History happened today when Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter against the worst offense in the American League. Fans everywh- huh? Sorry, you mean to say that there's good baseball beyond the east coast? My bad. I almost got sucked in.
Speaking of "sucked," tonight's game against the Astros went about as well as we could hope. The Iceman won again, allowing only 2 runs before being chased in the 6th. The bullpen then buckled down and held the door shut - Lieber, Marmol, and Howry left the Astros scoreless. I leave out Michael Wuertz because he apparently drew the "make it interesting" card before today's game and allowed two hits without making a single out in the 8th. Actually, what made the deal particularly interesting is that with runners in scoring position and no outs, against Tejada, Berkman, and Carlos Lee - not sure if you guys know this or not, but they're all pretty good - Carols Marmol stepped in and left them swinging at dust.
Let's stop for a brief moment in appreciation for how Marmol pitched tonight. It is truly not very often that a pitcher can square off against the three best hitters of a dangerous lineup with runners in scoring position and ZERO outs and accomplish what turned out to be three easy outs. Baseball fans every season look for certain moments within certain games in which the epiphany arrives and they just know that they are watching a special team, and the Cubs may have had their first of the year tonight. I'll say it again for emphasis. With no outs and two runners in scoring position, Carlos Marmol squared off against the heart of the Astros order while facing a hostile Houston crowd AND HE EFFIN' SHUT THEM DOWN. WOOOOOOOOO!
Ahem. Sorry. Lost my head there for a second.
Meanwhile, did you know that the Cubs have the best hitting catcher in perhaps all of baseball? Geovany Soto only collected 1 hit tonight in his 5 at bats, but what a hit it was. He smacked a 3-run inside the park homerun in the 4th. I hear that Houston ownership saw that play and promptly hunted down the ballpark architect and gouged out his eyes for building a freakin' hill in center field with a gordamn flagpole.
A hill in center field with a flag pole? Brilliant!
The Guinness guys approve.
Perhaps the best news of the night is that Derrek, Aramis, and Fooky broke their slumps. D.Lee went 2 for 5, Aramis went 3 for 5 with a homer, and Fooky went 2 for 4 with a walk. But since the Cubs offense apparently lives on a teter-totter, Alfonso Soriano was hitless. C'mon, guys, I wanna see the Cubs score 30 runs in a game already! Get it together!
Oh, and lastly, Ryan Theriot mocked Colin with a 2 for 5 game, including a double. Cubs win, and they play for series dominance tomorrow night.
