Cardinals @ Cubs [04/20/07] Game Thread (Game 16 of 162)

[2poor]

Just to get this out of the way...

CARDINALS SUCK!@#

Real baseball fans


Cardinals @ Cubs | 2:20 EST | TV: CSN

Cardinals were 2-8 at Wrigley last year, one of the lone bright spots the Cubs had last year.

v.

Pitching matchup
CHC: LHP Ted Lilly (1-1, 2.37 ERA)
Lilly has an 8-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio (24:3) in three starts spanning 19 innings.

STL: RHP Braden Looper (2-1, 2.37 ERA)
After relieving exclusively his first nine Major League seasons, Looper has allowed only five runs and 15 hits in 19 innings in his first three career starts.

Player to watch
Barrett, whose homer provided the game-winning run in Thursday night's victory in Atlanta, is hitting .636 (7-for-11) with two doubles and an RBI lifetime against Looper.

Run support is key, Lilly's loss this year came against the Reds in a 1-0 game.

One can only assume the cream of the crop as far as Cardinals fans will be flocking to the Friendly Confines..


Should be gorgeous weather for baseball this weekend, lets make it less enjoyable for Cardinals fans


With another


LET'S GO CUBS!

[2poor]

Regarding Soriano..

Cubs fans should not get their hopes up for a miracle appearance by center fielder Alfonso Soriano in the upcoming weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Manager Lou Piniella put any possibility of that to rest.

"He ran today, and he was about 75 percent," said Piniella. "Mark O'Neal, our trainer, feels that by Monday or Tuesday, he'll be ready to play. He'll run again on Saturday in Chicago, in cooler weather, see how he feels, maybe even a little bit on Sunday and then be ready to play by Monday or Tuesday. That's the scenario we have for Soriano."

Regarding base running blunders..

The inability to get Matt Murton home from third base with nobody out, and then not advance both Michael Barrett and Murton from second and third with one out in the eighth inning on Wednesday night was the final straw for Piniella as far as the team's baserunning.

The Cubs' skipper announced that he is bringing in the club's outfield/base running coordinator, Bob Dernier, to run a clinic.

Dernier stole 218 bases in his career, while only getting caught 63 times, a 77.6 percent success rate, and in 1984 set a then-franchise single-season record for steals by a center fielder with 45.

"We're going to work on some things with our leads and so forth, try to improve our baserunning," said Piniella. "I haven't been totally pleased with that aspect of our game. We're going to bring him in and really go over some things, including stealing bases."

One thing he'll probably go over with the Cubs players is when, and more important, when NOT to steal. Second baseman Ryan Theriot provided a perfect example of the latter in the first inning Thursday night.

After singling and stealing second, Theriot was thrown out attempting to steal third on a 2-0 pitch with Derrek Lee at the plate and Aramis Ramirez on deck.

[GYBE]

Looking forward to watching this one. Love playing the Cards and it will be interesting to see who falls down to earth first between Looper and Lilly (neither are as good as they've played so far).

[mizzoupacers]

Man, those Cards fans from southern Illinois are embarrassing. They must not have very good public schools to go to.

Good luck to the Cubs this weekend. Lilly should hold up for at least one more start, we couldn't score three runs against an above-average Little Leaguer right now.

[fuzion]

It's ok, we'll get to see how Pie plays!

[GYBE]

No we won't. Jones is manning CF. Kill me now.

The Riot with the first Cubby hit of the day. Floyd's hitting 2nd, he's up now.

[2poor]

Ugh.

I'll give Lou the benefit of the doubt and assume he has good stats against Looper or something.

Really no reason why Pie shouldn't be in center though, unless Jones is 19 for 20 with 15 homers against Looper.

[2poor]

Nice to have Ramirez back in the lineup, RBI single!

(12 game hitting streak now to start the year)

1-0 Cubs, runners on the corners with only 1 out.

Good start.

[2poor]

Well that was short-lived.

[GYBE]

Too bad the back half of our lineup is really weak today. With Alfonso out, Barrett shouldn't be taking this many off days.

[mattbulls]

It nice to Lilly get a little Run Support early on!

[2poor]

Nice to have two lefties in the rotation who are actually _good_ pitchers rather than in the past, where we had lefties like Estes in the rotation just for the sake of having a lefty starter.

[2poor]

Why the hell isn't Barrett starting BTW?

I had him as my player to watch and everything.

(and right on cue, Blanco doubles to shut me up)

[GYBE]

Barrett should be starting. On TV they excused it by saying Lou is changing the lineups so much to find the best combination. I can safely say Blanco should not be in consideration for a spot. It's early in the season, Barrett doesn't need this much rest.

[2poor]

With runners in scoring position, is there anyone you'd rather see at the plate than Ramirez?

I mean Lee, Barrett, are fantastic and great run producers, but for some reason I feel most confident in Ramirez's abilities to get runs home.

[GYBE]

I feel just as confidant with Derrek. I mean, his OBP is so high and he never seems to make those rally killing outs. Both are awesome though, we just need consistent guys on base so they can take care of business.

[2poor]

Lilly continues to impress.

27 SO/3 BB

[GYBE]

Damn.

[2poor]

Ouch, Preston Wilson with a 2-run bomb, 2-1 Cards.

Lilly still taking it from behind in the run support department.

[Triple M]

ouch indeed, the old walk than trot