June 2012 – Born on Third

Rizzo Powers Cubs Past Astros

It hasn’t taken long for Anthony Rizzo to make an impact at the Major League level for the Cubs, today he might have made his biggest one. After a punch less four innings the Cubs offense got going in the 5th inning. Starlin Castro has a tremendous two out at bat which resulted in a line drive base hit to right field to cut the Astros lead to 2-1. Anthony Rizzo followed with his biggest hit as a Cub, a towering two run home run off of left-handed starter J.A. Happ to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead heading to the 6th. The Cubs bullpen surprisingly took it from there and shut the door on the Astros over the final four innings. Matt Garza only lasted 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on nine hits while walking three and striking out one. But thanks to Scott Maine, Manual Corpas, James Russell, Shawn Camp, and Carlos Marmol, Matt Garza earned his fourth win of the season. Geovany Soto had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-3 with a walk, he also gunned down Jordan Schafer trying to steal second. Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo were the big reasons the Cubs won today, and I have a feeling that’s something we will be saying after a lot of games in the future. Cubs go for the sweep tomorrow, full box score and highlights after the jump.

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Jorge Soler and Cubs Make it Official

Jorge Soler has official signed his nine-year $30 million deal today. With the signing the Cubs have officially added him to the 40-man roster. Jed Hoyer said he will start in the minor leagues as a right fielder. He will report to Mesa, but where he will go after that is yet to be decided. There is no timetable on how quickly he will move through the system, but one thing is for sure the Cubs have added a top prospect, with big power potential to the club and hopefully in the next couple weeks we can add first round pick Albert Almora into the fold as well.

Thanks for Reading,
Mark

June 30, 2012 – Cubs Lineup vs. Astros

Cubs Lineup vs. left-handed pitcher JA Happ. The Cubs have been playing better as of late and will send Matt Garza to the mound to keep it going. Nice to see LaHair back in the lineup after three hits yesterday. Really hoping he does well against the lefty today to get him some confidence. The game will start at 3:00 CST on WGN.

DeJesus – CF
Castro – SS
Rizzo – 1B
Soriano – LF
LaHair – RF
Soto – C
Barney – 2B
Valbuena – 3B
Garza – P

Go Cubs!
Mark

6/29: Around the Cubs Minor Leagues

A trip around the minor leagues on Friday, June 29.

Boise dropped the game on Friday 4-1. Wellington Cruz pitched well for the Hawks, but took the loss. He gave up one run on three hits while striking out five in five innings of work. Felix Pena struggled in relief and Bryce Shafer pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings. Stephen Bruno was the only Hawks player to have multiple hits going 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. He also scored the lone run when Jeimer Candelario drove him in in the ninth.

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Peoria took a tough loss as they lost 8-7 to Wisconsin. Things started out greatas Peoria took a 6-1 lead, but Micahel Jensen and the defense would give up the lead in the fourth. Jensen gave up six runs, three earned on six hits in five innings pitched. Luis Liria took the loss in relief giving up the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. The Cheifs got two hits a piece from Javier Baez, Anthony Giansanti, and Yasiel Balaguert. The RBI’s for Peoria came from Taiwan Easterling, Paul Hoilman, Pin-Chieh Chen, and Giansanti. This was a tough loss for Peoria, but hopefully they can come back strong in the next one.

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It was a crazy one in Daytona tonight, as Dunedin scored eight times in the last four innings, including three in the ninth to beat the Cubs 11-10. Scott Weismann blew his second save of the season and took his third loss giving up three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Frank Del Valle got the start and he gave up five runs in 5.2 innings. As bad as the pitching was on Friday, the offense was good. Matt Szczur, Arismendy Alcantara, Rubi Silva, and Elieser Bonne all had two hits. Ronald Torreyes went 3-for-4 with a homer, double, two runs scored, and an RBI on the night. Szczur and Alcantara each drove in two runs and Greg Rohan drove in two bringing his season total to 65.

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A lot of runs were scored, but Tennessee hung on to beat Birmingham 10-8. Dallas Beeler got his third win of the season giving up two runs and striking out four in five innings of work. Marcus Hatley had a rough night in relief, but Frank Batista was good once again recording his 13th save. Justin Bour was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI’s. Logan Watkins, Jae-Hoon Ha, Juan Apodaca, Matt Cerda, and Michael Burgess all had two hit games as well. Apodaca, and Burgess also had three RBI’s. On a day where Junior Lake went 0-for-4 it was nice to see the Tennessee offense put up 10 runs.

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Iowa had a good night from the pitching to the hitting as they won 7-0. Josh Vitters was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI’s. Brett Jackson and Alfredo Amezaga also added two hits and an RBI a piece. Adrian Cardenas went 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI’s and a run scored. Rodrigo Lopez pitched great giving no runs on three hits in six innings. Esmailin Caridad and Alberto Cabrera pitched well in relief.

