I Want to Cry..... Again

The man who I would want to narrate my life, Keith Jackson has decided to end his college football play-by-play days, ending a career that lasted over 40 years, read more here. It is a sad day for college football, but after losing the BCS to Fox, you had to kind of figure this was a possibility for the golden throated 77 year old.

-Until next time...

Morning Report

Astros (how is this still possible)
Reds -.5 (again, this makes no sense)
Cardinals -1.0
Cubs -2.5
Brewers -3.5
Pirates -11.0

Brewers 5 vs. Braves 4

The first time the Brewers have ever swept the Braves and it came at a great time for the Brewers who really needed all three of the wins to end their home stand on a positive note and actually finished it with a winning record. Now, they will move onto Wrigley Field and take on the Cubs in what should be a very entertaining series, as long as the rain holds off.


Friday:

Brewers @ Cubs -1:20


Cubs 5 vs. Marlins 7

Angel Guzman did ....okay.... in his first major league start. Not terrible, not very good, but did enough to have his team tied 3-3 when he left. It is a little curious that Baker had Guzman bat a half inning before he took him out of the game, but oh well. The bullpen failed the Cubs as Williamson let up a 2 run double to Wes freaking Helms. I hated Helms when he was with the Brewers, and now have new reasons to hate him. Well, the Cubs still won the series, so that's good, but they couldn't extend their season tying long win streak of 3 games.


Friday:

Cubs vs. Brewers -1:20


-Until next time...

Morning Report

Astros
Reds -.5
Cardinals -1.0
Cubs -1.5
Brewers -3.5
Pirates -10.0

Brewers 4 vs Braves 2

Prince Fielder continued to rake last night and Geoff Jenkins socked a home run to help the Brewers win the series and take the first 2 games of a series they desperately needed to win. They beat Tim Hudson which was nice as he has been one of the winningest pitchers in the Majors since 2000. Although it was cool out yesterday, it is quite amazing how few fans attend these games.

Chipper Jones returned to the lineup and hit a 2 run home run off of Brewers starter Toma Ohka, but thanks to Prince and a little bit of Geoff, the Crew was able to come back yet again and win the game. Hopefully they can win again today on getaway day to set up a pretty big series in Chicago this weekend with the Cubs.

Today:

Brewers vs. Braves -12:05pm


Cubs 3 Marlins 1

Speaking of raking, Matt Murton has been hitting the ball quite well in this series. 3-3 with 2 RBI last night after tying the game with a single in the 8th inning on Monday night. Murton was one of the players given up by the Red Sox in the Nomar-Cabrera-Alex Gonzalez trade of 2004. So far, that trade worked out pretty well for both the Cubs and Red Sox. The Red Sox won the World Series that year with Orlando Cabrera at short, the Cubs suffered through the Nomar-era, but are reaping the benefits now with the young and speedy Murton patroling left field. The Red Sox must have had a pretty deep farm system, come to think of it, considering they also gave up Hanley Ramirez who is starting at short for the Marlins now.

Anyway, back to the game last night. I can finally say this with some conviction, WE FINALLY HAVE A LEFT HANDED STARTER! Yes, yes, I know there were like 23 rookies in the Marlins line-up, but still, Sean Marshall twirled a great game last night, 7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, quite a good show going up against Dontrelle Willis. Plus, he threw one curve ball last night that made my knees buckle, and I was watching the game on tv!

With the win yesterday, the Cubs have still only lost 1 series, and will have a very difficult series against the Brewers this weekend. I can't wait to get down there on Saturday, watch the game, and then go to the game on Sunday. It should be good times.

Today:

Cubs vs. Marlins 1:20


-Until next time...

Morning Report

Astros
Reds -.5
Cardinals -1.0
Cubs -1.5
Brewers -3.5
Pirates -9.0


Brewers 3 vs. Braves 2

A big win for the Crew last night and Corie Koskie finally got a big hit with his absolute bomb that gave Chris Capuano and the Brewers the victory. As Gaddis said last night, the Brewers need to win 2 of 3 in this series with the lineup the Braves are throwing out there. It was a solid outing by Capuano, who is turning into the stopper on this staff with Sheets not fully back to form.

As much as I HATE Bill Schroeder and Darren Sutton, I have to say they were right on with Prince Fielder. After he started his season 0-12, he has been absolutely raking the ball and is hitting over .370 right now, including 3-3 last night.

It was nice to see the Brewers win last night and hopefully they can keep it up in this series and end the home stand on a positive note.

Tonight:

Brewers vs. Braves 7:05



Cubs 6 vs. Marlins 3

I was so mad during this game that I left during the 6th inning to go hit golf balls. When I returned, the Cubs were still down 3-0 and were being 1 hit by a guy who had a +7 ERA coming in. The top fo the order was a combined 0-9 although Todd Walker should have been 3-3 save for 3 outstanding defensive plays by the Marlins.

Then came the magical 8th inning. By the way, thanks ESPN for letting us relive the game 6 meltdown from the 2003 NLCS. I didn't remember what happened, so thanks for bringing that up again. I did like that they showed the Alex Gonzalez error with one out and the Cubs up by 2 which probably would have ended the inning on a double play. That play was much more devastating than the foul ball Moises Alou wasn't able to make a play on. Anyway, a great at bat by Pierre leading to a double, Cedeno continues to impress by drawing a walk, Walker walked on 5 pitches, Ramirez got on after an error on the throw home, Barrett struck out, Murton singled home two runs, and here's what went through my head when Jacques Jones stepped up to the plate, "Whatever you do, you idiot, don't swing at the first pitch from this guy." What happened? He swung at the first pitch and deposited the ball in the seats, and Ryan Dempster came on to pitch a perfect 9th inning and get his 5 save of the season and 24th straight. Games like this remind me of why I love baseball.

Tonight:

Cubs vs. Marlins 7:05pm


-Until next time...

Morning Report

Astros
Reds -1.5
Cardinals -2.0
Brewers -2.5
Brewers -4.5
Pirates -9.0

Brewers 0 vs. Reds 11

Doug Davis is definitely NOT the pitcher he was last season, at least early on. The guy can't seem to find the strike zone and the Reds ended up returning the 11-0 favor they received from the Brewers the day before. They have won only 2 times in the past week and it doesn't get any easier with Atlanta coming to town for 3 games starting tonight. Starting off the homestand 1-3 after a 3-6 road trip is not what the doctor ordered. Maybe the 5-0 start was just the result of playing Pittsburgh and Arizona and not a picture as to what the whole season would be. I said the Brewers would win 3 of 4 in this series, and I was exactly wrong, but Saturday showed what this team is capable of. Unfortunately, the bats cooled with the weather on Sunday.

Tonight:

Brewers vs Braves- 7:05pm


Cubs 7 @ Cardinals 3

A tough week for the Cubs came to an end on a high note Sunday afternoon as Greg Maddux twirled another great game and lowered his now league leading ERA to .99. The guy has been awesome this year. As I was driving yesterday, I saw a guy with a mullet reving the engine on his Firebird T-top and wondered if it was 1987 again. The way Maddux is pitching, it makes me think it is 1992 again.

For the Cubs to keep winning, though, Juan Pierre is going to have to get on base more and Aramis Ramirez is going to have to start hitting over .190. The upcoming series against Florida should allow them to get at least 2 wins, and then set up a huge series with Milwaukee, who could be desperate for a win by the weekend.

Tonight:

Cubs vs Marlins- 6:05


-Until next time...