Results tagged ‘ lineups ’
Iowa-Chicago shuttle
There were three new faces in the clubhouse today, as general manager Jim Hendry recalled slugger Jake Fox and selected the contracts of infielder Andres Blanco and left-hander Jason Waddell. Lefty Neal Cotts and infielder Bobby Scales were optioned to Iowa, while Aaron Miles was placed on the 15-day DL.
Some Triple-A numbers for you:
Fox: .423 AVG/.503 OBP/.886 SLG with 17 homers and 50 RBIs in 40 games
Blanco: .314/.349/.451 with nine doubles in 43 games
Waddell: 5.51 ERA with 17 hits, one home run, seven walks and 12 strikeouts in 16.2 innings
Those of you following along with Vine Line’s minor-league notebooks will know that Blanco has a great glove and has done well to improve his bat tremendously since joining the Cubs organization. Fox can mash, especially fastballs, and has adjusted his hitting approach since his major-league debut with the 2007 Cubs.
Finishing off the Pirates
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Bradley, RF
Lee, 1B
Johnson, CF
Soto, C
Freel, 3B
Blanco, 2B
Zambrano, RHP
Left-hander Zach Duke (5-4, 2.77 ERA) closes out the series for the Pirates.
Time to start a winning streak.
Country Music Night
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Bradley, RF
Hoffpauir, 1B
Fontenot, 2B
Hill, C
Freel, 3B
Marshall, LHP
Right-hander Ian Snell (1-5, 4.88 ERA) pitches for the Pirates.
Needing that win
A win tonight would put us right back at .500. And Carlos Zambrano returns to the rotation tomorrow afternoon, after missing a couple weeks due to a strained hamstring.
Frying the Friars
Nice to get that one in yesterday. It was a power show for a while there. Today marks the last home game against the Padres in 2009.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, RF
Hoffpauir, 1B
Soto, C
Johnson, CF
Scales, 3B
Miles, 2B
Dempster, RHP
Right-hander Chad Gaudin (0-2, 4.08 ERA), released by the Cubs at the end of spring training, pitches for the Padres.
Game 2 vs. the Pads
Let’s hope the Padres can bring some weather worthy of San Diego tonight.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Fontenot, 2B
Soto, C
Freel, 3B
Lilly, LHP
Tall right-hander Chris Young (2-1, 4.76 ERA) pitches for the Padres.
Ryan Dempster and former Cub Chad Gaudin are slated to pitch tomorrow.
Media facts
Cubs closer Kevin Gregg has saved five of the team’s last eight wins, and finished two others, dating to May 1 … the right-hander is six-for-seven in save situations this season, having successfully converted his last five opportunities. …
Cubs pitchers have 18 quality starts this season, tied for third-most in the majors … the Brewers lead baseball with 20 quality starts while Pittsburgh is second with 19. …
The Cubs have scored four or more runs in all 18 of their victories, but have plated three or fewer runs in 12 of their 14 losses …
Battle of two great right arms
Tonight’s game features two of the game’s most electric arms: Rich Harden and Jake Peavy. Here’s the Cubs lineup for tonight, which once again includes first baseman Derrek Lee in the heart of the order.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Fontenot, 3B
Soto, C
Miles, 2B
Harden, RHP
Right-hander Jake Peavy is 2-4 with a 4.27 ERA.
Cubs through 31 games
Our media relations department provides the following chart of the last three years at this point:
2009: 17-14 (4th, 2.5 GB)
2008: 18-13 (2nd, 1.5 GB)
2007: 16-15 (2nd, 6.5 GB)
The Cubs are 7-3 in May so far, tied for third in baseball …
Milton Bradley is hitting for a .300 AVG/.364 OBP/.500 SLG over his last five games (20 at-bats). He was batting .128/.305/.255 over 47 at-bats prior to that …
Alfonso Soriano ranks third in major-league history with 52 leadoff home runs. Ricky Henderson is first with 81, and Craig Biggio ranks second with 53.
Wrapping up the homestand
The Cubs will try to make it a 5-1 homestand this afternoon against the Giants. Lou is resting a number of regulars for the game:
Gathright, CF
Miles, SS
Fukudome, RF
Lee, 1B
Hoffpauir, LF
Fontenot, 3B
Scales, 2B
Hill, C
Marshall, LHP
Right-hander Tim Lincecum (2-1, 3.16 ERA) will pitch for the Giants.
