Series Preview: Cubs VS Pirates

Two divisional foes in the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will meet in a three game series that kicks off tonight and runs through Wednesday. The Cubs dominated the season series in both 2008 (14-4) and 2009 (10-4), but this year it's been a different story. The Bucs have take all three series that the clubs have played against one another and lead the season set 7 games to 2. The last time the Pirates and Cubs met, the Cubbies took a one game makeup on June 7 for their first victory at PNC Park this season.

After Wednesday, these Central division opponents will not play each other again until August 30. Both teams have had frustrating seasons to date. The Pirates are accustomed to finishing at or near the cellar in the NL Central, but the Cubs had high expectations for 2010. They are at risk of suffering their first losing season under skipper Lou Piniella.

Pittsburgh is in last in the division with a record of 25-50, which is 16.5 out of first. The Cubs are eight games ahead of the Pirates, but still nine under .500 and 8.5 behind the Reds, who lead St. Louis by a half of a game going into play today.

The North Siders just finished losing two of three at U.S. Cellular Field against their Crosstown rivals. The weekend included another Carlos Zambrano blow-up, and this one got him suspended indefinitely. After a team meeting on Saturday, the Cubs seemed like a different club on both Saturday and Sunday. They still lost Saturday night's contest in a 3-2 heart breaker, but then they managed to salvage something beating the Sox 8-6 on Sunday. The Cubs were clicking on all cylinders during the final game of the weekend. Tyler Colvin put the Cubs in front with a three run homer early, and then they settled in and got more comfortable at the plate. The final score was closer than it should have been because of a circus ninth inning against Carlos Marmol. The Cubs closer did not have the intensity that he usually has in a tight game, and ended up allowing the Sox to bring the winning run to the plate even though the Cubs had a five run lead going to the final frame.

The Cubbies have made a habit of losing the first two games of a series before finally waking up and winning the finale. They've dropped the opener in each of their last eight sets, a string they hope to end tonight. With a last place team in town, Lou's crew has a chance to end a miserable month on a high note. They hold a 9-14 record in June going into these final three games.

The Bucs are concluding a nine game road swing at Wrigley. They are 0-6 to start the trip after being swept by both Texas and Oakland in interleague games. The Pirates have had an even tougher month than the Cubs, 4-19 in June entering play tonight. The next time the Cubs see this squad, they will probably be revamped. Pittsburgh, once again, will be selling at the deadline.

Ron Santo will be honored by the organization prior to the game tonight. Santo celebrated the 50th anniversary of his big league debut on Saturday. The Cubs played the Pirates in Ronny's first career game on June 26, 1960. They swept a double header in Pittsburgh 7-6 and 7-5. He started at thirdbase and had three hits and five RBIs on the day. Santo went on to become a fixture in the Cubs lineup until 1974, when his final year of pro ball was spent with the White Sox. The 9-time All-Star is now in his 21st year of broadcasting on WGN Radio. Flags will fly at Wrigley in his honor starting tonight. In addition, Ron will toss out the first pitch tonight and sing "Take Me Out the Ball Game" on Thursday.

Game 1: Monday, 7:05 CT
Cubs Pitcher: Randy Wells, RHP (3-6, 5.21 ERA)
Pirates Pitcher: Paul Maholm, LHP (4-6, 4.24 ERA)
TV/Radio: CSN/WGN Radio 720

Game 2: Tuesday, 7:05 CT
Cubs Pitcher: Ted Lilly, LHP (2-6, 3.28 ERA)
Pirates Pitcher: Jeff Karstens, RHP (2-2, 4.60 ERA)
TV/Radio: WGN-TV/WGN Radio 720

Game 3: Wednesday at 1:20 CT
Cubs Pitcher: Tom Gorzelanny (2-5, 3.41 ERA)
Pirates Pitcher: Brad Lincoln (0-2, 6.00 ERA)
TV/Radio: WGN-TV/WGN Radio 720

One positive thing from the Zambrano incident is that Tom Gorzelanny is back in the rotation. Lou Piniella has said that if/when Z returns, he will head back to the bullpen and Gorzo will stay in the starting five. Tom pitched well during his stint of relief work. He earned his first career save in Seattle on Thursday and bailed Zambrano out to keep the Cubs in the game on Friday. Gorzelanny will work against his former team on Wednesday afternoon. Jose Ascaino, who went the other way in the Gorzo/Grabow trade, is on the 60 day DL. Kevin Hart, another produce of last July's swap, is in the minors, so the only former Cub we'll see in the series is shortstop Ronny Cedeno.

The Cubs are opening up their final homestand of the first half. The 7-gamer continues as the Reds come in for four starting on Thursday afternoon. The Cubs will spend the final week prior to the All-Star Break on the West Coast. The Pirates will come home for a four game series with the Phillies, but then they'll be right back on the road, where they've really struggled this season.

"I don't care who wins as long as it's the Cubs!"

Former Cub Updates: May 1, 2010

For the first time in 2010, let's take a look at how our ex-Cubbies are fairing! For this post, we will focus only on players that were members of the Cubs in 2009.

