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Cubs Sat Jul 24 2010
Cubs Continue To Roll Against Cardinals; Win 6-5
Lou Piniella has been juggling the lineup throughout the 2010 season. It appears the skipper may have found just the right order this time around. Since inserting rookie Tyler Colvin into the lead-off spot last Sunday the Cubs are 4-2. The one-two punch of Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro has proved to be successful. For the second straight day Colvin lead off the game with a home run to give the Cubs an early 1-0.
The aforementioned Castro had a big day at the plate. He went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, his first at Wrigley and was a triple away from cycle. The Cubs were also helped out by more sloppy defense from St. Louis. Cardinals starter Blake Hawksworth uncorked a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth that allowed Castro to score from third.
On that same play Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina air mailed the loose ball back to Hawksworth who was taken out by a sliding Castro, which allowed the ball to get away once again and allowed Aramis Ramirez to score all the way from second. Just like yesterday bad defense was their undoing. Those two runs would prove to be huge as the they provided a one-run margin which the Cubs won by.
Tom Gorzelanny did his best to keep his team in this game. He surrendered seven hits, three earned runs and struck out three in six innings of work. It wasn't his best performance of the year, but he did what he needed to do and that was limit the damage and give his team a chance.
If the Cubs are going to climb back into this thing they are taking a step in the right direction by beating the first place red birds. This was their first series win against a National League Central opponent since they swept Milwaukee back in April. Yikes, no wonder they are in this mess. They have been playing better baseball post All-Star break and their 6-3 record is a clear indication of that.
In two of the nine games they've played since the break they've only scored less than four runs. It is evident that the offense has come out of its slumber and they have also caught a few breaks here and there which doesn't hurt to have either. If they do turn this thing around it will because of games like this. Good pitching, timely hitting and good defense. That's the name of the game.
Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.70 ERA) and company will look to sweep the red birds back down I-57 tomorrow night as they take on Chris Carpenter (11-3, 3.07 ERA). Game time is 7:05 p.m. CT. It is the game of the week and can be seen on ESPN and heard on WGN Radio 720 AM.
