The Friendly Confines?

Cubs 2 Reds 5

The Cubs could not get it done against the Reds tonight. What made them a success on the road could not carry over to Wrigley Field. During the 8 win road trip, the best the Cubs have had since 1993, they got timely hitting and good pitching. Tonight....well...

Tonight they got good starting pitching from Greg Maddux, but nothing else. Nomar and Matt Murton had a good night. It seemed everytime Nomar got on, Walker would hit into a double play or a fielder's choice. Murton hit his 4th homerun of the year. The top of the Cubs' lineup ended up going 1-12, with Hariston getting the only hit. It is a shame Maddux did not get the win, he only allowed 2 runs, 2 solo homeruns, but did not receive any run support. Maddux is now 12-12 and with maximum of 3 starts left, his shot at 15 seems very unlikely.

The bullpen did not show up tonight, I think someone forgot to get them off the plane. Ohman got the first 2 outs in the 9th and then walked the next 2 batters. Dusty pulled Ohman and brought in Sergio Mitre. Yep, you got it. Mitre gave up a 3 run homer to Willy Mo Pena. Got ahead 0-2 and then hung a curve ball(I thought Santo was going to have a heart attack). Hopefully the Cubs will be able to package Mitre in a trade this offseason. Other than the 2 starts early in the year, Mitre has been a disappointment on the Major League level.

Just when I thought the Cubs might get back to .500, they ran into the Reds. Why is it that the Cubs can beat the Cardinals and the Astros, but not the Reds? Why does the Cubs make the Reds' pitching staff look like Hall of Famers? At the end of the season it will be games like tonight that Dusty should look back on as examples of what to improve on for next season.

The Cubs also announced today that Ronny Cedeno did break his hand on Saturday and will likely be out for the rest of the season. GREAT! ARam might be back in a week, but I think they should shut him down for the long offseason.

Tonight's loss was very disappointing. The Cubs played so well on the road...it is a shame they had to go home.

Tuesday - Carlos Zambrano(13-5/3.18) vs. Eric Milton(7-14-6.63)

Zambrano has to come out and shut down the Reds offense. The Reds have won the last 6 in a row vs. the Cubs. Big Z has to be the stopper. Milton threw his best game of the season the last time he faced the Cubs. The Cubs need to get a good night's sleep and light up Milton like the rest of the league has. Milton has been a huge disappointment for the Reds this season and if the Cubs could get on top early, they could get into Milton's head. Burnie should be back in the lineup tomorrow.

Be patient, get up early...and just win!!!