Earned pinstripes
Bobby Scales makes his first career start today. I had the opportunity to talk to him earlier about his first call-up to the big leagues, after 10 years and 1,013 games in the minors. He said he’s taking everything one day at a time — knowing that he could be shuttling back and forth between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago. And he said he is up here with the mindset to do absolutely anything the team wants him to do.
As you can imagine, he said being in uniform and the Wrigley Field dugout last night was an unbelievable experience. Today, he gets the chance to help the major-league club win.
Iowa reunion
Right-hander Randy Wells also was in the clubhouse this morning, though he has not officially been called up yet and won’t be in uniform today. He exchanged hugs with Scales and Jeff Samardzija, who has spent parts of this season and last in Des Moines.
– Sean Ahmed
Night-day vs. the Giants
It will be a quick series played against the Giants in less than 24 hours — tonight’s game at 7:05 p.m. and a 1:20 p.m. game tomorrow afternoon.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Bradley, RF
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Soto, C
Johnson, CF
Miles, 2B
Dempster, RHP
Left-hander Jonathan Sanchez (1-1, 2.60 ERA) will pitch for the Giants.
30 is the new 20
That’s the name of Bobby Scales’ MLBlog, which you should check out for a couple cool posts on Pacific Coast League travel and looking back at some of his early years in the minors. The Cubs selected Scales’ contract from Triple-A Iowa today, placing Carlos Zambrano on the 15-day DL with a hamstring injury.
Fergie and friends
A day after having his No. 31 retired along with Greg Maddux, Fergie Jenkins had a meet and greet over at Harry Caray’s Tavern, across the street from the ballpark. Fergie was promoting the book Dugout Wisdom, a collection of accounts from several Hall of Famers, including Jenkins himself.
Greg Maddux and Fergie Jenkins Day
Wrigley Field is abuzz with the presence of one current Hall of Famer, Fergie Jenkins, and one sure-fire future one, Greg Maddux. Their uniform No. 31 will be retired in a pregame ceremony starting at 12:40 p.m.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Fontenot, 3B
Soto, C
Miles, 2B
Zambrano, RHP
Right-hander Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 6.92 ERA) pitches for the Marlins.
Game 2 vs. Marlins
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Bradley, RF
Lee, 1B
Johnson, CF
Soto, C
Miles, 2B
Fontenot, 3B
Harden, RHP
Left-hander Graham Taylor (0-1, 9.82 ERA) takes the hill for Florida.
Memorable moment
One of the most fun parts about Wrigley Field crowds comes when hearing the reaction to certain peripheral developments. We all remember the sudden cheers from last year’s postseason run when the out-of-town manual scoreboard would be updated with a favorable result against the Cards or Brewers.
Last night there was Carlos Zambrano stepping into the on-deck circle as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. “Z!” “Z!” “Z!” It’s Cubs fans’ version of word of mouth. And sure enough, with fans on their feet, Big Z struck a solid base hit up the middle.
The NBA’s April
There were several hundred people standing around the concourse TVs by the time the Bulls-Celtics game reached the second of three overtimes. What a finish. Congrats to Chicago’s basketball team for pushing an unbelievable first-round series to seven games.
Fish in water
The Marlins are in town for their one and only visit to Wrigley Field this season. The team will head to Florida at the end of July for the only other series between these two teams this year.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Fontenot, 3B
Hill, C
Miles, 2B
Marshall, LHP
Young right-hander Chris Volstad (2-0, 2.70 ERA) pitches for the Marlins.
Game notes from our media relations department
APRIL COMES TO A CLOSE: With a 10-10 mark thus far, the Cubs need a victory tonight to secure their sixth winning April in their last seven seasons dating to 2003 … Chicago was 17-10 at the end of April last season after going 10-14 in 2007 – prior to that the Cubs hadn’t had a sub-.500 record heading into May since 2002 (8-16).
OUTSTANDING OUTFIELD: Cubs outfielders have combined to hit 13 home runs this season, tied with the Brewers and White Sox for the most in all of baseball … Cubs outfielders have also drawn 36 walks this season, fifth in the National League.
