Results tagged ‘ Angel Guzman ’
Dodgers Take First Two
In the first game against the Dodgers, Gorzelanny didn’t pitch a bad game. He left the game with a two-two tie and then guess what, the bullpen faltered. I want to tell the Cubs to stop intentionally walking guys! Especially if it is to load the bases, every time we intentionally walk someone something bad happens. This time the Dodgers catcher who isn’t batting for anything this year, hit a grand slam!! Stop walking people! The only hitter that I think should be walked is Pujols. Everyone else just needs to be pitched to. Guzman threw a cutter that didn’t cut and pretty much set it on a tee for Martin, end of story.
The second game was even more painful. Ryan Theriot who continues to be amazing, but probably will never get the recognition for it, drove in our only run. Now, this I have to say many times maybe someone will hear me. Play Sam Fuld, PlAy SaM fUlD, PLAY SAM FULD!! Bench Soriano’s sorry butt, nobody else on this team is getting babied like he is.
Soto gets sharing time because he isn’t hitting, Fontenot never gets to touch the baseball grass because he is struggling. Bench SORIANO!! *pulling hair out* Look at these plays by Fuld and tell me he deserves to sit on the bench…I don’t think so. He robbed Manny of a homerun and actually dove for a ball. I haven’t seen anyone in the outfield really do that since Reed went on the DL, aside from Bradley because for all the crap he takes he still
makes some catches in right that I thought we had no business making. The Cubs have stopped playing with heart and it is really taking us in a downward spiral.
I am an eternal optimist, but right now I am thinking I hope next year we can get it together. Randy Wells has pitched pretty great all year, with the bad outing against the Rockies and I believe one other bad one he should have more wins than he does, but he doesn’t get any run support. I really hope next year he is still a strong part of our starting rotation, because next year will probably be Randy Wells jersey year for me. I’ve purchased a jersey for the last two years of my favorites with Ryan Theriot of course being first and then this year it was Mike Fontenot. I have a Kerry Wood one that I bought right before the only game I have ever attended at Wrigley which he was the starting pitcher. So I’m thinking next year is Randy Wells. I really need an outfielder, but it would have to be Reed Johnson or Sam Fuld because I am not a fan of any of our other outfilders. Oh well, I guess I’m jumping on the ‘Maybe Next Year’ band wagon.
The Cubs are on a must win basis now and I really hope we can split this series with the Dodgers. Here is hoping we get better results. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score Thursday: Dodgers 7 Cubs 2
Final Score Friday: Dodgers 2 Cubs 1 
~Milli~
Cubs Celebrate Rammy’s Return With A W!
Yesterday we got Aramis Ramirez back! The wait is finally over. Trust me, I’m glad to get Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman back, but we have been without Rammy a lot longer than them. Though he went 0-4, it was so good to see him at the plate again. I’m sure it will take a few days, maybe even a week or two to get his swing back, but I really enjoyed seeing him again.
Randy Wells pitched another great game to win his fourth straight. He impresses me every time I see him and I’m glad that we have kept him in the rotation. He goes out there and gets his job done not only on the mound, but in the second inning right after Mike Fontenot singled with two out, Randy singled as well. Kosuke Fukudome doubled Fontenot in and then Ryan Theriot got an infield single due to the SS hesitating scoring Randy Wells. One thing you can’t do when Theriot is up to bat, is hesitate. He is so fast that infield singles are not uncommon.
We had a good chance in the third inning for more runs with the bases loaded. Milton Bradley walked, Alfonso Soriano doubled for his eighteenth time this season and Soto walked. Unfortunately Fontenot grouded out which they took Bradley out at the
plate and then Wells grounded to the shortstop to end the inning.
Derrek Lee had another great game, this guy is hot right now! Fukudome singled in the first inning and Theriot sac bunted him to second, before D. Lee came up and hit another two-run homerun to put us on top first. In the seventh inning, D. Lee hit a double for his thirteenth on the season.
Geovany Soto, whom they interviewed after the game about Randy Wells, hit his tenth
double in the eighth inning and drew a walk this game.
It has been awhile since I’ve been able to post a Mike Fontenot picture so here is one from yesterday’s game when Francoeur broke up a double play by straight up taking him out! Fontenot is so cute!
In previous blogs, I have mentioned my trip in August to go see my beloved Cubs pound on the Rockies, well as of today it is exactly one month to the game and less than one month that I will be getting in my car to make the seven and a half hour drive to get there! I am ecstatic! So now when I blog, I’ll have my little count down number until the day I leave.
