Carlos Marmol: Live Cubs Game Blog

“If you *really* want a slugfest…if you go up and down the lineup, they (the Cubs) simply don’t match up”.

Oh really? I don’t have a degree in statistics but the Cubs do have a run differential of 19 over the White Sox…

Ninth Inning (Top)

Well, what can I say about this game to wrap it up?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing good can be said today and because this is a blog about Marmol, all things should be positive.  I find it disturbing that we got shut out again, for just the second time this season.  The team is now under .500 on the road for the year.  Not a good thing.  Last year they seemed to have the opposite problem.  They could win on the road and sucked it up in front of the faithful at Wrigley.  Lee has more errors than anyone else in the National League.  Yeah, I find it hard to believe too.  But here we are.  Fukudome had a terrible series against the Reds, but he’s a good enough hitter that he can bounce back.  I have all the confidence in him.  The Cubs just need to do the little things right and everything will fall in to place.  I know, easier said than done.

We’ll see you on Friday.

Today’s final 0-9 with the Reds taking 2/3 of the series.

Sixth Inning (Bottom)

Joey Votto loves the Cubs.  He has 3 home runs today.  Three!  He’s not a power hitter.  0-9 Cubs when this inning ends.  I just don’t know what to say about today.  This is the kind of thing where you just say screw it, we’ll get them the next day and you move on.  Sticking out there isn’t going to get you anywhere today.  Let everyone get rested up.  Spend some extra time in the batting cages, work on spotting your pitches, and definitely work on defense.  I know that today hasn’t been a bad defensive outing, per say, but it has been a problem the Cubs have  been facing the whole season.  Today, the breaks just aren’t going the Cubs way.  Can’t win them all.  But you definitely should not lose this many to the Reds.

Fifth Inning (Bottom)

This is just getting sad. The Reds go back-to-back homers again. Sean Marshall isn’t fairing much better than Lieber was. I’m not sure why the Reds seem to have the Cubs number this season, but they sure do. The Cubs can’t seem to get a break to save their life. Cubs looked like they were going to get a run in the top of the inning and the ump ended up calling a questionable strike on Ramirez and then he strikes out.

The only hope I saw in this was that the rain might come in and postpone the game as unofficial. That seems to have passed without much effect. Great, Marshall just walked another guy. Now he’s getting pulled and it looks like they’re brining in Sean Gallagher. Maybe this second Sean will have better luck than the first.

Gallagher gets the job done.  Fontenot flashes the leather. Cubs are still losing 0-7.

Fourth Inning (Top)

Glad to see we squander a scoring opportunity by striking out.  I’m sure the Pie and Cedeno’s Little League hitting coaches are so proud of their performance.  Soto keeps impressing me though with his arm, yes his throw to second in the 3rd inning was a little high, but he’s got a serious chance at being rookie of the year.  He can do everything.  It is about time the Cubs had a catcher who can play.  I’m not saying that Todd Hundley was bad or anything, oh wait, yes I am.

Third Inning (Bottom)

Well Sean Marshall has come in to try to give the Cubs a lift.  After an anemic showing by the Cubs offense in the top of the inning, Marshall tries to get the juices flowing the boys in blue.  Of course Marshall walked the first guy that he faced.  Now, after another walk, we’re sitting at an 0-2 count on Volquez.  Dang, a ball.

Lieber’s 2 inning performance is only going to tax the already tired bullpen.  We’d expect him to go more innings if he was coming out of the pen.  Oh well.  Marshall struck him out swinging.  No damage done.

Thank goodness.