Jason Kendall hit a solid double to drive in a run. Goodness.

So when Soto sits down tomorrow because he is clearly hurt with Matthew call for an investigation while GS is shot up with painkillers and forced to play?

Seth McClung, American Hero.

Seth McClung is the third greatest person alive who looks like Conan O'Brien, behind Conan O'Brien and Tarja Halonen.

you know what was great about that game was looking at the stands and seeing all those BREWERS fans instad of cubs fans

brew crew vs rays WS !!!!!

yesssssssssssssss

and i can't hardly believe my astros are gonna end up the year over .500 and that we were in the WC race until 2 days left to go

If not for the worries about Soto (which existed before tonight, BTW), this would probably register with me as the best silver lining Cubs loss of all time (Brewers take the lead; no game on Monday). Hopefully the Brewers can make it with 89 wins.

and i can't hardly believe my astros are gonna end up the year over .500 and that we were in the WC race until 2 days left to go

They dug themselves too deep a hole this time. It's still an impressive comeback.

andere

the 6-20 june did em in. espcially after the great may.

but i can handle it. because honestly i KNOW they don't have the starting pitching to win in the playoffs. and berkman is having the month from he!! with the bat

best silver lining Cubs loss of all time (Brewers take the lead; no game on Monday)

Am I missing something? It seems to me that the best Cubs scenario is the Mets having to use Santana on Sunday (and maybe even a Monday playoff) but winning. If the Brewers win, we face a rested Dodgers team. Isn't that clearly worse?

Santana is pitching tomorrow [Saturday] because the Brewers took the WC lead (he wasn't going to pitch if the Mets had the lead).

I think the Monday game he's referring to is the Astros/Cubs makeup game that is now unnecessary because of the Brewers' win.

excellent that means monday tuesday off for the cubs while other teams may be plying monday

you know what was great about that game was looking at the stands and seeing all those BREWERS fans instad of cubs fans

Speaking as someone at the game, there were tons of Cubs fans there. In the first inning, it was hard to tell which team got more applause.

On TV all the people I saw wandering around not watching the game, in replica jerseys, were in Cubs apparel, so I actually thought it was at Wrigley for a while, until it became obvious that it was elsewhere.

After starter Jeff Suppan navigated through five treacherous innings against the NL Central champion Cubs, McClung took it from there. The big redhead shackled Chicago on one hit the rest of the way, striking out six.

For a pitcher who was told in Tampa Bay earlier in his career that he didn’t have what it took to make it in the big leagues, it has been both an emotional and uplifting time.

“It feels real nice,” said the watery-eyed McClung. “I always wanted to pitch in a big game, an important game. This was by far the biggest game I’ve ever pitched in. We’re having a lot of fun right now.”

When McClung walked Ryan Theriot with two down in the ninth inning, Sveum paid a visit to the mound. Staring his pitcher square in the face, it was not a laugh-and-giggles conversation.

Asked what was said, Sveum said, “That’s personal.”

McClung had a more detailed version of the chat, and a pretty funny one at that.

“He asked me how I felt,” said McClung. “I said, ‘Fine. Now if you get out of my way, I can do my job. I don’t know if he heard it, but I know I definitely said it.”

And McClung did exactly that, striking out pinch-hitter Daryle Ward to get that playoff carrot dangling even closer.

MIL Journal-Sentinel

best silver lining Cubs loss of all time

If DeRosa springs from his boot to go 3 for 4 and swipe 2 bases tomorrow then it would be outranked.

Except for Tampa making it instead of the Yankees this is shaping up to be a dream playoff lineup for the TV execs. Two LA teams, Boston, possibly two Chicago teams, Philadelphia team, and New York.

Of course both Milwaukee and Minnesota can very quickly turn this into a TV execs worst nightmare.

Am I missing something? It seems to me that the best Cubs scenario is the Mets having to use Santana on Sunday (and maybe even a Monday playoff) but winning. If the Brewers win, we face a rested Dodgers team. Isn't that clearly worse?

Except that that the Dodgers are an inferior team to the Brewers and have no one like CC.

Except for Tampa making it instead of the Yankees this is shaping up to be a dream playoff lineup for the TV execs. Two LA teams, Boston, possibly two Chicago teams, Philadelphia team, and New York.

Of course both Milwaukee and Minnesota can very quickly turn this into a TV execs worst nightmare.

Since Minnesota and Milwaukee are currently leading, I don't know why you put them as an afterthought.

Bunyon, the Cubs wouldn't play the Brewers in the first round regardless. I think the Brewers have a better chance to eliminate the Phillies than the Dodgers, so I want them in.

