MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – INSIDE PITCH
The Cubs have had trouble scoring runs all year, either with or without men in scoring position.
That was the case again Friday, when the Cubs lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5.
Manager Dale Sveum has relied heavily on platoons and matchups. In Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Padres, he stacked the lineup with right-handed hitters against lefty Eric Stults.
Platoon player Scott Hairston accounted for both Chicago runs with a homer. Three of Hairston’s four hits this year are homers, and all have come against left-handed pitchers.
“In the long run, when guys are swinging the bats the way they can, it works,” Sveum said, referring to platoons. “They make pitchers work harder, which is what you’re trying to do instead of getting quick outs on the same arm side. Guys can get much quicker outs and easier outs than it is when facing the opposite hitter. In our case, our left-handers are swinging the bats well. Our right-handers just got to get back swinging the way they can off-left-handers.”
The Cubs were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Thursday and they stranded nine runners. They stranded 12 more Friday.
Sveum also had shortstop Starlin Castro move from second in the order to fifth on Wednesday and Thursday. However, he said Castro would bat second in the Cubs’ normal lineup, which he did Friday. Sveum said he also doesn’t want to sacrifice defense for the sake of offense with platoons.
“You still don’t want to lose defense for doing it,” he said. “That’s always a factor when it comes to platooning. You don’t want to lose too much defense because whatever offense the guy might produce, you might be losing on the defensive end. You still need two-way players when you’re platooning.”
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MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – NOTES, QUOTES
RECORD: 11-18
STREAK: Lost two
PAST 10 GAMES: 5-5
NEXT: Reds (Tony Cingrani, 2-0, 1.50) at Cubs (Jeff Samardzija, 1-4, 3.35)
PLAYER NOTES:
–3B Luis Valbuena went 3-for-4 and matched his career high with his three hits Friday. He’s had three hits on 10 occasions, but none since Aug. 30, 2012, against Milwaukee.
–1B Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-5 on to extend his hitting streak to four games and is hitting .433 in his last eight games dating back to April 26. He has gone 13-for-30 in that span. Fifteen of his 27 hits this season have gone for extra bases (seven doubles and eight home runs).
–LF Alfonso Soriano became the 30th Cubs’ player with 200 doubles when he stroked an RBI double to left in the sixth inning. In the first inning, he extended his home hitting streak to eight games with a single.
–RF Nate Schierholtz went 2-for-4 on Friday for his sixth multi-hit game of the season. He’s a .538 career hitter against Cincinnati’s Mike Leake. He also stole his fourth base of the season in the fourth inning, surpassing his 2012 total.
–RHP Matt Garza is likely to make three more starts at Triple-A Iowa before returning to the Cubs. “That third start would probably be close to 100 pitches before he gets back here,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Friday. Garza is on the 15-day disabled list with elbow and lat injuries and has yet to make a Cubs appearance.
–RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-4) makes his seventh start of the season and third at Wrigley Field in the middle match of the three-game series. Samardzija lost four straight starts before a no-decision last time out. He closed April with 47 strikeouts, the second highest total in team history. Samardzija is 1-2 with a 4.09 ERA in 17 games (three starts) against the Reds. He took the loss in a 1-0 decision at Cincinnati on April 24 despite tossing six innings of one-run, seven-hit ball.
–3B Ian Stewart (strained left quadriceps) was activated from the 15-day disabled list Friday and optioned to Triple-A Iowa. He was hurt early in spring training and went on the 15-day disabled March 22. He began a rehab assignment with Iowa on April 14 and hit .091 through 13 games.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We didn’t do much in the eight innings again. We left some guys out there again. … Those are the things that come back and haunt you at the end of a game.” — Manager Dale Sveum after a ninth-inning rally fell short Friday.
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MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–3B Ian Stewart (strained left quadriceps) was activated from the 15-day disabled list May 3 and optioned to Triple-A Iowa.
–RHP Matt Garza (strained left lat, elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He threw off flat ground the week of April 7 and pitched April 19 in a bullpen session in Milwaukee. He was scratched from a scheduled rehab start April 24 due to right arm soreness but began a rehab assignment at Double-A Tennessee on May 1. He will need to pitch at least three games for Triple-A Iowa before returning.
–RHP Kyuji Fujikawa (right forearm strain) went on the 15-day disabled list April 13. He continues to rehab in Chicago. He is throwing long toss from up to 135 feet off flat ground. He threw 32 pitches in the Wrigley Field bullpen April 29 and will throw another bullpen May 2 before heading out on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa, where he will make one or two appearances.
–C/INF Steve Clevenger (strained left oblique muscle) went on the 60-day disabled list April 14.
–RHP Scott Baker (Tommy John surgery in April 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 31. He started a throwing program April 29. There is no timetable for his return.
–RHP Arodys Vizcaino (Tommy John surgery in March 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 27.
ROTATION:
RHP Jeff Samardzija
RHP Edwin Jackson
LHP Travis Wood
RHP Scott Feldman
RHP Carlos Villanueva
BULLPEN:
RHP Carlos Marmol
RHP Shawn Camp
LHP James Russell
RHP Michael Bowden
RHP Hector Rondon
RHP Kameron Loe
RHP Kevin Gregg
CATCHERS:
Welington Castillo
Dioner Navarro
INFIELDERS:
1B Anthony Rizzo
2B Darwin Barney
SS Starlin Castro
3B Luis Valbuena
INF Cody Ransom
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Alfonso Soriano
CF David DeJesus
RF Nate Schierholtz
OF Scott Hairston
OF Dave Sappelt
OF Julio Borbon
