Cardinals and Cubs meet at Wrigley with bats on fire
Cardinals and Cubs meet at Wrigley with bats on fire
Two pitchers off solid '08 seasons meet at Wrigley Field on Saturday as the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs continue their NL Central rivalry.
It’s a rivalry that dates back to 1892 and though it’s intense every season, the 2009 NL campaign might really see some fiery combat between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs as the teams compete for the NL Central title and more.
The Cardinals (8-4, +2.50) and Cubs (6-4, +0.25) continue their first series of the season Saturday afternoon presently sitting 1-2 in the division just a game apart after Chicago’s win on Friday evened this 4-game set at a game apiece. After staking ace Carlos Zambrano to an early 3-0 lead before falling behind St. Louis thanks to a couple of Ryan Ludwick bombs, Alfonso Soriano’s 2-run blast in the bottom of the eighth lifted Chicago to an 8-7 win.
The Cardinals won the series opener on Thursday 7-4 thanks to three hits apiece from Chris Duncan and Brian Barden, with each also going deep in the game.
Get me a beer and a dog
while you' are up, Sweet Lou.
Now the two managers, Tony La Russa of the Cardinals and Chicago’s Lou Piniella, turn to starting pitchers who each surprised their clubs with solid 2008 seasons.
Signed as a free agent by St. Louis after Spring Training games were underway in 2008, righthander Kyle Lohse turned in a career year with a 15-6 record and 3.78 ERA for the Redbirds. Now in his ninth MLB season after spending time with the Twins, Reds and Phillies, the 30-year old is off to a fast start with a 2-0 record and 1.12 ERA after two starts. In his most recent outing, Lohse tossed a three-hit complete game shutout against the Astros last Sunday.
With Chris Carpenter going on the DL earlier this week due to a strained oblique, La Russa was able to give Lohse some extra rest this week when the Cards called up rookie P.J. Walters and started him in Friday’s loss at Wrigley.
Lohse made three starts vs. the Cubs in 08, all in St. Louis, going 0-1 with two no decisions. St. Louis won both games he failed to get a decision, and did so in dramatic fashion by scoring the game winner in the bottom of the ninth.
In those three starts, Lohse worked 18.1 innings with a hefty 6.38 ERA. Most of those runs came in one start when he went six innings and was charged with eight earnies. The last time Lohse pitched at Wrigley was Aug 2, 2007. It was his first start for the Phils after being traded to Philadelphia from Cincinnati. He worked just one inning allowing a run, and was forced from the start after the inning ended when Jacque Jones lined one off Loshe’s forearm that ricocheted to Ryan Howard at first for the out.
His mound counterpart will be Ryan Dempster who is also off a career season in 2008. After toiling out of the Chicago pen from 2004-07 and racking up 87 saves while closing for the Cubs, Dempster won 17 games with a 2.96 ERA in 33 starts for Chicago, and was especially effective pitching on the Windy City’s North Side.
Dempster made three starts against St. Louis in 2008, going 2-0 with a no decision (Cubs lost the ND). In those three appearances, the righty totaled 18.2 IP with a 2.89 ERA. He won both starts he made against the Cards at Wrigley (11.2 IP, 3 ER).
Lohse and Dempster squared off against each other in St. Louis last season on Sep 9. Both walked away with a no-decision and the Cards won it 4-3 in their final at bat.
Chicago nipped St. Louis in the season series last year, winning eight of the 15 games played between the foes. The Cubs won four of the six contests played in Chicago.
The man behind the mask for Saturday afternoon’s game, part of the FOX lineup of regional broadcasts, will be Dan Iassogna. I’m not a member of the Iassogna Fan Club, though it’s more about his confrontational attitude than his work on the field. This is his third game this season to call the pitches with the home team 2-0 in the previous two, both of them home favorites in the -110 to -140 range which is where this game opened.
Both games have gone Over, one with a total of 9 and the other a total of 10. In 2008, his totals were level at 17-17 in 34 games as the home plate ump, with the home teams going 19-15 in those contests. One interesting note on Iassogna is he volunteers with the Chicago Fire Department for fundraising efforts. Hmm.
The weather is calling for what should be a relatively nice game at Wrigley with temps reaching the low-70s on Saturday afternoon under what should be partly cloudy skies. Winds are listed at 5-10 MPH out of SSW (out towards center, right-center), though they could shift to coming from the south that would put them out to left.
Give credit to SBR poster AMBlai01 for nailing the opening line for this one just after the conclusion of Friday’s matinee performance. The Cubs opened at -130 with Lohse and the Cards getting a +110 to +120 depending where you shop.
There wasn't a total yet this morning and that's what I'm most interested in for this game. Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot and Geovany have all hit pretty well against Lohse, with that quintet combined batting over .500. Add in Aaron Miles (5-for-10), who might get the start today at second over Mike Fontenot, and you have pretty good reason to think the Cubbies will put up 3-4 runs in the first five innings.
Meanwhile Dempster has held Albert Pujols to a .267 average over his career (8-30, 2 HR), but the foursome of Skip Schumaker, Yadier Molina, Ryan Ludwick and Jason LaRue have hit nearly .400 off the Chicago righthander. We won't see Molina and LaRue in at the same time; still, St. Louis' offense has cooking along with 27 runs plated in their last four contests, including three straight scoring seven runs. You have to think this is a pretty good bet to get to 10+ runs.
