The new Cardinals

The Brewers are the new Cardinals. Sure, the Beermakers-Cubs rivalry has been building up steam for a few years now, and really became a marquee (not Marquis) match-up last year. But, losses to the Brewers have somehow always made me feel: "Well, at least it wasn't the Cardinals."

No more. Today's 4-3 loss to the Brewers--even though it's just the fourth game of the season and the Cubs are now 2-2--took a lot out of me, and made me realize how much the losses to the Brewers hurt. And it wasn't just the bottom-9th comeback to tie and win by the Brew Crew. A pretty good pitching duel between Rich Harden and Braden Looper early on netted Harden 10 strikeouts, but had him losing 2-1, with one of the runs unearned and derived from a 1st inning error by Ryan Theriot.

The Cubs moved ahead in the 6th inning on a 2-run homer by Koyie Hill, subbing for the injured Geovany Soto. In the epically-long bottom of the 7th inning, 3 different Cubs pitchers were used to walk to Brewers batter and hit another before Carlos Marmol finally shut things down. Yet, the early appearance by Marmol seemed like a bad omen (Over the three final innings, the Cubs pen would walk 5 batters.) Lou Piniella turned to Luis Vizcaino in the 8th, but needed closer Kevin Gregg to come in and get the last out of the inning.

In the 9th, Gregg got the first batter to ground out, but looked shaky against the second man, walking him on a pitch that bounced about 8 feet in front of the plate, a pitch that Hill would later take the blame for. Next batter: Rickie Weeks, of the swing-and-hope-it's-a-fastball school of hitting. Weeks, who had an uncharacteristically great day in the field up to that point, got what he wanted.

Gregg, perhaps over-compensating for the previosu walk, grooved it down the middle, and Weeks pounded it over Alfonso Soriano's head in left. It seemed like a bad choice of pitch by Gregg against a notorious free-swinger, though Weeks had the count in his favor, so that makes for a pretty tough call. The thing that sort of bugs me a little bit more is we saw another late reaction and pitiful attempt by Soriano to reach the ball hit by Weeks. He seemed to be playing fairly deep, and the baseball textbook would likely say that in that situation (runner on 1st, up by 1 run, bottom of the 9th) you want to play deep to stop a double. So, what happened? Was it hit so hard, Soriano could do nothing but wave lamely? Was the sun, coming through the window wall of Miller Park on the 1st base side, a factor in his ability to see the ball?

Maybe I'm being tough on Al-So, but he seems to land in the middle of these types of situations. I'm willing to think I'm over-reacting right now, and that it's entirelly possible I'll cool off about this later. But, I think I now hate losing to the Brewers more than anybody.

Quiet bats, disquieting thoughts

The White Sox have mustered a single run in their last 18 innings, and that run came after 17 quiet innings. It also took 2 outs to get the run in after Carlos Quentin doubled to lead off the bottom of the 9th inning yesterday. The Sox managed to get another 2 runners aboard against K.C. closer Joakim Soria, but new Sox player Wilson Betemit struck out to end it: Royals 2 Sox 1.

The Sox have a bit of comeback in them--they have for the last few years now. It always seems like the Great and Powerful Oz knows how to push the right buttons when the Sox are down to their last outs and need to at least tie the game.

But, there has been a disturbing lack of offensive energy in the first few games, which is not the way you want to go into a series against the hated Minnesota Piranhas. Thinking back, most of the spring training slate saw a lack of coring by the White Sox when other teams were coring 15 runs a game (the typical spring trend). Maybe spring games mean nothing, but right now, the Sox look an awful lot like they did during spring training.

The lead-off spot continues to lead to headaches. Chris Getz was 0-4 yesterday, though I think he may hold the job for a while--basically because there are few options after Getz and DeWayne Wise, who apparently didn't do enough bunting drills this spring. Josh Field may be the next to take first whacks if Getz bombs.

It's early yet, of course, and the whole line-up needs to wake up, not just the lead-off spot. Quentin and Alexei Ramirez have been looking desperate at the plate so far, for example. Still, it's funny how the Sox went into the off-season needing a lead-off man, didn't get a proven one, and now guess what looks like the most obvious problem area? (Of course, I mean funny-annoying, not funny-ha-ha...).