But who has a better chance to eliminate the Cubs? A well rested Dodgers team with Manny, a bullpen, and a starter or two or a tired Mets team with a bullpen in shambles and their best starting pitcher throwing on fumes?



If Sheets fails tonight then CC is pitching Sunday and if the Brewers hold out and win the Wild Card then the Phillies probably only face CC once and get to face the rest of the Brewers pitching staff.

Neither the Brewers or the Mets are going to be in any kind of real shape to win the first round. I think it would be better for the Cubs if they faced one of the wrecked teams first than the Dodgers.

Neither the Brewers or the Mets are going to be in any kind of real shape to win the first round. I think it would be better for the Cubs if they faced one of the wrecked teams first than the Dodgers.

I recommend that everybody adopt my zen posture about who the Cubs' first-round opponent is. If the Cubs play the way they're capable of playing, they'll beat anybody.

Yes, but almost nobody plays the way they are capable of playing. Zambrano and Harden are question marks, Soriano is either lolligagging right now (which is fine) or has some bad wheels (which isn't fine), Soto and DeRosa are hurt, Marmol is looking tired, and Fukudome is close to useless with the stick. This isn't the same team that went 20-8 in August or 17-9 in April. This isn't even the team that went 11-11 is September. Unfortunately for us Cubs fans this might actually be the lowest point of the season in terms of Cubs ability.

I'm with retro. I really don't think it matters. If Soto and DeRo and Z are healthy, it just doesn't matter. if they're not, it might not matter the other way.

I guess there's still a chance* of a three way tie, so I'm rooting for that.

*3% assuming each game is a 50-50 proposition.

I recommend that everybody adopt my zen posture about who the Cubs' first-round opponent is. If the Cubs play the way they're capable of playing, they'll beat anybody.

Indeed. The Cubs are the best team in the NL. They *should* beat anybody. The question is going to be whether they can avoid playing these last two games against the Brewers "flat" like they did yesterday. Going into the playoffs in the middle of one of their week-long cold spells is the thing that scares me, not their potential opponent.

Soriano is either lolligagging right now (which is fine) or has some bad wheels (which isn't fine)

If Soriano is having leg problems, I am certain he would be hanging out on the bench.

Going into the playoffs in the middle of one of their week-long cold spells is the thing that scares me, not their potential opponent.

I dunno...even if they suck these next two days, I'm not too concerned about a carryover effect. (I mean, they COULD play poorly in the first round, but I don't think it'll have anything to do with the current Brewer series, where the Brewers are playing for a playoff spot and the Cubs are trying to heal wounds.)

It's very obvious that sans CC the Crew would have been eliminated 10 days ago. CC has:

--pitched at an extremely high level
--eaten up innings
--kept a suspect bullpen out of the gane equation
--encouraged a bullpen management challenged organization to ask more of the starters
--said starters responded wonderfully for 2 months before Suppan and Parra drove off the cliff. Suppan because he follows great stretches with ugly ones. Parra because he flat ran out of gas
--reduced the real and pyschological impact of the standard Sheets lost time situation by 13,000 levels of anguish

You could get fifteen Chinese mathematicians locked in a room with three supercomputers and a 300 lb. Cossack beating them whenever they stopped calculating and they couldn't assess the impact of this guy.

Whatever happens, CC has been a godsend.

HW, you don't think the collapse of Parra and Suppan have anything to do with:

--encouraged a bullpen management challenged organization to ask more of the starters?

I recommend that everybody adopt my zen posture about who the Cubs' first-round opponent is. If the Cubs play the way they're capable of playing, they'll beat anybody.

I'll see your zen and raise you one: and if the Cubs don't play like their capable of, it really doesn't matter who they'll play because they won't be able to win.

All year long I've had a fairly simple belief about the Cubs - as Zambrano goes, so goes the team. I see no reason to change my thoughts next month.

Pops:

Suppan is 53 years old and he wasn't extended significantly. If you look at his history he always bounces around during a season. This year he had a bad July, fantastic August and then spit the bit in September. That's who he IS.

Parra threw a fair number of pitches because he was wild early on and then flatlined late. Kid hasn't pitched a full season anywhere in forever. I think in this instance Yost did fine. Manny just ran out of gas. Velocity was ok but his control evaporated and his breaking stuff went from "snap" to "lollygag". I think the conditioning will help. If he turns up hurt I won't castigate the team.

Cubs need to win this game to put the screws to all the other playoff hopefuls (sans LA). Sure, of course other teams need to do things as well to make it happen but the Cubs can do themselves a nice little favor by winning today. At the very least it forces CC to pitch on Sunday.

It would be great though if both Philadelphia and Milwaukee lost while NY won today.

Why are the mathematicians Chinese?

