Results tagged ‘ Ryan Freel ’
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~
Big Z Ejected in Series Win
Another game that was interesting to watch. The Cubs getting hits and taking walks again, was a big sigh of relief, but then Carlos Zambrano got into it with the home plate umpire, getting himself ejected with the game tied at 2. He bumped the umpire, threw the ball into the stands and beat up the gatorade machine before moving into the clubhouse. Please dear God, don’t take him away from us too long. We need him.
A lot of the Cubbies were productive today, with Johnson hitting his second home run of the season and his catch against the brick wall that coudln’t have felt good. It has been great to see the Cubs getting their hits and taking the walks, when we got so behind on the road we didn’t do this and it hurt us.
Alfonso Soriano- double
Ryan Theriot- 3 singles, sac bunt
Milton Bradley- triple, BB
Derrek Lee- BB
Reed Johnson- reaches on FC to second on an error, 2nd homerun on the season
Geovany Soto- single
Ryan Freel- single
Mike Fontenot- single
Andres Blanco- double (first major league hit)
Jake Fox- double
We had some new faces in the line-up today that were able to produce in the end. I wondered how much longer it would take them to bring Jake Fox up and he proved that so far it was a good move as he is batting a thousand.
This was a great series for us and I hope that we can continue it with the Dodgers in town. Good luck to the boys in blue.
Final Score: Cubs 5 Pirates 2
~Milli~
Hot Bats Break Eight Game Skid
WE WON A GAME!!! This was an incredible night for Cubs baseball and most exciting to watch. Just about everyone in the line up contributed to the cause.
Alfonso Soriano- single, stolen base, reached third on error
Ryan Theriot- RBI single
Kosuke Fukudome- fifth homerun, BB
Milton Bradley- 2 BB (one to load the bases)
Micah Hoffpauir- double, RBI single
Mike Fontenot- double, RBI single
Koyie Hill- BB
Ryan Freel- no contribution
Sean Marshall- RBI single
Sean Marshall not only had great pitching tonight, but he was offensively and defensively productive. Catching a line drive on the mound, stopping a base hit up the middle to throw out at first and getting a single to drive a run in. This was just great baseball.
I hope that breaking in with a win will carry the Cubs back to the winning streak and the team that we know they can be. Keep swinging like you are, they don’t have to be homerun’s to get runs. Tonight proved that you all are capable of making this work even with illnesses and injuries. I know that we are hurting without Rammy, but he doesn’t make or break this team. It’s discouragement and players taking on too much responsibility that kills it.
See you tomorrow Cubbies when we take the series from the Pirates! Go Cubs Go!
Final Score (rain shortened game): Cubs 6 Pirates 1
~Milli~
Cardinals Sweep Cubs Out of Busch
For the first series we were swept and it was sad. Our starting pitching staff was phenomenal, but we just couldn’t help them out offensively. Why are our guys struggling so bad at the plate? That is the biggest question. We hit so many deep fly balls that were just caught, it was ridiculous. Poor Fontenot couldn’t get a hit and ended up being pulled from the game and you could just see the discouragement in his face and the way he held himself. I wish there was something I could do to help him, to help the whole team.
With everything that went terribly wrong, there were some good defensive plays this series. Freel had a couple tonight, minus the error that went sailing over Lee’s head at first. Theriot had several great plays again, he may struggle at the plate, but he isn’t letting the effect his defense which is the same as Soto has been. Soto is still exceptional behind the dish. Tonight as they travel, hopefully they’ll just shake it off and come back to play harder during the next series against the Padres. I’ll be watching, but as the games are later at night, I won’t get to see the whole thing as I have to work very early in the morning. Great job to Bobby Scales for taking the walk and Fukudome for scoring him to get our only run tonight. Good luck tomorrow to our boys in Cubbie blue!
Final Score: Cardinals 3 Cubs 1
~Milli~
Pitchers Duel Blocks Cubs For Second Game
Well another disapointing game. I didn’t think I would say this anytime soon but man our team can pitch and so can the Cardinals. It was the pitching staff that had sucked, but these last two games we couldn’t ask for more from them, now if we could just get some offense going.
Anyone else as disappointed in Soriano as I am? He is supposed to be one of our ‘star’ players and yet he struck out three times and only put the ball in play once this whole game. I wish he would understand that yes the homerun ball is nice, but just a single could get us started. Theriot doubled again this game and we couldn’t capitalize, then Bradley doubled in the ninth and low and behold we scored a run! I think that might really open us up for tomorrow. Hoffpauir is a guy that impresses me more and more everytime I see him. Piniella needs to give him some more starts. I know that Lee is at first so let’s give him some more playing time in the outfield. Help him learn it so that we can bench Soriano for a game or two. Let him mentally work through whatever makes him move so slow to the ball. He isn’t playing like he did last year, not really charging the ball and just tossing it in, instead of trying to get outs. Last year, nobody dared to try to double off of him, but this year everyone can do it. Like the play by I believe it was Duncan. Fontenot was running full power to get to this ball that should have been Soriano and he was just jogging there, nobody caught it and he got a double.