The Cubs play in Milwaukee at 3:05 p.m. I wonder how long Rich Harden will last.

Fukie's back

I actually have three games to discuss very quickly:

Tuesday night:
Astros 3 Cubs 2

Tonight:
Royals 2 Sox 0
Cubs 11 Houston 6

Tuesday night's 10-inning loss to Houston was almost a comeback victory, with Alfonso Soriano homering for the second game in a row, this time an 8th inning shot that tied a game that no one seemed to wnat to win. Both offenses left numerous men on base. Both starters were effective enough, but neither was dominant. The Cubs bullpen pitched well after Ryan Dempster left losing 2-1. Kevin Gregg inherited a 10th-inning jam, and did the best he could with it, inducing, as he himself noted in the Tribune, a doubel play ball that didn't go to one of his fielders (That's almost a Yogi-ism). No, not much happened at all in this game, and it sort of looked like exactly what it was--an early season game in which both teams were feeling their way around.

Tonight's Sox game was almost the same, as Gavin Floyd pitched well enough to win--that is, well enough to win if the Sox offense gave him 3 runs, which they did not. The offense looked anemic, mustering only 3 hits, but it also logged 3 walks, which is 3 more than in the previous game. Hitters overall were more patient, but Zack Greinke, who supposedly is destined for a break-out year this season, was lock-down good for 6 IP. Unlike in the opener, K.C.'s bullpen also was very good.

Like the Sox bats, K.C.'s offense barely got going tonight, but did manage to push across 2 runs. I'm going to resiste the temptation to worry about the Sox hitters for at least another game or two, though I do wonder if DeWayne Wise, 0-the season leading off this far, is headed for the bench. Despite being 1-1, this seems like an area where the Great and Powerful Oz will have no patience whatsoever. Look for Brian Anderson in center field soon, and perhaps Chris Getz leading off.

Meanwhile, the Cubs offense did explode tonight after two fairly quiet games, and it was led by none other than Kosuke Fukudome, who played like it was April 2008: 4-5, HR, BB, SB, double. A-Ram and Mighty Mite also drove in 4 runs each in an 11-6 win to take sthe series in Houston. Who knows where the year will take Fukie, but he found himself for at least one night.

Meanwhile, Ted Lilly could not find himself, even staked with an 8-0 lead. Mr. Stability of the Cubs pitching staff gave up 4 HRs, though he was kind enough to do so without filling the bases first. Still, he last long enough. Young David Patton gave up a HR to the first batter he faced, but Carlos Marmol and Angel Guzman (the latter pitching the 9th!) kept the Astros at bay. The Cubs now have some momentum to build on as they head to Milwaukee.

Getz gets my bets

I have been a critic of White Sox 2B Chris Getz since last year--or more accurately, not a critic of Getz so much as a critic of what seemed like a campaign by Kenny Williams starting as early as last October to push getz as the Sox starting 2B this year.

Getz seemed to have a bit of speed, a decent glove and contact-hitter potential, but GM Kenny touted him as a regular 2B even before the free agent market began last fall. At the beginning of spring, it looked like Gordon Beckham could challenge the commitment to Getz, but after Beckham faded a bit, Getz came on strong with a great spring training and truly earned the starter's job. In yesterday's opener, he batted second and went 2-4, and with lead-off man DeWayne Wise going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, I'm betting that Getz is ticketed for the lead-off spot soon, possibly as early as tonight.

Other random notes from the opener:

-Buerhle was in fact struggling, but the Royals helped him out be leaving 11 men on base.

-The Sox left 12 men on base, and it seemed like even more at the time.

-The Sox drew 0 BBs. Gil Meche will not help you out in that department, but the Sox need to remember that patience is a virtue.

Thome-time

Chicago is unbeaten so far this baseball season, with the record standing at 2-0 after the White Sox pulled off a thrilling (at least the 8th inning was thrilling) 4-2 victory over the K.C. Royals today. Both Chicago teams have won their openers. 161 games left.

