Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 25

2012-05-26T03:55:35Z

It's my birthday today so after I finish writing this, I'm taking the rest of the night off. I'm telling you this now. So if you ask a question at midnight tonight, don't expect an answer by 2 am.

I was a Tony Zych meltdown away from having a pretty nice birthday present, as three of the four teams in the Cubs system won.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs made the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) blue, 2-1.

Rodrigo Lopez started the game, threw one pitch and was removed for an injury. (The pitch was a strike, though.) So Jay Jackson took over for Lopez and was pretty good, allowing but one run on three hits over five innings. Jackson walked two and struck out five.

Carlos Marmol pitched the sixth inning tonight on a rehab appearance. He gave up a walk and a double with one out, but then got a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat.

Scott Maine loaded the bases with two-out in the ninth inning, but got a foul out to end the game. Maine pitched two scoreless innings and collected his third win of the season. Maine allowed one hit and he walked two while striking out one.

The game was tied 1-1 going to the ninth inning when Luis Valbuena hit a two-out solo home run. Valbuena went 1 for 4. It was his sixth home run this season.

Steve Clevenger caught six innings tonight. He was 1 for 3 with a double and he scored Iowa's first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Brett Jackson.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies held the Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks) at bay, 4-3.

Eric Jokisch made his first appearance in Double-A this season a very good one. Mobile could only manage one hit off of him over five innings. The bad news is that he issued his only walk before it and the hit was a two-run home run. Those were the only two baserunners Jokisch allowed. He struck out three.

Alberto Cabrera allowed a lead-off triple to Evan Frey in the ninth and allowed him to score on a wild pitch. But that was still good enough for his fourth save. Cabrera allowed one run on one hit over one inning. He struck out two.

Left fielder Jae-Hoon Ha led off the game with his second home run of the year. Ha went 1 for 5.

Catcher Luis Flores also hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. Flores also doubled in a 2 for 4 game. Flores walked once and scored two runs.

Third baseman Matt Cerda was 0 for 3 with three walks. He stole a base and scored a run.

Center fielder Jim Adduci was 2 for 2 with a walk and a stolen base. He also exited the game in the eighth with an apparent injury after he was tagged out on a play at the plate. Adduci had one RBI.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs were chewed up by the Clearwater Threshers (Philles), 2-1.

Austin Kirk was brilliant through eight scoreless innings tonight. Kirk allowed seven hits and didn't walk anyone, although he did hit one batter. Kirk fanned four.

But Tony Zych couldn't hammer down the save in the ninth inning. Zych blew his fifth save of the season after giving up two runs on three hits. Zych did have one strikeout and did not walk anyone.

Right fielder Rubi Silva was 2 for 4. He score Daytona's only run when third baseman Dustin Harrington singled him home in the seventh inning. Silva was 2 for 3.

Catcher Micah Gibbs was 2 for 4.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs buzz-sawed the Clinton LumberKings (Mariners), 3-1.

Starling Peralta made his first start of the season and gave up only one run over four innings. Peralta was touched for five hits and he walked one. Peralta struck out two.

Larry Suarez got the win because Peralta didn't go five, but he actually pitched well. Suarez pitched two scoreless innings, giving up only one hit. He did walk two and strike out one.

Luis Liria earned his first save of the season in Mike Marshall fashion, pitching three scoreless innings to close out the game. Liria allowed only two hits. He fanned two Clinton hitters and didn't walk any of them.

The Chiefs got two runs in the first inning when they got three straight hits with two outs, including a Paul Hoilman triple. Hoilman was 1 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. First baseman Ryan Cuneo singled home Hoilman in the first inning. Cuneo went 2 for 4.

Second baseman Zeke DeVoss was 2 for 4 with a double in the seventh inning that led to the Chiefs' third run. DeVoss was 2 for 4.

First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Pirates, Friday 5/25, 6:05 CT

2012-05-25T23:05:05Z

Go get 'em, Ryan.

Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Preview, Friday 5/25, 6:05 CT

2012-05-25T21:00:02Z

The Cubs have lost nine straight games, in which they have been outscored 55-27. During that streak they have been shut out once and scored just one run (each time on a solo homer) in two other games; they have scored a total of six runs over their last four games.

You think this is bad, and you'd be right about that.

Meet the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates, who are hitting .217/.266/.346 as a team. They rank last in the major leagues in runs (126 -- 24 fewer than anyone else), BA, OBP and total bases, and first in batter strikeouts. They have scored one or no runs in 14 of their 44 games, and are likely holding on to their 20-24 record by means of being 11-9 in one-run games. That's a lot of one-run games at this point in the season -- almost half their total. They are on pace to score 464 runs, which would be the fewest in a non-labor-dispute season since the 1968 White Sox scored 463.

