Sometimes change is good, sometimes not so much so. Yesterday proved both versions of the axiom. PHIL ROGERS at the Tribune talks about how Derrek Lee avoided change by voiding a trade to the Angels. That move ensures that Lee will be a Cub through the end of this season, but there are no guarantees after that. At the Sun Times, RICK MORRISSEY notes that Kenny Williams seems insistent on making a change in the line up that neither the players nor the coaches want. I would add the voice of this pseudo-pundit to that choir. Do they need a pitcher? Yes. A monster bat that clogs the bases? No.
Memo to KW, Ted Lilly’s available.
Now, on to the yesterday’s games.
CARRIE MUSKAT of MLB.com watched the same game we did and wondered, just as we did, how the Cubs could make a pitcher with a 6.08 ERA look like Cy Young.
The Cubs have to be looking forward to playing the Rockies this weekend after dropping another series to a National League Central opponent.
Carlos Lee hit a pair of two-run homers to power the Astros to an 8-1 victory on Wednesday over the Cubs, who dropped to 19-30 against the Central, including a 4-8 record against Houston. They’re 3-9 against the Pirates.
“We treat every game the same as far as I’m concerned,” Cubs starter Randy Wells said. “I think it just comes down to scoring runs. I go out there and give up a three-spot and then we hit a wall. It comes down to scoring runs and pitching and trying to play good games.”
Wells (5-8) walked a season-high five batters and took the loss, serving up one of Lee’s homers. The Astros’ left fielder also connected off rookie Brian Schlitter with two outs in the seventh.
Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano were given the day off, so Tyler Colvin was inserted into the No. 3 spot in the order and Ryan Theriot was back in the leadoff spot. Theriot, Starlin Castro and Colvin were a combined 6-for-11. The only other hit by the Cubs in the game came with two outs in the ninth, when Koyie Hill reached on an infield single.
Theriot singled to start the game and moved up on an error by second baseman Anderson Hernandez. Colvin walked to load the bases, and Theriot scored on Aramis Ramirez’s sacrifice fly. But that was the only run off starter Bud Norris (3-7), who gave up four hits over six innings and struck out seven.
“We had chances early,” manager Lou Piniella said.
“In the first inning, [Norris] could have let that inning get away from him,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “That’s one of the things that’s been a struggle for him to be able to stop it and he was able to do that.”
Wells escaped a jam in the first and again in the fourth. But he walked Lance Berkman to start the sixth, and Hunter Pence followed with an RBI double to tie the game. That ended Wells’ scoreless inning streak at 19 innings. Lee followed with his 13th home run off the left-field foul pole to go ahead, 3-1.
“It’s kind of deceiving,” Wells said of his outing. “I was able to make some pitches and get out of some innings.”
But the right-hander said he lost his “aggressiveness.” It also didn’t help to have baserunners ahead of Lee and Pence.
“I was able to make pitches, but I ran out of luck,” Wells said. “I wasn’t aggressive with Berkman, and Lee made me pay. I thought I threw a pretty good pitch, but it stayed in there and stayed fair. It’s one of those days you’re not happy about, but you have to regroup and get them next time.”
Wells entered the game with a 1.26 ERA in his last four starts, giving up four earned runs in 28 2/3 innings. On Wednesday, he was charged with three runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings.
“The name of the game is trying to be consistent,” Wells said. “You have a rocky first inning, then a good second inning, then a rocky fourth inning. I didn’t have that cruise-control kind of game.
“I felt I had good stuff in the ‘pen and then I walk a guy. It’s no secret that when I have success it’s throwing strikes and working fast and getting the ball on the ground. When you’re starting everybody 2-0 [in the count], it’s just a matter of time before it unravels.”
After Lee’s second homer in the seventh, the Astros added three more in the eighth off Bob Howry. He’s now given up 12 earned runs over 8 2/3 innings in July on 19 hits and three walks. The Cubs’ bullpen could use a day off Thursday.
“We’re pretty well spent,” Piniella said.
The ‘pen will get a fresh arm with the return of Carlos Zambrano, expected to be activated from the restricted list. It’ll be his first chance to talk to the team since his dugout tirade on June 25.
“We’re looking forward to the apology,” Chicago’s Derrek Lee said. “That’s what needs to happen. We also need him on the field. We know what he’s capable of. It will be good to see ‘Z’ back.”
Yes, that would be the same Carlos Zambrano who needed almost 40 pitches to get out of an inning in 3A last night. Even so, with Milwaukee’s recent struggles, the Cubs remain just a game and a half out of third place and Big Star still has his credit card sitting by the phone so he can get his playoff tickets (limit four per caller) as soon as they become available.