I hope Rammy has a great night tonight and looking forward to watching him and all the boys in Cubbie Blue. I almost forgot to mention that I am very sad that we optioned Sam Fuld and wish we had optioned someone else, though I guess he makes sense because Reed Johnson is an outfielder whom I am very happy to have back. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 4 Braves 2
~Milli~
One Month To 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~
No Hitting With RISP
When you’re down bad stuff just keeps happening. I learned yesterday that they will probably be putting Reed Johnson on the DL, with Guzman on it, we were stuck with Heilman which for the life of me I don’t understand why we keep and worse than that is our setup man, Marmol. How come our bullpen cannot support our starting pitching? Why can’t our offense hit with RISP? We had so many chances last night that it was pathetic that we didn’t get more than three runs. If we are hitting and we lose, then that is easier to take than losing because we are beating ourselves.
I was hoping we could give Fukudome a break because he is not hitting at all or being patient at the plate, but now we have no one to play his position. We will reactivate Ryan Freel, let’s just hope he hits as well for us as he has been in triple A. I wonder what position they’ll put him at?
Not a whole lot to blog about last night. There were few good things from the game last night. Geovany Soto had a double and a homerun. Derrek Lee extended his hitting streak to twenty-one in the seventh inning and with Ryan Theriot’s hit in the fourth his hitting streak jumped to ten games, not to mention this was another multi-hit game for him.
Derrek Lee and Ryan Theriot are hot right now. Derrek had numerous walks yesterday and they are having trouble keeping Ryan off the bases. I really hope we win today to stay above the five hundred mark and to keep from being swept, but I must be honest, it’s hard to have high hopes when you have no offense with RISP.
Good news is Rammy is looking to start taking full batting practice tomorrow, so let’s hope we can get him back soon. I didn’t think one person could make that much of a difference to the team even when they are the amazing Rammy, but I truly hope he is the spark that gets this team going.
I totally almost forgot to mention Micah Hoffpauir in this game. He made a great play at first and had a couple of hits. I like this guy and though D. Lee is the better choice at first, I’m glad to see him get a chance to play.
Here is my little Fontenot paragraph. Not much happened for him yesterday, he hit into a FC that drove in a run, but he struggled at the plate. He was back at second base so I am hoping if they decide to put him there again tonight that he can settle in and get some hits. I believe that once Rammy is back, he’ll find his groove again. However, he has been a great fill in at third. Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Tigers 5 Cubs 3
~Milli~
When Things Are Bad…
…this is just the way they go. Our outfielders collide, the bats sleep and nothing seems to go in your favor. How do we end this slump? *shrug* I believe that is the million dollar question right now. No one has answers for it. Maybe Hendry should rethink all of the changes he made this year because that has to be part of the problem. With what had been such a fantastic team, too many bad trades were made.
Honestly, I’m surprised that Soriano could collide with Fukudome going for a fly ball when he rarely runs for the ball anyway.
I honestly can’t say that most of the guys are playing without heart. I think D. Lee said it the best when he said, “We’re just not hitting. You can try too hard. Hitting is almost the opposite. You really have to relax, and the more at-bats you go without a hit, the more you press. We have to find a way to settle down.”
For all of the lack of offense we are still just three and a half games back, we are still totally in this. I believe we’ll be the come from behind team. Right now nobody is expecting much and then all of the sudden the offense wakes up and supports our great starting pitching and maybe Hendry realizes that Gregg is not closer material and Marmol is better just left in the bullpen finding another setup man. There was a comment that said Ascanio and Waddell should be our setup and closer. However, I think they should mention Guzman. Though the last time I saw him he struggled, he has been really good out of the bullpen this year. It’s hard to keep the good ones in the bullpen rested when we’ve been playing so many extra inning games and he is a strikeout pitcher.
Ted Lilly is making his bid for the All Star Game and I would love to see him get it. He is better this year than last year and hopefully our bats can back him up today as we finish the series against the Twins.
I love the Cubbies so much and wish I had the magical answer for them, however, I do not. So I will be here watching every loss and the few wins until they find their stride again. Let’s get some hits today and score some runs. I’ll be watching!
Final Score: Twins 2 Cubs 0
~Milli~
Soto’s Solo Shot Only RBI in Loss
This game was rather boring. I thought for sure it would be as exciting as the previous one, the Cubs usually hit well against the Astros, but Guzman was off and got himself into trouble that he couldn’t get out of so Geovany Soto’s third homerun was erased by the ninth inning rally that the Astro’s put together. Of course, it really would have helped if the Cub’s had gotten some offense this game. Oh well, you win some and lose some. Today is the rubber match and hopefully we’ll win that one.
Big Z pitched a very good game and should have had a win. I understand taking out the leftie bats when the pitcher is a leftie, but Fontenot is hot right now and I would have liked to see him in the game more, hoping to get something going. Hopefully today we will swing harder, it’s going to be hot out in the sunshine. I have to work past the start of the game, so I’ll be recording, rewinding and watching and I’ll be back here to blog after.
Ryan Theriot had some singles in this game which was good to see after he went 0 for 5 the game before. He’ll do well tonight, too. 