I didn't catch as much of the game as I hoped, but saw some great defense and hitting from Josh Fields, and of course, Jim Thome blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the 8th for the winner. Mark Buerhle wasn't his usual efficient self--cause for concern after a lousy spring. It seemen like Buehrle had someone on in every single inning, though I haven't looked that closely at my TiVo or the box score yet.

Meanwhile, it appeared like Gil Meche, always tough, was mowing through Sox hitters in a fairly quick game. But, you can always count on The Farns to give up a big homer at just the right time.

I'll follow up a little later with further observations...

Opening Day: Hits and misses

Well, because the White Sox postponed (perhaps prematurely) their opener by one day, I am left on the bench, unable to make the trip down to the Southside because of a prior work commitment. It's the first time I will fail to report for a Sox opener since, I think, 1999.

Too bad for many reasons, but also because today is about as nice as early April weather gets in Chicago. Brightly sunny, high 40s. I'll be watching out of the corner of my eye later on, but it won't be the same.

The Cubs started off on time and according to plan last night in Houston, winning 4-2 behind a surprisingly effective Opening Night performance by Carlos Zambrano. We got Big Z, the effective dominator, rather than Zammy, his rodeo clown evil twin. By mid-game, Zambrano had struck out 5 of 7 batters and looked about as good as he did during his no-hitter against the Astros last September in Milwaukee.

Still, Piniella pulled him after he put the first two men on in the 7th inning. The bullpen was good: Aaron Heilman limited the damage to a run, and Neal Cotts finished off the 7th; Carlos Marmol pitched through a walk in the 8th; and Kevin Gregg started his tour as a Cubs closer with two hits and a sacrific fly, but settled down and locked down the win.

Offensively, there was both power and efficency, as Alfonso Soriano led off the game (and the Cubs season) with a home run, and Aramis Ramirez later led off the 2nd inning with a solo shot. Why do pitchers--and especially a pitcher as effective and experienced as Roy Oswalt--throw so many fastballs to Soriano? Maybe it's the old adage that you need to establish the fastball and your location before doing anything else, but it's the top reason why Al-So has so many game-starting HRs. It doesn't make much sense to have him lead-off--never has and never will--but every time he starts a game with a homer, he makes it harder to argue the case against moving him.

Mike Fontenot also had three hits and scored a run on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Theriot--that was the efficiency part. Zambrano's win was his first career Opening Day win--we are looking for signs already...

Bronx bombed; Snow show?

The Cubs are winless at the new Yankee Stadium. Of course, their record there is only 0-2, and the games don't actually count yet, but today's 10-1 loss came as close as you could get to actually counting, since it was the final pre-season tune-up for Monday night's opener in Houston.

Rich Harden looked pretty awful, pitching only 3.2 innings, giving up 7 earned runs, 3 HRs and 4 BBs while striking out 2. He'll have another 10 days or so to fix whatever went wrong before his next start, though when Harden doesn't pitch well, it's hard not to think the worst.

The Cubs looked pretty sluggish in both games at the new stadium, scoring early Friday night and then fading to a 7-4 loss in which it was Ted Lilly's turn to give away runs. In today's game, former Yankee Alfonso Soriano looked pretty swell, hitting a HR and going 3-4. He has generally looked better as spring has sprung, which can't be said for several of his mates. In both of these games, the Cubs seemed to be soaking in (and literally soaking) the new Yankee digs more than anything.

We're looking forward to Monday night anyway, and the hope that Carlos Zambrano remembers whatever he was doing so right when he no-hit Houston last September.

Meanwhile, we're also looking forward to Monday afternoon, when SBW will be heading down to the Cell for the White Sox opener. But, will there be baseball? Snow has been forecast for that morning, with driving winds and temps in the low 30s around mid-day. Ouch.

I love our teams, but they need to open on the road every year and stay away from home until mid-to-late April--it just means more home games later, right? My pal The Commish and I have been to many a Southside inaugural, and have had our share of good and bad weather. One year, we had a 70-degree day for the opener sandwiched between two much colder days. Then in 2006, we barely got to see the World Series Championship banners get hung before the game was delayed by drenching rains.

Maybe Mother Nature will cut us a little slack, but it doesn't look good. If they do start Monday, at least it might be quick: No. 56 will be on the mound setting his typically brisk pace.