Of their regulars, Andrew McCutchen is hitting .338/.391/.543 -- All-Star level production. The rest of their everyday players have batting averages of .253, .221, .220, .219, .212, .203, .186 and .178.

Meanwhile, Pirates pitching ranks fourth in MLB in ERA and has an above-average ERA+ of 112 (the Cubs', by comparison, is 91).

All of this is another way of saying that I don't think either team can score any runs in this series. Someone will have to, of course; you can't have 0-0 ties in baseball. Ready for three 1-0 games?

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus RF, Castro SS, Mather CF, LaHair 1B, Soriano LF, Cardenas 3B, Barney 2B, Hill C, Dempster P

Pirates lineup:

Tabata LF, Harrison RF, McCutchen CF, Alvarez 3B, Walker 2B, Hague 1B, Barajas C, Barmes SS, Burnett P

Today's Starting Pitchers


Ryan Dempster Cubs	vs.	A.J. Burnett Pirates

0-2	W-L	2-2
2.28	ERA	4.78
44	SO	33
14	BB	10
3	HR	4
vs. Pit	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Ryan Dempster	0-2	7	7	0	0	0	0	47.1	36	14	12	3	14	44	2.28	1.06

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - A.J. Burnett	2-2	6	6	0	0	0	0	37.2	40	20	20	4	10	33	4.78	1.33

These two pitchers matched up at Wrigley Field on June 18, 2011, when Burnett was with the Yankees. They turned in about the same performance; Dempster has been better this year, Burnett a bit worse; Burnett might have an excuse, as he accidentally bunted a ball into his face during a spring-training drill (yet another good reason for the DH!).

Burnett has faced very few of the current Cubs; in a small-sample-size 41 at-bats, they have seven hits (.171). Dempster has faced a lot of the current Pirates; all told, they are hitting .322 against him (49-for-152) with seven home runs.

All together now: "Clearly, we are doomed."

Today's game is on CSN Chicago Plus. Check your cable/satellite system for the channel. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Pirates site Bucs Dugout.

Today's first pitch thread will post at 6:05 p.m. CDT and the overflows at 7:05, 8:05 and 8:50 p.m. CDT. If you need more overflows due to extra innings, post them in the fanshot section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The Yankees Probably Aren't For Sale And Other MLBullets

2012-05-25T11:29:09Z

The latest from around MLB...

The New York Yankees are for sale, according to a New York Daily News story, which was, of course, vehemently denied by the Steinbrenner Family. Unnamed sources told the Daily News that, following the Dodgers' sale for $2.15 billion, the Steinbrenners were "enthused" about that price, and got to wondering just how much the Yankees might sell for. Hal Steinbrenner is painted as an uninterested owner and chairman, who doesn't really care about baseball (again, something that's been denied). My thought? Aren't sports franchises one of the toys you buy when you have billions of dollars? If so, what do you do when you sell one for three or four billion? Buy a country? There's only so much you can do with gigantic sums of money in your life, and owning a team like the Yankees seems like one of the coolest.

From the injury ward: Emilio Bonafacio is going to miss four to six weeks thanks to thumb surgery, and the Marlins are looking for help in the outfield. John Danks is headed to the disabled list with shoulder tightness, and Austin Jackson is headed to the DL with a left abdominal strain.
Thanks to a loss-and-injury-filled few weeks, the Cincinnati Reds have pulled ahead of the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.
Speaking of first place teams in Ohio, the Cleveland Indians just swept the Detroit Tigers, putting the latter six games behind the former in the AL Central. The White Sox are in the middle, 3.5 games behind the Indians.
Juan Carlos Oviedo - the artist formerly known as Leo Nunez - has reportedly received his visa to return to the US and resume his baseball career, after he serves an eight week suspension, that is. (Update: According to Oviedo, himself, he hasn't quite yet received that visa, but is in the process.)
FanGraphs wonders how much Cole Hamels is worth on the open market, and concludes, among other things, that he isn't worth as much as Zack Greinke.
Roy Oswalt's free agency continues to be a moderately interesting story, with the Baltimore Orioles now joining the pursuit. If candidates for trade become more valuable mid-season after injuries intrude on otherwise good seasons (I'm not sure if I buy that, by the way), then the same should be true for a free agent marketing his services to a number of suitors. Oswalt could clean up for a half season of work.

Brett Taylor is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation, and a Contributor here at Bleed Cubbie Blue.

Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 24

2012-05-25T03:43:20Z

The Chiefs celebrated the tenth anniversary of the opening of their ballpark tonight. They also won, making them the only Cubs team to win since Tuesday. I think if everyone lost tonight I'd just make up better news.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs fell down the Tacoma Rainers (Mariners), 7-2.

Chris Rusin started and took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits over four innings. One of the runs was unearned. Rusin walked four and fanned two.

Shortstop Luis Valbuena had two doubles in a 2 for 4 game. Valbuena scored once and had one run batted in.

Center fielder Brett Jackson was 2 for 4. DH Ty Wright was 2 for 3.

They kept first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the park today. He was 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies fizzled against the Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks), 3-2.

Starter Dallas Beeler turned in a decent start, but got no support. He pitched six innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He was wild, however, as he walked five and hit one batter. He did strike out five as his record dropped to 1-4.

Center fielder Jim Adduci hit a solo home run in the third inning to tie the game at one. He now has four home runs on the year. Adduci was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Shortstop Junior Lake was 2 for 4. He now has a six game hit streak.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs lost to the St. Lucie Mets, 5-2.

Ryan Searle put the Cubs in a hole early and took the loss. He gave up three runs on six hits over 3.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Third baseman Greg Rohan homered in his third straight game tonight when he went deep in the sixth inning. Rohan was 3 for 4 with just the one run scored and the one RBI. He now has hit eight home runs for Daytona this season.

Catcher Micah Gibbs was responsible for the other D-Cubs run when he hit his first home run this season in the eighth inning. Gibbs was 1 for 4.

First baseman Richard Jones and second baseman Ronald Torreyes were both 2 for 4.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs toppled the Clinton LumberKings (Mariners), 4-3.

Kyler Burke has had the best ERA on the Chiefs this season, and tonight he finally got his first win of the season. He only allowed one unearned run over six innings. He only gave up two hits, but he was wild as he walked four, hit a batter and had two wild pitches. Burke also struck out four LumberKings.

Yao-Lin Wang got the save tonight, but it wasn't easy. After getting the first two batters out in the ninth without much trouble, he gave up four straight hits to get the LumberKings to within a run. He finally nailed down the save with a ground ball comebacker to the mound. Wang pitched 1.1 innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He did not walk anyone and struck out two for his third save of the season.

Right fielder Oliver Zapata went 3 for 4 with a double. He scored once and had two runs batted in.

Center fielder Taiwan Easterling was 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Shortstop Marco Hernandez was 2 for 3 with a walk.

Cubs Lose Again, Have Longest Losing Streak In 10 Years

2012-05-24T12:20:06Z

Here's a list of Cubs pitchers:

Trachsel, Foster, Mulholland, Gonzalez, Tapani, Trachsel, Rojas, Mulholland, Gonzalez

Here's another list of Cubs pitchers:

Cruz, Bere, Borowski, Lieber, Wood, Cruz, Bere, Clement, Lieber

To those lists we can now add:

Dolis, Camp, Volstad, Samardzija, Dempster, Maholm, Garza, Wood, Samardzija

Those are the losing pitchers in the most recent nine-game losing streaks by the Cubs, the first in 1997, the second in 2002, and the third, after Wednesday night's 5-1 loss to the Astros. (It should be pointed out that the "Wood" in the 2002 list and the "Wood" in the 2012 list are different pitchers... and that the "Cruz" in the 2002 list is still pitching as an effective setup man for the Pirates.)

The unfortunate thing is that the third list can, and very probably will, get longer, as the Cubs visit Pittsburgh beginning Friday. Since the Cubs' last pennant in 1945, the team has lost 10 straight four times (1948, 1954, 1962 and 1994), 11 straight twice (1954 and 1973), 12 straight twice (1970 and 1981), 13 straight twice (1982 and 1985) and 14 straight once (the club record, in 1997).

All of those appear in reach, even though the Padres are the Cubs' Wrigley Field opponent beginning Monday and San Diego currently sits just one game ahead of the Cubs.

For the second straight game, the Cubs' only scoring was provided by a solo home run. Wednesday, Reed Johnson homered in the first inning and gave the Cubs their first lead in 60 innings.

Yes, you read that right -- 60 innings, more than six full games' worth of innings. Before last night, the Cubs had last led 2-1 going into the fifth inning on May 16 against the Phillies.