It makes me nervous that Fontenot is having so much trouble. I think Piniella needs to shake the line-up up a little bit. We are struggling so let’s give some players the day off. Put Freel in left, Johnson in center (Fukudome isn’t hitting much right now), Bradley in right. Miles/Scales on third, Theriot on short and Fontenot back to second, Hoffpauir at first and keep Soto behind the plate. I think that Fontenot will balance out offensively when he is back to a position that he is not only comfortable at, but that he plays exceptionally well.
I know that Fontenot is struggling right now, but he is passionate about the game. You see it in his face and actions, he cares what happens. Something that we don’t see with a lot of the players currently.
I must mention the way that Theriot is playing shortstop this year. Last year he was good, this year he is stellar. He is busting his butt to keep his spot on this team, now if we could get everyone to do that. Things will turn around, regulars will come back and we will put together hits for runs. Maybe we should question Lee at first now, he is nearing the end of a very good career and we have a bench player that is more than capable of taking his spot and that has shown he can come through in some high pressure situations. I say, give Micah Hoffpauir some more starts and see what he can do when he is playing more than the bench.
We lack confidence and you can see it in the discouraged looks that all the players have on their faces. I wish I could come up with a way that would help, but they’ll have to work through it and come out thinking of every at bat as their first at bat. Tomorrow will be better, I predict great things from the Cubbies and if not, well, I will love them anyway!
As a side note, love the new shaved face Miles! Looks great! 
Final Score: Cardinals 2 Cubs 1
~Milli~
Postponed Game and A Black Out Day
I was so excited rushing home from work yesterday so I could watch the first of a three game series against the Astro’s, hoping we could sweep them again, then the game was postponed and today’s is a black out day for me so I am in some serious need of Cubs baseball.
I check out the Cubs website everyday and I love to read the players blogs. Today I read Bobby Scales and Reed Johnson’s. Reed is amazing at the blogging, I imagine in person he is a pretty funny guy. He went over the very serious subject of steriods and how Theriot is rumored to be using them just because his bat is hot right now. It’s a great blog and if you haven’t read it, you should really get over there and do so.
I think it’s crazy to assume that Theriot is using steriods and I know that he is hitting better for several reasons. One, he is working harder on recognizing the ball and being more aggresive. Two, with players injured and off days he knows that the rest of the team as to step up and hit that much better so that we can win some ball games. Three, he’s The Riot…do I really need to say more?
I absolutely love the way that Reed Johnson plays center field, too. He gets so zeroed in on the ball that the plays he makes are amazing. It’s like, “I see the ball…oops, there is the wall. But hey, guys, I got the ball!” It cracks me up. The dives, running into walls. I read somewhere that Ryan Freel plays a lot like that and if they were both playing the outfield then we would have to hang cow bells on them so they would know where each other was at all times so they didn’t collide.
How about Thursday’s small ball game? That was probably the best game I have watched in a long time. Good luck to the Cubbies today, I’m sorry that I’m going to miss the game and hope that it is a good one! Swing like you mean it, boys!
~Milli~
Cubs Keep Brewer’s From Sweep
First, before I go over the game and the excitement from it I want to take a moment and say Happy Mother’s Day to those that are mother’s and also thanks to those that have given to such a great cause by donating to breast cancer awareness. Cancer is something that has touched my life in more ways than one. Just about every cancer has shown up in my family and it’s not easy to go through.
I was really pleased to see several pink bats in our line-up. I understand that they might be a little harder to use and uncomfortable, but for those that used them, thank you. It may not make a difference in anyone’s life today, but to me it said you cared for a cause that can hopefully help stop something that can be so devasting and they will bring some money to this cause. So a special thanks to Aaron Miles, Milton Bradley, Geovany Soto, Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot and Ryan Freel. It gave me a great feeling to see you all with those bats and the pink sweatbands were nice, too.
I was hoping that there would be more pictures posted with our players and their pink bats, really wish I could get my hands on one of those player used ones…you know, Fontenot or Theriot’s. 
This was a great game and it was so nice to see everyone playing as a team. Sean Marshall started out rough, but went on to pitch a great game for his fourth win this year. In the first inning the only thing that happened was Fukudome’s triple, other than that not much. Come the third inning is when everything great happened and we scored our four runs. Soriano up to this point had been so irritating with his field work, I didn’t feel like he was really trying, maybe he needs a few days off, who knows. In the third though, he belted a two run homer to spark our offense. After the third inning, not a whole lot offensively happened, but defensively we saw some great things.
How about the two fantastic plays by Mike Fontenot at third? It made me think that this team can step in and play the positions where their team is injured and still get outs and wins. Yesterday Ryan Theriot was hit in the ribs by a pitch and today a ball bounced up and hit him again in the same spot. He was able to make the throw out, but you could see that he was in some serious pain. Great job on working through it and finishing out the game.
Again thank you to everyone that wore the pink today and special thanks to those that swung the pink bats. Have a nice day off, boys, we’ll see you back at home for the Padres. I almost forgot to mention, great job on keeping the Brewers from sweeping us. We haven’t let that happen since 2005! Woot!
Final Score: Cubs 4 Brewers 2
~Milli~
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