On the Southside, the Sox took their same old boring 16-1 recent home record to the field and, after a minor bump in the road, came back to make it 17-1. Before the streak the Sox were 13-18 at home, so this is change for the better. MLB.com’s LOUIE HORVATH notes the Sox scored every way possible to get this win, all without a left handed Clydesdale in the lineup.
The White Sox came back from an early deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5, on Wednesday, marking their 10th consecutive win at U.S. Cellular Field.
Facing an early 5-1 deficit after the Mariners’ half of the second inning, the White Sox used three home runs to get back even, and then used a little “small ball” to push them over the top.
Juan Pierre led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Pierre stole second. He moved to third on Alexei Ramirez’s sacrifice bunt, and then scored when Alex Rios chopped a ball through a drawn-in infield.
“It was a big game for us today. Huge,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We came back right away, twice. Kept going. Offensively we did a lot of great things today. We hit a couple home runs to keep close, tied the game up and JP got on base, stole second, [we] bunt the guy over and [get a] base hit. We did a lot of great things as a team to win this game today. I think as a team, we played very, very well today.”
The Mariners jumped on White Sox starter Mark Buehrle early, but Buehrle settled down and did not give up another run for his next three innings.
“To go out there and be down like we were tonight, I don’t feel like anyone ever panicked,” Gordon Beckham said. “We stayed focused, went out there and won the game.”
That gave the White Sox just enough time to mount a comeback. They started by scoring two runs in the bottom of the second, when Beckham hit a two-run home run off Mariners started Jason Vargas.
“When you get runs, you have to protect them because these guys can really hit in this ballpark,” Vargas said.
The South Siders tied the score in the bottom of the fifth when Ramirez and Paul Konerko both slugged almost identical solo home runs down the left-field line.
Once Pierre scored his run to put the White Sox ahead, the question on everyone’s mind was, ‘Who is going to close this game out?’ Incumbent closer Bobby Jenks had seemed to be deposed of his closer’s role after two blown saves during the recent road trip.
But as the innings kept going by, all the possible closers entered: Sergio Santos, Matt Thornton and J.J. Putz. After the final out in the top of the eighth, Jenks started loosening up in the White Sox bullpen.
Looking back from the end of the season, the real story of the game might just be Jenks’ scoreless ninth inning. Jenks shook off any doubt and delivered three strikeouts to close the game in dominating fashion, like the Jenks of old.
Something else reminded the locker room crowd of the old Jenks.
“Just like when one of you guys thought it was low, I’m still not talking about velocity,” he said.
With that, Jenks clearly had his job as closer back—not that he’d ever lost it.
“We’re behind him 100 percent, not because he saved this game today,” Guillen said. “The reason he was there is because I have confidence in him. From the day he blew the save, I don’t think we had another save situation until today. We know when Bobby’s right. We know when Bobby can do what he can do.”
The win will certainly help the White Sox forget a rough start from Buehrle, who gave up five earned runs and nine hits in five innings of work.
“We won the game, that’s all that matters,” Buehrle said. “But personally it was frustrating going out there and only going five innings. I got us into a hole early and we battled back, so obviously you never want to go out there and give less than six or seven innings, but the bullpen picked me up and our offense picked us up.”
Buehrle was in trouble when Mariners second baseman Chone Figgins hit his first home run of the season deep into the left-field seats in the second inning to make it 5-1. After that swing, Buehrle allowed three hits and no runs over 3 1/3 innings.
“He went out there and was fighting,” Guillen said. “Buehrle didn’t have his best stuff today, but he went out and battled and kept us in the game and the bullpen did the rest.”
The bullpen came in and also held the Mariners at bay.
“The whole game, I felt like we were going to win that game,” Beckham said. “That’s the way it’s been going for us, we’re playing well, and we’ve just got to ride it as long as we can.”
The Sox play their final game against Seattle today and then Seattle heads off to get strapped down in front of the buzz saw known as the Minnesota Twins. I’d feel sorry for them except I have every intention of cheering for them during that series. The Sox get the A’s for the weekend series so now would be a very good time for them to put some distance between them and the piranhas.
In non-baseball news, the Bears began arriving at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais to begin training camp tomorrow. They are going to try and show how different they are from their last 3 years by trotting out most of the same puzzle pieces they had before, they’re just rearranged. Since the defense is still going to be a “Cover-2” based endeavor and the offense is going to be predicated on Jay Cutler showing maturity and patience, lots of fans are wondering if competitive ice dancing will be on the tube this fall.
Maybe tournament level curling?