With the way the Chicago offense has been struggling recently, nobody really expected a win against Arizona on Saturday. Especially since the Diamondbacks had their ace Dan Haren (3-1) on the mound. The Cubs didn’t have their ace (on account that he’s in the bullpen) but they did have Carlos Silva (2-0) on the bump.
Ultimately the starters didn’t figure into the decision but Silva did have his worst start of the season. It should be noted that Silva has been lights out thus far and has been considered a comeback player of the year candidate. Silva surrendered 5 runs in only 5 innings including a troublesome 3 homeruns.
The Cubs touched Haren for only 3 runs in his 6 innings of work but took advantage of Arizona’s bullpen including a former friend in Bob “Homerun” Howry. Alfonso Soriano hit a game tying homerun off the former Cub in the 7th.
Later in the 8th, Derrek Lee hit a 2 run single off of Juan Gutierrez (0-3) to put the Cubs up for good. The Cubs pounded out 14 hits including multi-hit games from Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Lee, Marlon Byrd, and Soriano.
It seems as if Lou Piniella is finally starting to realize that you can’t have you’re 3-4 hitters (who are hovering at the Mendoza line) hit back to back. He split Lee and Aramis Ramirez up in the order, moving Ramirez down to 5th in the order.
Jeff Gray pitched a scoreless 6th for Chicago while Sean Marshall picked up the win. Marshall threw 2 scoreless frames continuing to prove that he’s a “go-to” guy in what has been an inconsistent bullpen. Carlos Marmol made it interesting in the 9th allowing a hit and 2 walks, but shut the door on the D-Backs to solidify the win for Chicago.
The Cubs will go for the series win on Sunday. Tom Gorzelanny will take the ball for the Cubs, looking for his 1st win of the season. The Diamondbacks hope Edwin Jackson can carry them to the series victory.
Final Score: Cubs (12-13) 7 – Diamondbacks (11-13) 5
WP: Sean Marshall (1-1)
LP: Juan Gutierrez (0-3)
S: Carlos Marmol (4)
Umm… Arizona won game 1, Cubs won games 2 and 3. I hope the Cubs aren’t going for a split, as that would mean losing.