• Kevin Gregg, Blue Jays: 0.82 ERA, 6 SV, 11 IP
• Reed Johnson, Dodgers: .282 AVG, 3 RBIs, 19 games
• Rich Harden, Rangers: 1-1, 4.56 ERA, 23.2 IP
• Milton Bradley, Seattle: .211 AVG, 2 HR, 11 RBIs, 18 Games
• Jake Fox, Oakland: .182 AVG, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 16 Games
• Aaron Heilman, Arizona: 0-1, 5.59 ERA, 9.2 IP
• Kevin Hart, Pirates: Has torn labrum, could have season ending surgery.
• Aaron Miles, Cardinals: The Cubs traded Miles to Oakland, then they shipped him to Cincinnati. Then, he was released on April 14 after being DFA out of Spring Training. This week, he signed a minor league deal to return to St. Louis.
• Neal Cotts, Pirates: Has not pitched yet this season after signing with Pittsburgh on January 4. He is not listed on the Pirates 40-man roster.
• Luis Vizcaino: Free agent
• Chad Fox: Free Agent
• So Taguchi: Playing for Orix BlueWaves in Japan
• Ryan Freel: Signed with Somerset Patriots, an independent club
• Andres Blanco, Texas: .214 AVG, 1 RBI, 14 Games
• Jason Waddell: Pitching in the Tigers' system

That covers them all!

Recap: Gameday Experience

Nick Digilio and Cory Provust hosted the "Game Day Experience" session at the Cubs Convention. The guests were Ted Lilly, Koyie Hill, Kevin Hart, Mike Fontenot, and Joey Gathright. Here's the recap:

• Ted Lilly was asked about his routine on the days he starts. He said he tries to keep it the same as any day he starts. He tries not to think about it too much early in the day because then he wants the 7:05 game to start at 1:00.
• Koyie Hill said that the game is the same in the minors, but the environment is different.
• Fontenot said that his day is a little bit different when he's starting. He says he lifts and runs more on days he's not starting.
• Gathright says he wakes up late and gets to the park around 2:00.
• Kevin Hart likes to get to the park early.
• Mike says sometimes he likes going on the road to see all the ballparks.
• Joey has never seen as many fans in a hotel lobby as he saw at the convention.
• Koyie says the many Cubs fans are great and make you take a lot of pride in what you are doing. He thinks that the fans on the road give you an edge.
• Ted says that you have to be as consistent as possible.
• Cory asked about superstitions. Joey says that he has an old teammate who will put on lady's underwear when he gets into a funk. Mike says he has to be in the dugout to be ready for Zambrano's beat into the ground everyday.
• Nick asked who screws around the most in the clubhouse. The guys said that there are a lot of characters on the team. They mentioned Dempster and Jon Lieber as jokers.
• Cory asked about aliases that the guys used on the road. Ted says he used Harry Rosenbag. Koyie used Turb Fergurson. Joey only has his current one.
• Mike and Ted's favorite story was when the security guy clotheslined the fan who was about to jump Bobby Howry.
• Joey said that it's fun to be on the plane when you're winning, but it's not when your losing.
• Koyie said that we would laugh if we knew how much stuff gets broken on the plane when you put 25 competitive people on a plane for 4 hours over losing card games and stuff like that.
• Kevin described AAA travel as "no fun".
• Joey said that he doesn't train for speed. He said that his mom was really fast and his dad could jump really high so he got a combination of both.
• Joey was asked about the YouTube video where he jumped over a car. He said it started after football practice in 10th grade. He said he can't jump over cars any more because he will get in trouble.
• Kevin has seen Joey jump cars first person before.
• Mike says that he will stick with jumping over chairs not cars.
• Kevin said that some teams make rookies ride on a motorized cooler that they make the rookie ride out to the bullpen. Lilly had to carry a pink purse from the dugout to the bullpen.
• Someone asked if any of the guys played fantasy baseball. Most of them play fantasy football in the off seaon.
• All the guys follow football pretty closely. Fontenot likes the Saints. Gathright and Hart are both Cowboys fan. Ted said that football is his favorite sport to watch. He enjoys watching high school games. Koyie likes the Chiefs.
• Mike says he likes to hunt and fish. Joey likes to draw and play X-box. Kevin says he plays X-Box live for about 4 hours a day. Koyie said he always wanted to be an architect. One of Hill's goals is to get better a racket ball. Ted enjoys golf.
• Someone asked if they get distracted by the fans. Mike says he tries to ignore them. Ted said that it just show that they are interested when they cheer and boo. Joey likes to interact with the fans.
• Cory asked if Wrigley has lived up to their expectations. Ted says that when he see all the fans you realize how special this place is. Lilly thinks the new guys will have a lot of fun this year. Joey said that when you found out he got a chance to come to Chicago, he came mainly because of the fans.
• The panel shared their favorite Lou Pienella story. Ted told a funny story about how Fontenot had a great game, and Lou went up to the bullpen catcher and said, "Great game today." Lou has confused Mike and Corey Miller more than once.
• Joey said he knows Lou because he played for him in Tampa.
• Lilly was asked about plowing over Molina during a game against the Cardinals. He said that Molina is a class act, Ted said he felt bad that he got hurt no that play. Ted says that sliding would have been more dangerous for himself.
• Someone asked about there favorite and least favorite places to play. Mike's favorite city is San Diego and least favorite is Pitsburg. Joey and Ted's least favorites are Minisota. Ted's favorite is San Fransisco and Gathright's is Boston.
• Lilly says that when he was on the Blue Jays, Wrigley and Fenway were his favorite places to play.
• Mike's favorite thing about Chicago besides Wrigley is the weather in the summer. Koyie enjoys how active the city is. Kevin says that he likes walking around the city and seeing millions of people with your teams logo on their hat.
• The guys talked about the small visiting clubhouse. They love the fact knowing that the other team is miserable over there.