I'll see your zen and raise you one: and if the Cubs don't play like their capable of, it really doesn't matter who they'll play because they won't be able to win.

Of course; but that's not a raise--that's the flipside of my zen. In either case, I'm not concerned about who they play. What matters is that they show up and do their thing. They do what they did last October, they could play the Mariners and get beaten in 4.

Why are the mathematicians Chinese?

Think they're Laotian, actually.

This isn't even the team that went 11-11 is September. Unfortunately for us Cubs fans this might actually be the lowest point of the season in terms of Cubs ability.

They're better than the .500 team. How soon you forget the 8 of 9 losses when there still was a race. This is ridiculously pessimistic and I won't stand for it. What do the starters have to play for? Nothing. There's absolutely nothing to take out of any games for the past week (outside Z's performance).

All year long I've had a fairly simple belief about the Cubs - as Zambrano goes, so goes the team. I see no reason to change my thoughts next month.

At the beginning of the year, I would have agreed with you. At the All Star break, I probably would have agreed with you. Right now, I completely disagree. He might only make one appearance in the first round, and the Cubs can still outscore whatever team they're playing if he has a bad game. They have 3 starters who are pitching better than him right now, they don't need to him to be great to win any of these series. Yes, it'll be a whole lot easier and enjoyable if he were pitching like he's capable of. But Z went 4-3 with a 5.80ERA since the all star break in only 68.1 innings; during that same time the Cubs still played .610 ball while outscoring their opponents by 76 runs (39-25). This team is good enough to win without him, which I never ever though was possible.

They're better than the .500 team. How soon you forget the 8 of 9 losses when there still was a race. This is ridiculously pessimistic and I won't stand for it. What do the starters have to play for? Nothing. There's absolutely nothing to take out of any games for the past week (outside Z's performance).

On paper sure, but lets talk reality. DeRosa is hurt, Soto is hurt. Soriano was running around like a wounded gazelle out there yesterday, Marmol doesn't look like he is in his May form, Zambrano is questionable, Harden is a ticking time bomb, Fukudome is useless, and Gaudin is gone. Wanting an easier first round opponent is not being a ridiculously pessimistic fan, it is being a realist. Ignoring the condition of the Cubs right now is being a ridculous optimist, not an optimist.

You're overestimating how hurt DeRosa and Soto are. Brenly said last night if it were the playoffs, they'd both be playing.

As someone said above, if Soriano is hurt he wouldn't be playing. He's just lollygagging right now, which is disappointing but not worrisome.

You should try looking up Marmol's numbers sometime. The 1.34 post All Star break ERA might surprise you. He's been great lately, again. Couple single runs here and there this month, only one of which hurt the Cubs.

Yes, we're all worried about Zambrano, but like I said above I don't think they need him to win.

Well, if you think Harden is a ticking time bomb, then you're always going to be worried about him. The Cubs intentionally babied him, his velocity is fine and there's been nothing about him feeling any pain in quite a while.

Fukudome's bat is useless, but it's been that way since late May. This isn't a new development, and between Johnson, Hoffpauir and Fontenot they can make up for it.

Gaudin's hurt still, but so what? That's one arm in the pen. I'm not at all worried about the bullpen.

Sorry, but you're just being pessimistic.

You're overestimating how hurt DeRosa and Soto are. Brenly said last night if it were the playoffs, they'd both be playing.

Yes and they wouldn't be 100%, which kind of negates this whole "if the Cubs play like they are capable of"


I'm being pessimistic because I want an easy team to play against in the first round? Look, if this was Earl Weaver Baseball we would have nothing to worry about. But the real world isn't EWB. I am simply saying that the Cubs will have an easier time winning if they play the MEts then if they play LA. It is also unlikely that the Cubs will play "like they are capable of" since pretty much nobody does.

Yes, you're being pessimistic because the view you're taking, which you're calling "reality," pretty much assumes the worst about everyone on the Cubs. It has nothing to do with who you want them to play. The Mets are better than the Dodgers, IMO (5 more wins in a much tougher division). Sure, they're scuffling now but they're a better team.

But similarly to retro, I don't care who the Cubs play in the first round.

It doesn't matter what the record of the teams are anymore. What matters is what they can put out on the field. Who is in a better position to put a superior product on the field right now? The Dodgers or the Mets?

I'm not assuming the worst, I'm pointing out flaws to this whole weird belief of "if the Cubs play to their capability" view. This isn't some series in August, this isn't some random series in May. This is a series after playing 162 games. There are injurys, there is exhaustion, there is scuffling.

I think the Cubs should be the favorite against either team, and should win either series but I think it would be easier and better for the team to play the weaker team. Which I believe is the NY Mets.