Chicago Cubs Baseball

Over the past nine games, I don't know what happened but this team has lost the ability to put teams away.  Out of the last nine games, six of those were quality starts from our starting pitchers...that's a pretty good problem to have and none of those Q.S. came at the hands of either Big Z or Harden.  Who would've thought?  If you had told me that our pitching would still be mosing along without either of those guys; I would've slapped the tar feathers out of you.  Marshall looked great.  Marquis has brought his A-game in this stretch.

The real crime hasn't been the pitching, but just the simple fact that the club hasn't deliveried the killer blow when we have the chance.  We find ourselves in great situations too, bases loaded nobody out, runners on first and third less than two outs, leadoff man gets on, but the boys continue to find new ways to strand runners.  If I hear the phrase, "6-4-3 double play," courtesy of D-Lee again; we'll need to find the a guy a new priest or something, because this man is obviously cursed.  Balls that normally would be homerunds dying at the warning track.  Hitting rocket liners right at fielders.  Making non-productive outs.  Etc.   During this stretch, this club has stranded an average of eight men on base per game.  As great as Brett Meyer pitched, we still left nine men on.  As effective as Jamie Moyer pitched we left ten men on base.  Even when Big Z left in the fifth with his shoulder problem and Bob Howry tried his best to give the game to Houston, we still left 12 men on base against Brandon Backe.  Randy Wolf one of this year's worst road pitchers managed to strand 6 Cubs.  We left 9, 9, and 10 on in the Cincy series.  And last night, we let the Cardinals off the hook by stranding eight men.  If at any time we managed to come up with a walk, wild pitch, texas leaguer, anything in those run scoring situations; we would be looking at an incredible lead in the division instead we find ourselves listening to the same ol' crap from naysayers...oh, "It's the Cubs, 101 years, Bartman, etc."

Is this team really this bad?  No, because we're still getting great pitching from the likes of Lilly, Marquis, Marshall, and Demp.  Poor Demp, the man should be seeking his 19th win and among the Cy Young talks if it wasn't for the missed opportunities of our offense.  Our bullpen even though they've struggled a tad here and there, they continue to battle.  Even with all the problems that the offense has had late in games, this core group is still pretty solid...I mean, we're putting dudes on at an alarming rate.  I still feel strongly that this team will turn it around sometime this week and the hits will start to fall as they may.

Right now, these opposing pitchers keep allowing us to put men on at an alarming rate...I can't wait to see the look on their faces when this Cubs offense once again starts regaining their stroke.  It's going to be ugly because this team should be pi$$ed.  Lets go Cubs!!!!!