May 31 Game Preview: Cubs VS Dodgers

Sunday, May 31, 2009:
Chicago Cubs VS LA Dodgers
Game Info:

Records: Dodgers (34-7, 1st in NL West)
Cubs (25-23, 4th in NL Central)
Pitching Match up: Eric Milton (1-0, 3.00 ERA) VS Sean Marshall (3-3, 3.70 ERA)
First Pitch: 7:05 PM CT
Stadium: Wrigley Field
TV/Radio: ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, 720 AM, WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish)

Series Info:
This Series: The 4th and final game tonight. The Cubs took the series lead with the 7-0 win yesterday.
Season Series: This is the first series of 2009 between the 2 clubs. After today, the next time they meet is Aug. 20-23 for a 4 game set in LA.
All-Time Series (since 1901): Cubs 936, Dodgers 932

Dodger Hitters Career VS Marshall:
Brad Ausmus: 3-12, 1 HR
Russell Martin: 1-2 RBI
Orlando Hudson: 1-6, HR
Rafael Furcal: 1-5, HR
Mark Loretta: 1-5
Andre Ethier: 0-2
Matt Kemp: 0-2

Cubs Hitters Career VS Eric Milton:
Milton Bradley: 3-14, HR
Derrek Lee: 4-18, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB
Aramis Ramirez: 10-28, 3 HR, 7 RBI
Alfonso Soriano: 6-12
Ryan Theriot: 1-1

Weather: A high of 69 today, just a 10% chance of rain!

Latest Cubs Rumors and Info:

• Outfielder Tyler Colvin has been promoted from Class A to AA Tennessee.
  
• Mike Fontenot is expected to get most of the playing time at 2B in the absence of Aramis Ramirez. Lou likes Fontenot at 3rd and says that “We can use Scales and Blanco at second.” He also pointed out that it will help when we get Miles back from the DL.
• The Cubs are not going to use Jake Fox as an everyday 3rd baseman. However, they will continue to work with him at 3rd in case of an injury.
• Carlos Zambrano threw a bullpen session to stay on track for his next start after the suspension, which will be Thursday, the final game in Atlanata.
• According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Tom Rickets is closer to closing the deal on the sale of the Cubs than recent reports suggest. Let’s hope so!
• Little Cubs Field was opened yesterday in the Chicago area. Pitchers Carlos Marmol and Angel Guzman generously gave some of their time to help officially open the park.
• The bottom of the Cubs order has been really struggling this year. Last year it was a strength of the team with guys like Mark DeRosa, Jim Edmonds, and Geovany Soto coming through with a lot of rallies.
  

Injury Report:

• Rich Harden, on the 15-day DL with a mid back sprain, played catch on Thursday. He will play long toss today, and if he passes that test he could pitch a bullpen session. There is no timetable set for Harden’s return.
• Alfonso Soriano’s left knee continues to bother him. We’ll see if he’s in the lineup today. He did not have a hit yesterday.
• Ryan Dempster pitched with a blister yesterday day and did a heck of a job, throwing 7 shutout innings. Lou said before yesterday’s game that if they didn’t have 2 starts out already, they would have skipped Demp in the rotation.
• The Gatorade machine that Zambrano took a bat to on Wednesday is the latest injury. It will be removed from the Cubs dugout soon according to Ken Rosenthal.
• Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Freel, Aaron Miles, Chad Fox, and also Harden all remain on the DL.

Minor League Scores Today:
Iowa Cubs: Completed game started on May 3, final score Iowa 4, Memphis 2. Neal Cotts pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. The I-Cubs lost the second game 4-3. Tennessee Smokies: Loss 10-2 to Carolina
Daytona Cubs: Win 11-3 against Sarasota
Peoria Chiefs: Loss 4-2 to Great Lakes

Numbers Breakdown: Milton Bradley VS Mark DeRosa:
Batting Average- DeRosa .268, Bradley .223
HR- DeRosa 8, Bradley 5
RBI- Bradley 14, DeRosa 8
OBP- Bradley .340, DeRosa .346
Versatility/defense- DeRosa +1
Better Guy in Clubhouse/Off the Field/leader- DeRosa +1
So the final Score is DeRosa 4, Bradley 2 and the numbers don’t lie!

This Date in Cubs History:
2005- The Cubs down the Dodgers‚ 2-1‚ in 10 innings. Carlos Zambrano‚ Michael Wuertz‚ and Ryan Dempster combine to hold Los Angeles to one hit-a 3rd inning bloop double by Cesar Izturis.
2003- The Cubs down the Astros‚ 1-0‚ in 16 innings. It is the longest 1-0 game for Chicago since a 17-inning win over Boston in 1901. Houston pitchers set a team record with 23 strikeouts in the contest‚ while the Cubs set a club mark by fanning that many times.

Cubbie Birthdays:
Kenny Lofton (42)

Cubs Poll:

Thanks to everyone who voted on our last poll! Here are the results:

Q: What hitter are you most impressed with early in the season?

1. Kosuke, 8 votes

2. Soriano/Theriot, 2 votes each

Our new poll:

Q: What inter-league series at Wrigley are you looking forward too the most?

A. VS Sox June 16-18

B. VS CLE June 19-21

Cubs Starting Lineup (I‘ll post it when I get it):
1. Soriano, LF
2. Theriot, SS
3. Bradley, RF
4. Lee, 1B
5. Johnson, CF
6. Soto, C
7. Scales, 2B
8. Fontenot, 3B
9. Marshall, P

Some Updates Just in from Carrie Muskat:

• This could be Sean Marshall second to last start. Lou said that Sean fits in the bullpen once Harden returns.
• Lou said that he wants Marshall in the bullpen so they can have a good lefty with experience out there.
• No set-backs for Harden, he could throw off the mound Tuesday in Atlanta.
• Zambrano will return Thursday.
• Dempster will pitch either next Friday or Saturday. He is dealing with a blister.
• The Cubs have released minor league outfielder Richie Robnett.

Let’s go get our 5th win in the last 6 games!