure what way they will go with this, but it’s going to be a hard choice and one I’m glad I don’t have to make.
Let’s kick some Brave’s butt tomorrow! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Saturday: Brewers 11 Cubs 2
Final Score Sunday: Cubs 8 Brewers 2
~Milli~
Second Round for Wells and Fox-Stir in Soto
I’ll be honest, when the first inning started I was a little concerned about Wells, but he quickly settled in and went about his work. This is a guy who should easily have somewhere around eight wins instead of just two. In his last two starts, our offense was finally able to give him his well deserved wins.
Jake Fox started at third again and I have to say, I love this guy! Not only for his power, which he belted his second homer for two runs, but for the way he goes out into the field not really knowing any position and just wanting to play. He gives it his all and commits to make plays and I love that about him!
Soto hit a three run shot in the seventh, scoring the go ahead runs for us which would be the last of the runs we would score, but it was enough to keep us ahead of our crosstown rivals, barely. Marmol is losing his stuff, there was no reason for all the walks and for them to manage to get another two runs in the eighth. You want to be able to work him at least when there are three runs, but he has no control of his pitches. So, they finally got him out of there and brought in one of my favorites, Sean Marshall.
Sean Marshall is amazing! Why we use him just as a left handed specialist, I have no idea. He was a starter for crying out loud and a really good one. I would say instead of just letting him pitch to one guy, let him do a whole inning and maybe another one. It wouldn’t kill him. Anyway, Marshall comes in and looks like a genius, one pitch and it’s a 3-2-3 double play to get out of the bases loaded situation. Really need to mention D. Lee and Soto in that one, too, because it’s probably the hardest double play and they executed it perfectly! Way to go team!
Let’s win the game today, too and really stick it to the stinky White Sox. Then we won’t be tied any more even if they win the third game of the series. It would take them winning the rained out game, to keep it tied.
Ryan Theriot was given the day off, but ended up coming in during the ninth for SS, Blanco was shifted to 2B and Fontenot went to third. I think Theriot has only ever been kept out of one complete game. I think he is amazing! Of course, there are very few Cubs players that I don’t find amazing.
Good luck today, boys! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 5 White Sox 4
~Milli~
Wells FINALLY Snares First Major League Win
First of all I would like to say Happy Father’s Day to all of the dad’s out there and to the Cubs who are father’s themselves. I’m glad that most of you will get to see your families before we head to Atlanta for our makeup game.
So it FINALLY happened! I bet Randy Wells was wondering when it would come with only one bad start in something like eight, he was still without his first major league win. Well today, June 21, 2009, is a day that he will not forget. He finally has his first win behind a currently hot batting Cubs lineup.
Ryan Theriot hit his thirteenth double of the season today in his first at bat and then proceeded to steal third base for his ninth stolen base! He was called out on a tag at third that was really close, but I still think he was safe. (I might be a little biased). In the fourth, Theriot slid safely into home on a Derrek Lee fly out to right field.
Milton Bradley hit his sixth double of the season and stretched his hitting streak to ten games, I’m really glad to see his bat heating up.
Derrek Lee hit another single in the fifth inning, driving in a run and continuing his hitting streak to eighteen games! The plays that he was making at first, definitely saved us some base hits today. He is fantastic at digging the ball out of the dirt.
Jake Fox got another start at third base and made some good plays there. Offensively he had a sac fly and a two run double, but the thing that I want to say about him is he plays with so much heart. He really wants to be there on the field, not caring where he is as long as he gets to play. I LOVE that about him!
Kosuke Fukudome had a rough day at the plate again with just a walk, but defensively he was amazing with the diving catch and a running one that I thought was going to be a for sure double for the Indians.
Alfonso Soriano had a single this game that helped to score some runs in our fifth inning. He was running down some balls in the field today, so I’m hoping that his knee is feeling better.
Andres Blanco, no one can argue that this guy doesn’t have some great range. I see him chasing down balls that should have been hits, like the last ball he snared to throw to Lee and get the last out of the game. Just some great defensive moves. He was intentionally walked and he had a single in the eighth that was erased by Soriano’s double play ball.
Geovany Soto…I could not be happier with the way he is playing right now! After seeing him struggle during the beginning of the season, he is really stepping up his game. In his first at bat he hit the homerun, putting us on the board first. He drew a bases loaded walk and threw out a runner. I love having him on our team.
Here is my little paragrah for Mike Fontenot. I know they brought him in at the last of the game, but nothing went towards him so I didn’t get to see him. Hopefully tomorrow!
