Game Recap: Astros 4, Cubs 2, Captain Hunter Pence saves the day
Sometimes it just doesn't go your way. Take last night for example. The Cubs and Astros played a combined 7.5 scoreless innings. It was that one inning where there was some offense that things went horribly awry.
First, it should be noted that Lee and Ramirez appear fully busted out of their slumps. Derrecles went 3 for 4, and Aramis went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer. Unfortunately, it continues to appear true that when Lee and Ramirez hit, Soriano doesn't. The Fonz went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.
Ryan Dempster, meanwhile, pitched five solid innings where he gave up 4 hits, 0 walks, and surrendered 0 runs. Unfortunately, though, Dempster pitched six innings total, not five. It was the 4th inning where he briefly came unglued. After giving up a double to start the inning, he walked the next two batters, and he then surrendered a grand slam to this guy:
The Cubs meanwhile simply could not get through on the Astros pitching. Sampson pitched into the 7th inning, and while the Cubs had their opportunities, they just couldn't make the most of them.
Oh well. The rubber game is tonight. Anything could happen, as Gallagher has yet to prove himself to be consistent at the major league level.
One last thing. I posted this in the comments section last night, but I think it's deserving of main page glory. In my continued debate with Goat Reader boredblue, he recently said:
Sean Marshall had that low ERA because Carlos Marmol kept saving his arse. I thought you where the biggest Cub fan or where you not paying attention to the games Marshall pitched instead of loving him from a far and staring at his arse. If he was so good why was he replaced by gulp Steve Thrachsel. And am i wrong or did Lou not even have him on the post season roster. I rest my case. 8 win pitcher. But I could live with him instead of Marquis.
My epic response:
You're asking me to explain why Jim Hendry felt the need to make an idiotic trade rather than trust the team he built?
Anyway, I'm not exactly sure about how much of an affect a relief pitcher can have on a starting pitcher's ERA, unless said starting pitcher leaves with the bases juiced every time he pitches. But, for the record... (and you're going to regret this)
In 19 starts, Marshall averaged around 5 IP per start. He went 7-7 as a starter. In 5 of his 7 losses, he gave up 2 earned runs or fewer.
On June 3rd, Marmol relieved Marshall for the first time after Sean was unable to get out of the 7th inning. However, the Cubs won that game 10-1. Marmol hardly "saved his arse."
His next start, Marshall went 6 innings and left the game without needing an emergency relief appearance from Marmol or anybody else.
On June 13th, Marshall went 8 strong and was successfully relieved by Dempster in a 3-2 win against Seattle.
On June 19th, Marmol came in early for Marshall, went 3 innings, struck out 5, and got the win. He didn't bail our Marshall so much as he bailed out the Cubs. But I think this is the game you had in mind when you made that statement, as it is pretty much the only time all year that Marshall got "his arse saved."
On June 24th, Marshall pitched into the 7th inning and was relieved by Marmol after getting 1 out. Marmol came in with the bases empty. The Cubs won 3-0.
On July 5th, Marmol pitched in the same game as Marshall, although they pitched three or so innings apart.
On July 17th, Marmol relieved Marshall and promptly coughed up the game. When Sean left, it had been a 2-all tie.
Marshall next lost to the D-Backs, on July 22nd. When he left, it was a 1-0 deficit, but Marmol coughed up 2 runs in the 7th.
Against the Reds on July 28th, Marshall got the win. Marmol relieved him in the 7th after Sean surrendered a leadoff single. However, considering that the Cubs won the game 8-1, it's probably unrealistic to suggest that Marmol "saved his ass."
Marshall had his worst outing of the season on August 2nd against the Phillies. Marmol was nowhere to be seen. He followed it up with another loss and another poor performance.
The next time Marshall and Marmol appeared in a game together was on August 24th. Sean went 6 strong innings of 2-hit ball and Marmol took over fresh in the 7th. The Cubs won 6-2; Marmol hardly "saved his arse."
All told, Marshall and Marmol pitched in a number of shared games, but Marshall's general success - and his ERA in particular - hardly had anything to do with Marmol. However, it is accurate to say that Marshall either wore out or lost his edge late in the season. Regardless of that, he OWNED the D-backs last year. Maybe Lou should have used him in the playoffs.
So, I say to you, boredblue, c'mon. You remind me of a Cubs fan I once sat near in 2000 who spouted out BS and entirely wrong statistics as if nobody would know any better. If you're going to make a statement as bold as the ones you've made, it should at least be true.
You've got facts and logic
You've got facts and logic on your side, but what are you going to do to convince me?
I'm totally with you on this, I feel like Marshall gets no love because his stuff is fairly underwhelming, but he gets pretty impressive results despite that. It's probably true that if he were a righty he'd have no business in the league, but as a lefty who's been successful, I think he should be in the rotation. And I thought it was absurd that Trachsel was brought in to bump Marshall which was only possible due to Hendry's successful lobbying to have the technical requirements for being declared dead changed.
Ok you win, the facts dont
Ok you win, the facts dont lie, that is why we need someone as crazy as you are that spends every waken moment thinking Cubs. cudos. However you must admit that Marshall is no better than a fifth starter and in the current rotation we need something much better to go all the way. Hendry was thinkin big in 04 when our rotation started off Wood-Prior-Maddux-Zambrano-Clement. So hopefully by the end of July he could pry away someone like A.J Burnett or Roy Halliday if Toronto is out of it. But you are right I may have let one or two outings that Marshall was saved by Marmol and Hendry bringing in someone like Traachsel to replace Marshall affect my opinion of the tall lefty.
"that is why we need someone
"that is why we need someone as crazy as you are that spends every waking moment thinking Cubs. cudos."
Dude. I write for a Cubs blog. What did you expect? Believe me, I didn't want to go crawling through the game logs but I am dedicated to my craft of choice, which thankfully does not involve touching myself.
I think that in the current rotation, Zambrano, Lilly, and Dempster remain pretty solid if not a little uninspiring. The final two slots of the rotation could be upgraded upon. I long for the day that Marquis is bitterly demoted to long relief, and I hope that Sean Gallagher can be all that he can be, but at this stage I trust Marshall over both of them.
Which isn't to say that I particularly trust Marshall, either. Screw it, this is enough content for a new post, so I will take our debate to the front page yet again.