Two pitchers off solid '08 seasons meet at Wrigley Field on Saturday as the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs continue their NL Central rivalry.
It’s a rivalry that dates back to 1892 and though it’s intense every season, the 2009 NL campaign might really see some fiery combat between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs as the teams compete for the NL Central title and more.
The Cardinals (8-4, +2.50) and Cubs (6-4, +0.25) continue their first series of the season Saturday afternoon presently sitting 1-2 in the division just a game apart after Chicago’s win on Friday evened this 4-game set at a game apiece. After staking ace Carlos Zambrano to an early 3-0 lead before falling behind St. Louis thanks to a couple of Ryan Ludwick bombs, Alfonso Soriano’s 2-run blast in the bottom of the eighth lifted Chicago to an 8-7 win.
The Cardinals won the series opener on Thursday 7-4 thanks to three hits apiece from Chris Duncan and Brian Barden, with each also going deep in the game.
Get me a beer and a dog
while you' are up, Sweet Lou.
Now the two managers, Tony La Russa of the Cardinals and Chicago’s Lou Piniella, turn to starting pitchers who each surprised their clubs with solid 2008 seasons.
Signed as a free agent by St. Louis after Spring Training games were underway in 2008, righthander Kyle Lohse turned in a career year with a 15-6 record and 3.78 ERA for the Redbirds. Now in his ninth MLB season after spending time with the Twins, Reds and Phillies, the 30-year old is off to a fast start with a 2-0 record and 1.12 ERA after two starts. In his most recent outing, Lohse tossed a three-hit complete game shutout against the Astros last Sunday.
With Chris Carpenter going on the DL earlier this week due to a strained oblique, La Russa was able to give Lohse some extra rest this week when the Cards called up rookie P.J. Walters and started him in Friday’s loss at Wrigley.
Lohse made three starts vs. the Cubs in 08, all in St. Louis, going 0-1 with two no decisions. St. Louis won both games he failed to get a decision, and did so in dramatic fashion by scoring the game winner in the bottom of the ninth.
In those three starts, Lohse worked 18.1 innings with a hefty 6.38 ERA. Most of those runs came in one start when he went six innings and was charged with eight earnies. The last time Lohse pitched at Wrigley was Aug 2, 2007. It was his first start for the Phils after being traded to Philadelphia from Cincinnati. He worked just one inning allowing a run, and was forced from the start after the inning ended when Jacque Jones lined one off Loshe’s forearm that ricocheted to Ryan Howard at first for the out.
His mound counterpart will be Ryan Dempster who is also off a career season in 2008. After toiling out of the Chicago pen from 2004-07 and racking up 87 saves while closing for the Cubs, Dempster won 17 games with a 2.96 ERA in 33 starts for Chicago, and was especially effective pitching on the Windy City’s North Side.
Dempster made three starts against St. Louis in 2008, going 2-0 with a no decision (Cubs lost the ND). In those three appearances, the righty totaled 18.2 IP with a 2.89 ERA. He won both starts he made against the Cards at Wrigley (11.2 IP, 3 ER).
Lohse and Dempster squared off against each other in St. Louis last season on Sep 9. Both walked away with a no-decision and the Cards won it 4-3 in their final at bat.
Chicago nipped St. Louis in the season series last year, winning eight of the 15 games played between the foes. The Cubs won four of the six contests played in Chicago.
The man behind the mask for Saturday afternoon’s game, part of the FOX lineup of regional broadcasts, will be Dan Iassogna. I’m not a member of the Iassogna Fan Club, though it’s more about his confrontational attitude than his work on the field. This is his third game this season to call the pitches with the home team 2-0 in the previous two, both of them home favorites in the -110 to -140 range which is where this game opened.
Both games have gone Over, one with a total of 9 and the other a total of 10. In 2008, his totals were level at 17-17 in 34 games as the home plate ump, with the home teams going 19-15 in those contests. One interesting note on Iassogna is he volunteers with the Chicago Fire Department for fundraising efforts. Hmm.
The weather is calling for what should be a relatively nice game at Wrigley with temps reaching the low-70s on Saturday afternoon under what should be partly cloudy skies. Winds are listed at 5-10 MPH out of SSW (out towards center, right-center), though they could shift to coming from the south that would put them out to left.
Give credit to SBR poster AMBlai01 for nailing the opening line for this one just after the conclusion of Friday’s matinee performance. The Cubs opened at -130 with Lohse and the Cards getting a +110 to +120 depending where you shop.
There wasn't a total yet this morning and that's what I'm most interested in for this game. Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot and Geovany have all hit pretty well against Lohse, with that quintet combined batting over .500. Add in Aaron Miles (5-for-10), who might get the start today at second over Mike Fontenot, and you have pretty good reason to think the Cubbies will put up 3-4 runs in the first five innings.
Meanwhile Dempster has held Albert Pujols to a .267 average over his career (8-30, 2 HR), but the foursome of Skip Schumaker, Yadier Molina, Ryan Ludwick and Jason LaRue have hit nearly .400 off the Chicago righthander. We won't see Molina and LaRue in at the same time; still, St. Louis' offense has cooking along with 27 runs plated in their last four contests, including three straight scoring seven runs. You have to think this is a pretty good bet to get to 10+ runs.