A veteran duel ensued on the mound yesterday at Wrigley which the Cubs caught the best of it. Ryan Dempster pushed the Padres to the limit, recording a career high 12 strikeouts. After pitching 8 innings of shutout baseball giving up just 6 hits Dempster earned his 5th win. The lineup came through too against Greg Maddux who exited the game early. Derek Lee (29 RBIs) laced a 2-run double in the Cubs' 4-run 5th inning to plate Dempster and Soriano. Before that an RBI single by Dempster and a sacrifice fly from Theriot brought the other 2 runs home. The middle of the order is starting to hit again. Aramis Ramirez and Soriano have 5 hits combined as the lineup punched 13 total.
As I expected the Cubs are making headway at home, climbing back into first place. A sweep against Pittsburgh in the weekend series would give them an extra boost in the standings. They'll be the only the NL game on tap as the rest of baseball will be involved in Interleague play. Everything has gone smooth except for one truly bad move by Cubs management. Every fan was set against it and yet Jim Edmonds is now a Cub. Yes, another sad day in franchise history with such a controversial signing. Thank God, Felix Pie wasn't traded for him. Whew! What a relief! It's much better to see him go back to Triple-A to further develop his hitting than be whisked off to another team.
Right now the 4 outfielders on the roster may not be enough. I mean if one guy gets injured (Please God just let it be Edmonds) management will have to bring up another outfielder from Triple-A Iowa again or scramble for a replacement. Yes, I know Mark DeRosa is versatile, being able to play the infield and outfield, although he will need days off occasionally. Offensive production ought to be the main concern from these positions. I don't see much coming from Edmonds, who's 37 and doesn't have the bat speed anymore. Plus he's already left 7 runners on base. How in the world can that benefit the Cubs? This only adds to the Cubs' lack of run production. Personally I'd like him to have a short stay and be released or traded. The Cubs need to have positive influences around as they gun to take the series against the Pirates.
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