Cubs (Dempster) @ Brewers (Suppan)

Cubs should finish up this series by winning the rubber game, Marmols seems to be the closer, the Cubs had a great rally last night, and they have the better starter, defense, and lineup too.

Chi Cubs
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Season Avg
A. Soriano lf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.280
K. Fukudome cf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.421
D. Lee 1b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.091
M. Bradley rf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.062
A. Ramirez 3b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
M. Fontenot 2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.389
R. Theriot ss	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.562
K. Hill c	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231
R. Dempster p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Milwaukee
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Season Avg
R. Weeks 2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
C. Counsell 3b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
R. Braun lf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.238
P. Fielder 1b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235
J.J. Hardy ss	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.100
C. Hart rf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278
C. Duffy cf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Kendall c	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Suppan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Totals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Chi Cubs
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
R. Dempster	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.00
Milwaukee
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
J. Suppan	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.50

Dempster , for some reason, is generally nails vs the Brewers. Suppan is garbage versus everyone. I am still reeling over the Rangers blowup today. Millwood throws an incredible game. but the Rangers play awful baseball, they dont move runners, and their pen does what I expect to happen quite regularly all year. The pen allowed 6 runs, though half earned, in 1 inning today, completing the road sweep at the Tigers hands. I hate the Tigers, and I am ready to give up on Texas after one week.

top 1: Soriano leads off. First pitch. Fastball. Going. going. GONE. 1-0. Suppan sucks. Fukodome follows. 5 pitch walk. Cubs left a lot of runners on third with less than 2 outs in the last 2 games, perhaps it would be advantageous to get those runners in early today. I suppose homeruns dont strand too many runners, so thats one way to go. Fukodome is thinking about running...
He should have run, because Lee grounds out to short. Milton Bradley is batting cleamup today. I dont like him in this spot at all. But he is a switch-hitter, so I guess it makes sense today, Bradley grounds out to second and it should have been a 4-6-3 but Hardy bobbles and doesnt make the throw. Ramirez is up with 1 on , 2 down. Great AB for Ramirez, he has worked a full count and fouled off 7 pitches thus far. On the 9th pitch, Ramirez grounds out to second.
Bottom 1: Weeks rakes a single to left. I truly think he will have his best year yet in 09. The guy may only hit .240 every year, but his OBP is like 360, which is very very solid. He will only get better. Counsell walks on 4 pitches. Now Dempster has put himself in an awful spot, facing Braun with nobody out and 2 on. Braun has worked the count to his advantage early, 2-1, and he will get a nice fat pitch here or on the next one. He gets it, and fouls it down the line. 2-2 count. Braun chases a low slider and grounds meekly to short, it was so slowly hit that the runners advance, and only one down with 2 RISP. Fielder is up now, and Id guess he gets walked. And he is walked. Loaded, 1 out, for Hardy. Big early chance for the Crew. Hardy flies out to center but the throw comes into third. 1-1. 2 outs. Hart is up. Wild pitch puts runners on 2nd and 3rd. This AB becomes a lot larger now, with 2 runs at stake. HArt breaks his bat and flies out to right.

top 2: Fontenot lines to left, Theriot lines to right. Hill grounds to second. That was like 7 pitches or so.
bottom 2: Duffy strikes out looking. Kendall grounds out to third. Suppan strikes out. As slow as the first inning was, the second was fast.

top 3: Dempster flies out to center. Soriano works it full and walks, then takes second on a pitch in the dirt. Fukodome works it full and is called out on a check swing, unable to move Soriano to third. Lee comes to the plate and grounds out to third.
bottom 3: Weeks hits a 10 foot grounder and is thrown out. Counsell with his second walk in as many AB's, and Braun is up again with a runner on. Braun first pitch pop up to Ramirez. Fielder hits into the giant shift, putting it in shallow right, but Fontenot takes too long to throw and Fielder beats it out. Hardy up with 2 on, 2 out. A nice hard shot but stabbed by Fontenot to end the threat.