Wednesday night's lead lasted three innings, until the bottom of the fourth. Naturally, something Lou Piniella might have called a "Cubbie occurrence" gave the Astros the lead. With two out and two runners on base, J.D. Martinez hit a sinking line drive into right field. Darwin Barney and David DeJesus converged on the ball; it was actually in DeJesus' glove before a collision with Barney knocked it out. Both runners scored and Martinez wound up with his first career triple (and Martinez has little speed; it might wind up as his only career triple).

It's the Cubs. A catchable ball, which, if caught, would have ended the inning, the Cubs leading 1-0. Instead, it's 2-1 Astros and you knew, just knew, that was the last lead the Cubs were going to have in this game.

Earlier this year, many of us felt Rafael Dolis was getting hit hard because he was getting too much work, too many back-to-back outings. What's the story now, bench coach and temporary one-game manager Jamie Quirk?

Before the Astros broke things open with a three-run ninth off closer Rafael Dolis (which Quirk blamed on "rust" from his not pitching enough)

Such is the story of the 2012 Cubs. Pitchers give up too many runs because they're overworked, so they get less work, and then they give up too many runs because they're rusty. At least this game won't start for calls for Quirk to replace Dale Sveum (who missed this game to attend his son's high school graduation in Arizona); that might have happened if Quirk had guided the Cubs to a win.

Instead, I had to dredge up losing streaks from decades ago to see how many more games it'll take for the Cubs to match up to bad teams from the 1970s, 1960s and 1950s... it won't be long, it seems. Perhaps Sveum could bring a pitcher or two back from his son's high school team. How much worse could it be?

Enjoy the off day. It's the only day this week we can be assured the Cubs won't lose.

Cubs Minor League Wrap: May 23

2012-05-24T04:12:05Z

I know this is the last thing any of you want to hear tonight, but everyone lost today,

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs couldn't climb the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), 8-3.

Brooks Raley made his Triple-A debut and had some problems, giving up runs in four of the five innings he pitched. Raley allowed five total runs on six hits, although two of the runs were unearned. Raley walked three and struck out four.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo hit a solo home run in the sixth inning; his 16th of the year. Rizzo was 2 for 4.

Third baseman Josh Vitters was 3 for 4 with a double that just missed leaving the yard. Vitters had one RBI.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies had their picnic baskets stolen by the Mobile Bay Bears (Diamondbacks), 8-6.

Nick Struck had a rough start tonight, giving up six runs in only three innings. Struck gave up eight hits, including one home run, and walked two. He added to his misery with two wild pitches. Struck fanned three as his record fell to 4-5.

Left fielder Rebel Ridling hit his fourth home run in four days with a man on in the first inning. It was his fifth home run this year. Ridling was 2 for 5.

Jae-Hoon Ha didn't start for the Smokies tonight for only the second time this year, but he came off the bench to pinch-hit his first home run of the year. It was a solo home run in the seventh inning. Ha stayed in the game and went 1 for 2.

James Adduci was 2 for 5. He scored once and batted two in. First baseman Justin Bour was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Shortstop Junior Lake went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs sank against the St. Lucie Mets, 8-7.

Frank Del Valle pitched the first five innings and gave up five runs on five hits. Two of the hits were solo home runs and another run scored when Del Valle fielded a ball and threw the ball away so badly that the batter was able to circle the bases. I guess that's a "Little League Home Run." (EDIT: What happened was that Del Valle threw the ball away and it got stuck in the tarp. Torreyes, instead of throwing up his hands to stop the play, reached in to get the ball. This is the ivy ground rule at Wrigley. Cubs manager Brian Harper thought a ball in the tarp was automatically a dead ball, but the umpires disagreed.) Besides that run which the rules say is "unearned," Del Valle allowed a second unearned run when Ronald Torreyes dropped a pop-up. Del Valle walked three and struck out six.

Tony Zych took the loss when he allowed one run of his own and one inherited runner to score in the eighth inning. Zych pitched two innings and gave up three hits. He did not walk anyone and he struck out two.

First baseman Greg Rohan hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning. It was his seventh of the season. Rohan was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Second baseman Ronald Torreyes went 3 for 3 with a walk and a double. He scored once and had two runs batted in.

Shortstop Arismendy Alcantara was 2 for 5 with a run scored.

Peoria Chiefs

The Peoria Chiefs were clear-cut by the Clinton LumberKings (Mariners),11-0.

You don't really want me to recap this one, do you?

All right. Jose Rosario allowed nine runs over 3.2 innings, thanks to nine hits, three of which went over the outfield wall. Rosario walked two and struck out five.

DH Yaniel Cabezas was 2 for 3.

First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Astros, Wednesday 5/23, 7:05 CT

2012-05-24T00:05:05Z

Go get 'em, Shark.