Baseball Musings: Cubs Lucky Seven

July 25, 2007

Cubs Lucky Seven

The Chicago Cubs now sit just two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers after they defeated the Cardinals 7-1. Ted Lilly allowed just one run over seven innings, while Floyd and Fontenot drove in two each.

Meanwhile, the Brewers fell by a score of 7-3 to the Reds. Cincinnati knocked out thirteen hits tonight, six of them doubles. With five runs allowed in five innings, Jeff Suppan saw his ERA rise above five for the season.

The Cubs are now 21-7 since June 22nd, .750 ball (best in the majors), compared to Milwaukee's 15-14. Chicago took 6 1/2 games off the Brewers' lead over that time. Sometimes playing .500 ball isn't good enough to maintain a big a lead.

Posted by David Pinto at 11:32 PM | Games | TrackBack (0)

Comments

when it all comes down to it, the difference is Lou. sure, our starting pitching completely broke down last year, and our main offensive source was hurt. sure, we went out and spent so much money it's hard to imagine right now, in the offseason. but we were headed for another crappy year, until lou really started giving his no-nonsense approach to the team, and drawing talent from within the organization. the thing is, we were a last place team last year, and it would be an anomaly if we make the playoffs this year, but two years from now it is going to be sultry and sweet.

Oh, and p.s.,
we are going to make the playoffs this year, and win the division.
no way the brewers are lasting and standing up to what we have to offer. I know it's a long season, but it is certainly looking this way.

Posted by: conorj at July 26, 2007 01:09 AM

Ah yes, and folks here in the combox scoffed a few months ago when I predicted a Yankees/Cubs series. Now that they're the two hottest teams in the majors . . . .

Posted by: Yankee Fan in Chicago at July 26, 2007 02:01 AM

The NL is shaping up as a very fun league to follow for the last couple months. All the divisions are still in play, and the wild card is a delightful mess, with six teams within 3 1/2.

Nine of the sixteen clubs still have a real shot at the postseason. Parity may eliminate great teams, but it bunches up a lot of clubs into interesting races. No team in the NL is better than .570 or worse than .414. The best run diff is +59 (for those Cubbies). There just aren't any dominant teams lording it over the masses.

Posted by: Casey Abell at July 26, 2007 09:11 AM

I too like to think that the Cubs' remarkable play over the last 7 weeks is nothing short of a providential sign, promising a long-awaited return to the holy land. When especially one considers the play of Aramis Ramirez (nearing MVP credentials, no doubt), the consistent but ever-increasing in power work of Derrek Lee, and overall stellar performance from the rotation, it indeed seems true that this season might have hidden a trip to October in the cards. But we should all keep a few things in mind. The Cubs still do not have a left-handed relief pitched who can come in and get out a Carlos Beltran, a Carlos Delgado, an Adrian Gonzalez, or (maybe most importantly) a Prince Fielder. Second, the right field situation, which has been graciously avoided thanks to the versatile play of Mark Derosa, is exposing itself as a very important issue the Cubs need to address before the trade deadline expires. Finally, despite the admirable batting averages up and down the line, the power outage we are seeing (with Aramis and Soriano leading the team with only 16 homers a piece) will, unless somehow addressed, come back to hurt us. Though the Cubs have hammered out a lot of hits this year, in some games those hits come randomly, in no succession to one another, or without runners on base. That is why having big time power at a couple of places in the order is critical. (Soriano's numbers would look even paler if it weren't for that 3 homer outburst in Atlanta.) So, though I know the Cubs to be better than the Brewers, too much history and lessons from my own hubris tell me that we must evaluate the weaknesses of this team, as we begin our playoff run, before we offer up a crown. We've got a long way to go, and hopefully this good play lately is not the only taste of heaven in store for this exciting 2007 season.

Posted by: Dan DuBois at July 27, 2007 10:12 AM

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