The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – INSIDE PITCH
The Cubs are inching toward some double-digit figures they’d rather not see.
Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds dropped them to nine games under .500 at 11-20 and to nine games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.
During last year’s 101-loss season, the Cubs didn’t reach 10 games under .500 until their 40th game, when they were 15-25.
There are a lot of leaks on this ship. The back end of the bullpen has been bad, with Shawn Camp joining beleaguered former closer Carlos Marmol on the downside list. Camp has an 8.03 ERA. The team continues failing to hit with runners in scoring position. The Cubs ended the weekend with a .181 average (44-for-243) with men in scoring position.
One of their biggest free-agent acquisitions, pitcher Edwin Jackson, is off to an 0-5 start with a 6.39 ERA.
“Going into the season, we all said we had a much more competitive team,” said manager Dale Sveum. “We were going to be able to keep the line moving a little more with the left-handers we have in the lineup in (Nate) Schierholtz and (Dioner) Navarro catching sometimes and the way (Luis) Valbuena’s swung the bat.
“For the most part, that’s all worked to a ‘T.’ The back end of the bullpen has cost us, obviously, but we’ve had some miscues on the field that have cost some of our starters some really good outings, as well. It’s just a shame that if we had played really clean baseball and had a dominating bullpen, this could be flipped to 19-11 (entering Sunday). Instead, we’re on the back end of this. So it’s frustrating.”
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MLB Team Report – Chicago Cubs – NOTES, QUOTES
RECORD: 11-20
STREAK: Lost four
PAST 10 GAMES: 4-6
NEXT: Rangers (Nick Tepesch, 2-2, 3.54) at Cubs (Scott Feldman, 2-3, 3.34)
PLAYER NOTES:
–RHP Edwin Jackson dropped to 0-5 despite an improved performance on Sunday. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits while striking out eight. Jackson is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in four career starts against the Reds.
–CF David DeJesus is batting .338 (25-for-74) with eight doubles in 22 games since April 9. He was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles on Sunday. For the season, DeJesus has lifted his average to .284 through 29 games.
–3B Luis Valbuena drew a career-high three walks. He leads the team with 13 walks and his .358 on-base percentage is 111 points higher than his .247 batting average.
–RHP Jeff Samardzija’s 52 strikeouts are tied for second most in the National League with the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw. Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett leads with 57. Samardzija, who hasn’t won since Opening Day, had no-decision on Saturday, leaving after six innings with a 4-2 lead. Cincinnati then rallied against the Cubs bullpen to claim a 6-4 victory.
–LF Alfonso Soriano extended his home hitting streak to 10 games. His two Saturday homers put him at 375 for his career. The next will tie him with No. 69 Carlton Fisk (376) and with two he’ll match Norm Cash and Jeff Kent in a tie for 67th. He’s batting .444 (8-for-18) through Sunday in the Cubs’ current home stand.
–RHP Scott Feldman makes his sixth start and third at home on Monday as the Cubs and Texas Rangers play an inter-league makeup game. The original April 17 contest was rained out. It will be the first start against the Rangers, his former team. He’s 2-3 with a 3.34 ERA so far this season. Feldman has allowed 25 hits, and 13 walks while striking out 24. Only 11 of his 18 runs have been earned.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Three or four fastballs up in the zone right there. He was better today … but he was a little stymied right now and ground balls seemed to go through every hole. And their bullpen gave up one and we gave up three and that changed the game around.” — Manager Dale Sveum, regarding RHP Edwin Jackson, who suffered his fifth straight loss for the Cubs. Jackson allowed four earned runs on eight hits. He struck out five and walked just one as Chicago fell to Cincinnati 7-4 Sunday.
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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 Class AAA (Des Moines) Iowa after his minor league rehab stint May 3. He got off to a poor start at the plate in his rehab stint, so the Cubs exercised an option on him.
–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 Class AA (Kodak) Tennessee on May 1. He made one appearance for Tennessee before moving to Class AAA (Des Moines) Iowa for a scheduled May 6 start. He’ll need one or two more minor league starts after that so he can build his pitch count up.
–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 threw another bullpen May 2. He began a minor league rehab stint May 5 at Class AAA (Des Moines) Iowa and could be back within the week.
–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
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