Cubs pluckered out, come up empty against Sox

Well, the series at U.S. Cellular Field sure was a dozy for Cub fans. Watching the White Sox enact revenge in their home park stinked as nothing went right at all for the Cubs. Their bats were colder than an Eskimo's nose. Okay, Derek Lee did have a 5-hit game on Saturday in a teasing 6-5 defeat yet few runners got on base ahead of him. Every time a string of hits developed somebody would hit into a double play or go all 'soft' at the plate and strikeout. Sean Marshall has yet to get a win in 2 starts from being recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Last night the young southpaw didn't get any run support and gave up two homeruns through 7 innings. No one can expect him to go 8 or 9 inning without giving up a run. He's had to deal with bad breaks.

Losing 4 in a row I think it's time for Sweet 'Ole Lou to turn ornery and get his players fired up. The Cubs are struggling on the road with the inefficiency to drive runners in scoring position home. Finishing out the series in Chicago with the 5-1 loss, resulting in a sweep the Cubs are now 16-23 on the road. I saw that Lou was trying to take a stand against the shady officiating last night and got ejected for debating a check swing call on a Sox batter. Those lousy umpires showed no consistency at the plate and were clearly widening the strike zone for the Cub batters. When runners did get on base it was adventure with too many blunders on the base paths. DeRosa got caught off second too far in the 9th was doubled on a lineout to halt any sort of rally.

From an offensive standpoint I'm disappointed with Ronny Cedeno. Since Lou has placed him in the starting lineup this past week the production has not been there. Besides an RBI single late in the Sunday's game he's had several chances with runners in scoring position, twice with the bases loaded and came up empty. It's like his mind set has changed at the plate or his approach. I don't know perhaps if he was switched around in the lineup he would snap out of the funk. Also to rub off any karma lingering Jim Edmonds needs to come off the bench more and start less. I have a bad feeling when he's up with runners in scoring position. Most of the time any momentum flowing for the Cubs is flattened.

Aramis Ramirez had a tough time battling White Sox pitching, going 0-for-13 this weekend after coming off a hot series at Wrigley against the Southsiders. I just know it's going to take a team effort for the Cubs to win on the road and the lineup needs to average around 5 runs a game. Reed Johnson's presence is sorely missed because he was a big spark plug to the offense. Can't wait until he gets back off the DL. With Big Z returning to make his start against the Cardinals the bats better be tuned up and ready to rip. Dust off the dreary weekend and gets amped because it's time to get back to kicking butt in the NL!