top 4: Bradley is plunked, leadoff runner on. Ramirez drives one to the left center gap but Braun gets a great read on it and there's one out. Fontenot steps in. Walks. Theriot up the middle for a single. Bases loaded, one out. Bradley pulls up lame at third (suprise), and is pinch-run for by Reed Johnson. Hill is up. 4 pitch walk. 2-0 Cubs. Dempster is up now. Anything but a GIDP is fine. He grounds out to third, who comes home. 2 down, loaded. Soriano up and he is gonna sit on a heater. 2-1 count, showtime methinks. Nope. Suppan cannot find the plate. 3-1 count now. And he walks him. 3-1 Cubbies. Second bases loaded walk in the inning. Another walk, Fukodome full count walk. 4-1 Cubs. suppan is gone. In comes Jorge Julio and he is garbage, its just a matter of time before everyone sees it. 4 pitch walk to Lee. 5-1 Cubs. Reed Johnson fills in for Bradley here, and if anyone is gonna end the inning, its him. And he grounds out to short. Im smart.
Bottom 4: cubs had a shot to bust it open, and didnt. They lead but the lead isnt insurmountable. And a long homer for HArt makes it 5-2. Dempster k's Duffy and Kendall is up now. Inning should end 5-2 with the pitchers spot up next. Kendall k's, Julio bats for himself and also k's. thats the side.

top 5: Ramirez leads off. cubs need a few runs off Julio. Ramirez drives one deep but Duffy runs it down. Theriot drives one into the gap for a double, 6-2 Cubs. Dempster drops one down but he is slow. Inning over.

bottom 5: maybe a make or break for brewers here. Dempster is at 76 pitches after 4. So he wont go past the 6th I'm guessing. Weeks is up and he loops one in front of fukodome for a single. Counsell with a single, 2 on, nobody out. Dempster has had trouble with the top of the order all day. I still think the Cubs may need more than 6 runs to win this game. Dempster beans Braun, loaded, no outs, Fielder is up. big chance here. I dont see why the Brewers dont score at least 2-3 runs. And Reed Johnson ROBS Fielder of a grand slam by going over the wall. WOW. Thats as good as I have ever seen! 6-3 cubs. runners on the corners. ground out for Hardy, 6-4 Cubs. Hart strikes out.
Top 6: Soriano and Fukodome both fly out to left. Lee grounds to third but a bad throw by Counsell cant be handled by Fielder at first. Johnson is then nailed in the back, 2 on, 2 out. Ramirez is up and wastes a nice chance by grounding out to second. Thats 8 LOB already for the Cubs. Same story as the last 2 games.
Bottom 6: Dempster is in, presumably his last inning. Duffy flies out to left. Kendall grounds out to third. Pinch hitter McGehee hits one into the 2b hole and beats it out. Weeks up again, last hitter for Dempster I think. Weeks grounds out to second.

Top 7: Seth McClung is in. He sucks too. so the Cubs may want to net a run or two here. Fontenot leads off. And pops out to center. Theriot fouls out to Hart, a nice catch. Hill k's. Nice inning for Mcclung. suprising, but nice.
bottom 7: Sean Marshall is in to start the 7th. Counsell leads off and works it full. On the payoff pitch grounds out to short. Braun follows him with a groundball laser dropped by Ramirez, but his arm does the makeup work and there are 2 down for Fielder, who flies out to left.
Top 8: Joey Gathright pinc hits for Marshall, walks, and steals second. The guy would steal 80 bases if he played regularly. Of course, if he could hit, he would play regularly. Soriano is robbed of an RBI by Counsell. Also, the runner doesnt advance. Fukodome hits a hard line drive single to left, so hard that Gathright stops at third. Derek Lee, GIDP machine is up. And he crushes one to the track, just missing a 3run HR. A run scores, 7-4 Cubs. I assume the Cubs can hold this lead, since the heart of the Brewers lineup probably wont bat again unless 3+ runners get on in the 8th or 9th. Nice to see the Cubs manufacture a run, if youre a Cubbies fan. Johnson grounds out to short to end the top half.

bottom 8: Hardy, Hart, and Duffy (or a pinch hitter) due up. Apparently Marmol is not the closer yet. He starts out the 8th. Pinella is confusing me already. Strikes out Hardy on 4 pitches. Hart does the same, and Duffy pops out to short. Fast inning.

top 9: Ramirez grounds out. A nice big fat 0-5 tonite for him. Fontenot k's. I think the Cubs just want to finish this fast. Theriot walks, and Hill is up. He drives one down the line that scores Theriot. 8-4 Cubs and that should do it.

I will be back tomorrow!