Like Kissing Your Sister

You know what they say about ties right?  In a game that provided a lot of excitement the Cubs and Sox ended up tied after 10 innings.  Lilly didn't have his best outing, but the bats finally came to life.  Unfortunately, we still have a fat slob named Scott Eyre coming out of our bullpen.  Lou went back on his idea of having Fukudome bat second, Soriano third, and Lee fourth.  He used the Soriano batting second and Fukudome batting fifth lineup again.  That bright Arizona sun really played havoc on the fielders, allowing the first Sox run to score when Soriano lost a fly ball in the first, and helped the Cubs when Jermain Dye starting losing every ball hit to him, leading to a 3 run comeback for the Cubs in the tenth.  In a game played before a capacity crowd at HoHoKam, they definately got their money's worth. 

Lilly didn't have his sharpest game, giving up four runs, seven hits and two walks over six innings, striking out three.  Fontenot lead off and went 1-3.  Soriano looked bad again today, going 0-4 with two strikeouts. Lee picked it up, going 2-4 (with a triple) and drawing a walk.  Aramis went 1-4 with an RBI double, and Fukudome had a productive day, going 2-4 with a walk. DeRosa looked awful, going 0-2 before being pulled.  Geovany Soto and Felix Pie both had huge hits in the sixth inning off Sox starter Javier Vasquez.  Down 4-1 with two outs in the sixth, Soto hit a 2 run RBI double to put the Cubs within one run, and then Pie drove in the tying run.  The bullpen looked sharp too, as Kerry Wood came into the game in the seventh, giving up no hits and striking out two of the three batters he faced.  Howry pitched the eighth, giving up no runs and one hit.  Kevin Hart looked like he would pitch a scoreless ninth, but gave up a two out solo home run to Juan Uribe. 

Down one run to the Sox, Ronnie Cedeno came in and hit a double off of Boone Logan.  Matt Murton came in as a pinch hitter, and drew a walk, and ball four got away from the catcher, allowing Cedeno to move to third.  Soriano flied out, scoring Cedeno and tying the game at 5-5.  The Sox pulled Logan for Mike MacDougal, who walked D-Lee before getting pinch hitter Micah Hoffpauir to hit into an inning ending double play.  Then in the tenth, Lou/Larry sent out Scott Eyre.  Eyre proceeds to give up 3 runs, on  4 hits, and a walk.  It's only March and I already have my question for Lou for next year's Cubs Convention. Why does Eyre make the team over Pignatiello? Someone give me one good reason.  I can give you ten good reasons.  Eyre has an ERA near ten and Carmen's in still 0. 

Luckily, Jermaine Dye lost two balls in the tenth, a pop fly by Blanco and Murton's game tying hit.  The Cubs had another opportunity to win the game, with the winning run at third base and one out, but Casey McGehee and Sam Fuld couldn't get it done.

Marquis to Pitch Tomorrow

Jason Marquis will pitch tomorrow against the Padres.  If he pitches another good game, then Lou really has a lot of questions to answer.  Rumor has it that Rich HIll has one more shot to get it together.  If Marquis has a good start, and Hill looks horrible, could he be headed back to Iowa?  Lou says no chance;

"We had a nice talk with Rich this morning, and told him to relax," Piniella said Friday. "Rich puts undue pressure on himself. He's a very conscientious kid and wants to be a perfectionist and there's no such thing in this business. I told him, 'Don't concern yourself with thinking there's even a possibility of us taking you out of the rotation,'" Piniella said. "'We like you and go out and relax and throw the ball.' He thinks a lot."

Let's wait and see.

Trade Frustrations

You and me aren't the only ones tired about the Brian Roberts trade talks.  Both Roberts and DeRosa vented to the press on the drawn out talks.

"It's funny for me," DeRosa said Friday at Hi Corbett Field. "I feel like I've done enough … where I shouldn't be put in this position. Hopefully Jim and [manager Lou Piniella] realize I'm one of the best hitters they have and my bat should be in the lineup."
Snippy snippy Mark.  You weren't that great, and you definately weren't an All Star last season like Roberts was.  When asked if he could get over the rumors, DeRosa replied

So has he put the Roberts rumor behind him?

"I'll put it behind me when I see who starts and I'm playing second, or if he's here and I'm playing somewhere else," DeRosa said. "I don't worry about it. I know how good a player he is. I respect what he brings to the table and what he has done.  At the same time, his arrival means I'm not playing second. So unless there's another spot on the infield, or another spot in the outfield that's open that I'm not aware of, it makes for an uncomfortable spring."

What about the old saying, there is no "I" in team?  Oh well.  When asked his feelings about the trade rumors, Roberts said

"I think at some point that needs to happen.  I'm not saying it has to be today or tomorrow, but if it gets to be Opening Day, I don't really want to deal with it for two more months. I can't imagine that [a trade] would happen on April 20. That doesn't really make much sense. I'd think if it doesn't happen by the end of spring training, it's probably not going to."

He added

"I wouldn't say it would be a letdown if [a trade] doesn't happen. I'm going to play baseball either way. I love my teammates, the city of Baltimore. It's not like it would be the end of the world. But like I've said before, everybody wants to win, and you always want to be in a situation where you feel like you have the best chance of doing that."

Translation-Roberts is not interested in the Baltimore rebuilding project.  We have eight more day until Opening Day.  Jason Marquis and Greg Maddux will face each otheron Sunday at 3:05 p.m. CT. Marquis is slated to make his fifth start when the Cubs travel to Peoria, Ariz., to face the Padres. Marquis is 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA so far. He's given up three earned runs on 14 hits and six walks over 14 innings.  Being a holiday, I will still try to get some chatting in during the game.  Feel free to write whatever you want up there.  Let's make a nice push this final week.

Go Cubs!