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It was an entertaining night throughout the Cubs minor leagues with a lot of runs scored.

Thanks for Reading,
Mark

Cubs Use The Long Ball to Back Stellar Maholm

Break up the Cubs, okay not really but after today’s win they have now won three out of four and for a team with 49 losses before July that’s something worth noting. Fans at Wrigley Field got the best of both Worlds today as they witnessed home runs and stellar pitching from Paul Maholm. Maholm was outstanding, as he had everything working and kept the Astros hitters off-balance all day. Unfortunately Maholm put two guys on in the ninth before he was lifted for Carlos Marmol, falling just short of his first complete game as a Cub. The final line for Maholm, 8.1 innings giving up no runs on four hits while walking one and striking out six to earn his 5th win of the season. As I mentioned, the fans were treated to the long ball today, three of them in fact. Luis Valbuena who has shown some solid power since getting recalled to the Cubs hit his third home run of the season to put the Cubs up 1-0 in the bottom of the second. Steve Clevenger joined the fun in the fourth inning launching his first major league home run, a two run shot to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Alfonso Soriano rounded out the scoring with his team leading 15th home run of the season to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead, Soriano finished the day 2-for-4. It was nice to see Bryan LaHair get back on track as he went 3-for-4 in the win, and Carlos Marmol continued his strong stretch since being plugged back into the closer role by earning his 6th save. Full box score and highlights after the jump.

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Cubs/Astros in Rain Delay

Cubs will not start on time at 1:20. Its still raining and there is no set start time. Looks like it will rain for another hour then it clears up, stay tuned.

– George

June 29, 2012 – Cubs Lineup vs. Astros

The Cubs look to build off of a solid series against Mets when they welcome the Astros to Wrigley today. Paul Maholm will be tasked with stopping the Astros in game one. Here’s how the Cubs will line up today at a soggy Wrigley Field.

1. DeJesus – CF
2. Castro – SS
3. Rizzo – 1B
4. Soriano – LF
5. LaHair – RF
6. Clevenger – C
7. Barney – 2B
8. Valbuena – 3B
9. Maholm – P

Thanks for reading, Go Cubs!
– George

6/28: Around the Cubs Minor League System

Your nightly trip around the bases for June 28th, 2012.

AZL Cubs had a nice night winning 11-2. Jacob Rogers had a great night at the plate going 4-for-4 with two home runs, four runs scored, and four RBI’s. Trey Martin had three hits and three RBI’s on Thursday. Ben Carhart and Carlos Penalver each had two hits. Dan Vogelbach and Justin Marra each had a double and drove in a run. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino got the win pitching five innings in relief giving no runs on three hits while striking out five. Nathan Dorris and Ryan Hartman each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Hope to see more nights like this from the Cubs as the summer goes forward.

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We have been waiting, and Boise finally delivered beating Spokane 12-2. Chadd Krist was 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored, and one driven in. Wilson Contreras also was 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and three driven in. Stephen Bruno had two hits with a run scored and an RBI. Dong-Yub Kim hit his second home run of the season, a grand slam. Ian Dickson was the beneficiary of all those runs earning his first win of the season pitching five innings, giving up two runs, one earned on four hits, while striking out six. Eduardo Orozco, Rafael Diplan, and Su-Min Jung all pitched well in relief. All in all it was a very good night for the Hawks.

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Gerardo Concepcion was roughed up early, giving up four runs in the first, but settled down as he pitched six inning giving up five runs on six hits. He took the loss and is now 2-6 with a 7.39 ERA. Javier Baez had a great night at the plate going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and three stolen bases. Dustin Geiger, Taiwan Easterling, and Oliver Zapata all had RBI’s on the night and Paul Hoilman had two hits. Larry Suarez also struggled in relief giving up two runs on four hits in two innings of work.

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It was a great night for the Daytona offense beating Dunedin 14-4. Cubs got home runs from Ronald Torreyes, Arismendy Alcantara, and Rebel Ridling. Arismendy went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI’s. Rubi Silva was also 3-for-5 including two doubles and drove in two. Lead-off hitter Matt Szczur was on base five times. He was 3-for-3 with two walks, two RBI’s, three stolen bases, and three runs scored. Robert Whitenack got the start but didn’t get the win pitching only four innings while giving up three runs, only one earned on six hits while striking out four. A.J. Morris got the win in relief pitching two scoreless innings while striking out one. Brian Schlitter threw another good outing in relief pitching a scoreless ninth.

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Trey McNutt was not able to get out of the first inning on Friday pitching only .2 inning and giving up eight runs, four earned on six hits. Ty’relle Harris threw four quality innings of relief giving up two runs, one earned on five hits, while striking out two. The Smokies were pretty good at the plate scoring six runs on twelve hits. Jae-Hoon Ha, Junior Lake, Michael Brenly, and Elliot Soto all had two hits on the night. Nelson Perez and Brenly each hit a home run. The Smokies also had RBI’s from Ha, Lake, Justin Bour, and James Adduci.