Well today’s game marks the end of having DeRo and Woody back at Wrigley and I’m sure they both can say it didn’t go as they had planned. Kerry Wood blew two games and DeRo ran into the bullpen phone. I’m sorry to see them go, I wish that we still had them as Cubs.
We are headed to Atlanta for a make-up game tomorrow and then on to play the Tigers. Good luck to the boys in blue. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 6 Indians 2
~Milli~
Another Winning Rally :)
I thought I was going to miss this game because of my bunco party, but it turns out that I would have missed it anyway as it wasn’t showing on my channels.
The Cubbies are really starting to look great! Playing their hearts out in the end of games and taking it to extras to win. Now I’m sure that everyone would like to get more runs in the beginning, but heck a W is a W.
Derrek Lee is really hot right now, with a .285 average and seventeen game hitting streak!
He hit another two run homer today along with Micah Hoffpauir. I’m so glad to see some of our bats coming alive. Andres Blanco has really been getting it done for us as well and Fukudome ended a bad skid with a double.
I can’t blog very well about this game as I didn’t get to see it, but I will be back tomorrow to blog after their game. Here is a picture
that was on Yahoo Sports of the winning run in the thirteenth inning. Go Cubs Go!!
Final Score (thirteen innings): Cubs 6 Indians 5
~Milli~
Cubs Come From Far Behind To Win!!
Today’s game was met with a nasty rain storm that delayed the start one hour and twenty-six minutes, I’m going to say that is the reason that Harden pitched so horribly. This was the worst start I’ve ever seen from Harden so I know that it’s not something that is going to happen very often.
This game was a pretty big sleeper for us again. The Indian’s pitcher was amazing and our bats were still sleeping. That is until the fifth when Reed Johnson, whom I absolutely love, came to the plate. He must have been tired of the big zero that was on the board because he sent one to the deep bleachers for a solo shot that finally put us on the board. Then in the sixth, D. Lee came up and sent one barely into the bleachers.
In the eighth is when it got really exciting for the second game in a row. We were still down by five runs and really needed a miracle to make it happen, but after yesterday’s game I thought there was seriously a chance that we could win. I never once thought we were completely out of this game.
Milton Bradley singled, Lee struck out and then Geovany Soto hit a double, his seventh on
the year. Fox struck out and Johnson walked the bases loaded with two outs. After a long battle at the plate, Andres Blanco hit a two run single, sending Johnson to third. Koyie Hill pinch hit and reached on an error and Soriano singled! The game was 7-6 with the Indians still on top when we went into the ninth. D. Lee hit his second homerun of the game off of former Cubbie Kerry Wood tying the game. Into the tenth we went. I thought for sure we were going to go into even longer extra innings when Soriano drew a walk with two outs and then stole second base. Then The Riot came through for us again with a bad hopping single that scored the winning run!!
This series brings home two former Cubs that were traded this past season that are sorely missed. Most Cubs fans have no idea why Mark DeRosa was ever traded.
When he was announced for his first at-bat he deservingly received a standing ovation. I was applauding you from home as well, DeRo. Chicago misses you and wish that we could get you back in a Cubs uniform. As for Kerry Wood, he was a fabulous closer for us last year and had pitched some great games in his career. I was very sorry to see him go, too. He had played his whole career with the Chicago Cubs and the very first jersey I owned was my Wood #34 jersey. I still remember the first time I went to Wrigley and he was down on the field warming up, I didn’t appreciate that time as much as I should have. I am glad that he is getting more money with the Indians, but I miss seeing him come out to end
the games. He had very few blown saves for us last year, so mostly when he was brought out you could expect the game to end right there where the score was. This was not a good outing for him, which sadly I have to say is a very good thing for us as D.Lee was able to get the homer off of him.
Alright, now is the time to fit Fontenot in. He was the only Cub player that didn’t get to help in this win. I missed having him in there, but I did think that Jake Fox did a fair job at third, just glad not many hard hit balls went to the hot corner.
Congratulations to a team that has been struggling and I am so happy that we could win it when we were down seven runs! Just goes to show that the game isn’t over until someone comes out on top in the ninth (or extra innings). Anything is possible. I also would like to mention that I’m really glad to see Geovany Soto coming out of his slump, he is amazing and he just needs to start believing that more so that he’ll continue to see the ball well.
We’ll see you all back at the field tomorrow for another game against the Indians. I won’t be able to watch this one due to a family party, but I will be taping it so that I can watch it later. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score (ten innings): Cubs 8 Indians 7
~Milli~
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