Good luck to the boys in Cubbie blue! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Astros 2 Cubs 1
~Milli~
Clutch RBI By Micah Wins it in the Eleventh!
I would say a big thanks to Micah Hoffpauir is needed for us finally winning a road baseball game. Last nights win broke our 0-7 road losing streak and hopefully will help us to break out and start showing our potential.
This time even our bullpen didn’t let us down after Lilly pitched a great game only allowing one earned run. Guzman, Marmol and Gregg all pitched well to help keep it a tie. So all and all I would say that the team worked well together last night.
Ryan Theriot struggled at the plate again, going 1-4, with two double play balls and a hit by pitch (in the rib cage…again), but defensively he probably had the best game last night. I’m glad to see him going about his business in the field even though he must be frustrated with all the double play balls he has hit as of late. Of course part of that is just the way the pitcher is pitching, keeps the ball on the ground so that they can turn the double play.
Mike Fontenot keeps showing that he wants to be in the line-up and that he is working out of the long slump he found himself in. Coming through in the fourth inning with a
two RBI double after Theriot was HBP, Fukudome singled and D. Lee walked. I don’t think there was a ball hit better than that one the whole night for the Cubbies. Fontenot also hit what worked as a sac hit to move D. Lee from first to second in the eleventh. Then Johnson singled, sending Lee to third and that’s when Hoffpauir hit his single and gave us the winning run.
The ninth inning looked good for us with Lee singling, but then Fontenot popped up a bunt and Johnson flew out. We used a few pinch hitters. Fox came in and was hit by a pitch and Soto walked to load the bases, however, Scales ground out to third to end the inning.
Good job to everyone, it was a great game. Wells is probably wondering where his bullpen was Tuesday when he handed them a four run lead, but that’s just the beast of the game. Play well tonight, Cubbies, take the series! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score: Cubs 3 Braves 2 (eleven innings)
~Milli~
So Close and Yet So Far Away…
Ahhh!!! Why can’t we get hits with runners on base?! I don’t understand. Tonight everything
went wrong for us. Wells wasn’t pitching his A game stuff, but Ascanio was worse. Guzman did a nice job, but we still lost even with the bases loaded and one out. Scales and Fox both swinging at pitches well out of the zone to strike out. Theriot hit into TWO double plays which is fairly rare, but it just seemed like we couldn’t put anything together. Hope this is a repeat of the Pirates series. Lose the first one and come back to win the rest! That would be fantastic! Congrats to Bobby Scales hitting his second major league home run to give us our only run of the game!
Mike Fontenot was back at third with a great defensive play, but offensively nothing. Part because it was a lefty pitcher that has been pitching extremely well against left handed hitters. Which makes me wonder why we played Fontenot and had Scales on the bench. Though I love having Fontenot in there, it just seemed like we should have used a righty if his stats were that strong against lefties. I did enjoy seeing Fontenot though.
Tomorrow will be much better. I know that we can hit much better than this and things will look up tomorrow. Hopefully it’s sunny, we hit better and they wear their hot man sunglasses! 
Come with the hot bats tomorrow, Cubbies, we’ll put up another W.
Final Score: Dodgers 2 Cubs 1
Cubs Drop First To Brewer’s
This was an interesting game full of mixed emotions, making me realize why women are not playing MLB. In the third inning when Rammy dislocated his shoulder all I could think was I wanted to take care of him. That is the nurturing female, I suppose. I’m sad to see this happen to him as he was just getting back from the calf. I’m sure this will include a stint on the DL and I hope that he recovers with as little pain as possible.
So, it’s always nerve wracking when there is a new pitcher in the rotation. Especially after Chad Fox had such a bad outing in relief yesterday, but I am very pleased with Randy Wells and can’t help but wonder why he isn’t a permanent part of our bullpen. He had some great pitching and despite the Brewer’s hits and a walk, he was able to get those ground balls and trust the guys behind him to handle it. Angel Guzman also pitched very well and I don’t understand why they pulled him for Heilman other than the fact that the pitcher’s spot came up to bat. Sometimes I would rather see them get an out on the pitcher and keep him one more inning than pull him when he is pitching so well.
A few noteable things happened during this game.
Lately I’ve blogged a lot about the hitting streak Theriot has been on. He did have a stolen base in the first inning, but it was the diving stop turned into a double play that was amazing in the fifth. He just played it perfectly to Miles on to Hoffpauir to keep them from scoring. Milton Bradley had a great diving catch in right, Fukudome with a great running catch in center and how about the over the rail pop out that Hoffpauir made in the second? Just some great defensive plays. Even the play that Rammy jammed his shoulder on in the third was a great play. I knew these games would be close and I’m not sorry we lost. Our Cubbies played amazing baseball tonight and I couldn’t have been happier with the way they worked together as a team.
I have great faith that we’ll come back tomorrow and win, if not, just keep it close.
Final Score: Brewers 3 Cubs 2
~Milli~
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