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Chris Volstad pitched pretty good on Friday, but it wasn’t enough for Iowa losing 3-1. Volstad gave up three runs, two earned on six hits in seven innings. He also struck out seven and walked zero. Matt Tolbert was great at the plate going 4-for-5 with a double, triple, and a run scored. Adrian Cardenas, Ty Wright, and Blake Lalli each had two hits. Josh Vitters was finally held hitless and Brett Jackson went 1-for-5. Jay Jackson struck out two and didn’t allow a baserunner in one inning of work out of the bullpen.

Thanks for reading,
– Mark, and George

June 28 – 30; vs. Astros – Series Preview

Houston Astros Logo - Shooting gold star with Houston Astros script

The Cubs are slowly becoming fun to watch thanks to the promotion of Anthony Rizzo. Finally something to watch and look forward to in an otherwise lost season for the Cubs. The Astros have the fewest road wins in all of major league baseball(9) so that bodes well for the Cubs this weekend. Nothing really jumps off the page that impresses you about the Astros, but they have been able to score some runs as they sit 9th in the NL. Where they struggle is on the mound as their team ERA is good for 14th in the NL, just ahead of the Cubs. The Cubs are going to have to take advantage of the poor Astros staff because you know the Astros hitters are going to score some runs as its projected to be in the mid 90’s all weekend, which usually means the ball with be flying all over the park. The Cubs should have some extra incentive to stick it to the Astros as they swept the Cubs earlier this season in Houston. Full preview/breakdown after the jump.

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6/27: Around the Cubs Minor Leagues

The Cubs minor leagues on Wednesday, June 27.

The Cubs scored three in the fourth and two more in the fifth to beat the Angels 5-4 on Wednesday. Trey Martin went 3-for-5 with a triple and a run scored. Bijan Rademacher had two hits and a run scored. David Bote hit his first home run of the season and had three RBI’s. Dan Vogelbach had another hit and also had a walk. Brian Smith got the start pitching four innings and giving up one run. Arturo Maltos-Garcia was not that good, but got the win in relief. Michael Heesch recorded his first save of the season striking out two batters in one inning of work.

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Spokane scored five unearned runs in the second which proved to be more than enough as they beat Boise 6-2 on Wednesday. Taylor Scott gave up give runs, all of which were unearned on six hits in 3.1 innings. Joseph Zeller pitched 3.2 innings in relief giving up one run and striking out two. Marco Hernandez and Shawon Dunston Jr. had two hits a piece and Hernandez had an RBI. Lance Rymel had the other Boise RBI on the night. The Hawks record now stands at 4-9.

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Jose Rosario and the Peoria Chiefs to the loss on Wednesday. Rosario gave up three runs in five innings of work. At the plate Dustin Geiger went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Paul Hoilman had a double and RBI. Zeke DeVoss, Anthony Giansanti, Yasiel Balaguert, and Oliver Zapata all had hits and Giansanti drove in a run. Although they lost the Chiefs got some good news as Javier Baez played in his first game since having to leave early on Sunday.

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Daytona pounded out 17 hits as they beat St. Lucie 12-1. The Cubs got a huge night from Greg Rohan who went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, and two RBI’s. He now has 63. The Cubs also had a nice day from Matt Szczur who was 3-for-6 with a double, two runs scored and a grand slam. Ronald Torreyes and Arismendy Alcantara each had two hits and each drove in a run. Rubi Silva, Rebel Ridling, and John Andreoli all had RBI’s. Daytona’s pitching was also very good on Wednesday. Austin Kirk earned his fourth win of the season pitching six scoreless innings while striking out six. Eduardo Figueroa pitched three innings in relief to record his second save of the season.

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Not much good came out of Wednesday for Tennessee. They lost 11-0 giving up 21 hits while only recording three hits. Dae-Eun Rhee got the loss tossing four innings giving up six runs on seven hits. Casey Harman was not much better in relief giving up four runs on an unbelievable ten hits in only 2.2 innings. Logan Watkins, James Adduci, and Michael Burgess had the only three hits the Smokies would have on Wednesday. Not much more to say about this one, it was just a bad game.

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Iowa gave up at least one run in each of the first six innings played. Josh Vtters had another good day going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, triple, two runs score, and one RBI. Matt Tolbert, Dave Sappelt, and Diory Hernandez all had two hits a piece. Ty Wright had three RBI’s and Adrian Cardenas added an RBI of his own on Wednesday. Chris Rusin gave up eight runs on eight hits in four innings to drop his record to 6-6. Alberto Cabrera did not fair much better giving up two runs in two innings. Mike MacDougal, Jeff Beliveau, and Esmailin Caridad all pitched scoreless innings for Iowa in the game.

Thanks for Reading,
Mark