Game Preview: Cubs VS Braves

Wednesday, June 3, 2009: Chicago Cubs VS Atlanta Braves

Game Info:

Records: Cubs 25-25 (4th in NL Central) VS Braves 26-25 (3rd in NL East)
Pitching Matchup: Ted Lilly (6-3) VS Derek Lowe (6-3)
First Pitch: 6:05 CT
Stadium: Turner Field
TV: CSN Chicago

Series Info:

This series: The Cubs had a 5 run lead in the 7th and Randy Wells had a no hitter going, but the Cubs found a way to lose 6-5 in Game 1 last night.
Season Series: Braves lead 1-0.
All-Time Series (Since 1900): Cubs 1021, Braves 844

Cubs Hitters VS Derek Lowe:

• Milton Bradley: 1-9, 2 RBI, 3 BB
• Mike Fontenot: 3-5
• Kosuke: 1-5, BB
• Koyie Hill: 1-6
• Reed Johnson: 4-11, 5 RBI
• Derrek Lee: 11-28, 2 BB, HR, 5 RBI
• Alfonso Soriano: 13-53, 3 HR, 5 RBI
• Ryan Theriot: 2-10
• Ted Lilly: 0-2

Braves Hitters VS Ted Lilly:

• Brian McCann: 1-4, RBI, BB
• Derek Lowe: 0-2
• Yunel Escobar: 2-6
• Chipper Jones: 2-9, 4 BB, 2 RBI
• Casey Kotchman: 0-3
• Kelly Johnson: 1-4
• Greg Norton: 1-5
• Martin Prado: 2-4, RBI
• Garret Anderson: 3-22, BB
• Matt Diaz: 1-3
• Gregor Blanco: 0-3
• David Ross: 0-9

And there is a little more history between Ted Lilly and the Braves...

• In 2007, Alfonso Soriano hit 3 home runs in a Cubs 9-1. The next game, Tim Hudson hit Soriano with a first-pitch fastball causing home-plate umpire Tim Tschida to issue warnings to both teams. In the final game of the series, Lilly hit Edgar Renteria in the first inning and was thrown out of the game by Jim Wolf.
• After Greg Norton homered against Lilly in the first inning of a game in 2008, the next pitch went over the head of McCann and both benches were warned.
• Could there be a Lilly VS Braves Part III tonight?

Weather:

• Isolated T-Storms
• 30% chance of precip.
• Currently 85 degrees.

Cubs Notes:

• Carlos Zambrano skipped the team charter flight to Atlanta and arrived to the ballpark late yesterday. He did not have permission. Lou hauled the suspended pitcher into his office before last night's game to address the situation. Neither Lou nor Big Z would comment.
• Randy Wells was 7 outs away from a no hitter yesterday, and not only did he lose the no-no, but ended up losing his first big league win. Carlos Marmol and Angel Guzman were wild, Kevin Gregg got another blown save, and Aaron Heilman gave up the game winning hit as the Cubs bullpen continues to struggle.
• Also, Derrek Lee made a rare costly error.
• Jim Hendry is not with the team because he is preparing for next week's first year player draft.
• "We Believe" the movie is coming out soon! Check it out on Muskat's blog.

Injury Report:

• Milton Bradley left last nights game with a strained right calf. The DL is a possibility according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times. The good news is that Reed Johnson is red hot and will get more playing time with Bradley out of the lineup.
• Ryan Dempster, who has been bothered by a blister, will make his scheduled start on Friday in Cincinnati.
• Alfonso Soriano's knee is not a problem. He says his slump is because he's swinging at bad pitches.
• Rich Harden threw a 33-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday. Harden said the back pain is gone. He could return to the rotation during the Minnesota series at Wrigley June 12-14.

Minor League Report:

• Iowa Cubs: Loss to Nashville 3-0.
• Tennessee Smokies: VS Carolina 6:15 CT
• Daytona Cubs: VS Charlotte 6:05 CT
• Peoria Chiefs: VS Beloit at 7pm CT

Radio Recap:

Darren Rovell, CNBC business expert, joined Mully and Hanley on 670 the Score to break down the Cubs sale yesterday:

• Darren thought the sale would be done by June 1.
• The Rickets deal is going to get done, but the times are still tough.
• You really do have to have the cash to buy a team now a days, and that makes it hard to sell a team.
• Every teams values are going to drop if a team sells for a cheap price.

Dave Van Dyck joined the guys to talk Cubs:

• Dave says that nobody can stop Zambrano from being Zambrano. Mully seemed to think that Lou needs to get control of the team.
• Carlos said in Spring Training that no of this stuff would ever happen again, but if you have a temper, you have a temper.
• What should Lou do with Reed Johnson? That question solved itself in last nights game with the injury but Van Dyck said, "I've always believed you go with your hot hand. I think they have to play Johnson while he's hot."
• There is a need for power in the Cubs lineup. Soriano has to stay in the lineup everyday for some power.
• Lee and Bradley have to get it going in the middle of the lineup.
• Van Dyck gets tired of preaching that if your 3-4-5 hitters are not hitting you don't win a lot of baseball games. Milton Bradley should hit 20-25 homers.
• Derrek Lee has to hit for average and power as a #3 hitter.
• Dave thinks Koyie Hill should start at catcher for 3-4 days in a row. He's a good defensive catcher and his a little pop in his bat.
• The Soto situation puzzles Van Dyck a little bit. He says that there is no solution to this problem.
• Bradley is just suffering from the "yucks" according to Van Dyck.
• Milton is guessing at pitches, doesn't have any confidence, and is taking a lot of called strike 3s.

This Date in Cubs History:

1978- The Braves and the Cubs tie a major league record using 14 hurlers in a single game. Each team using seven pitchers as Chicago beats Atlanta at Wrigley Field, 8-6.

2003- Slugger Sammy Sosa is ejected from the game during the first inning after he shatters his bat and the broken remains exposes cork. The Cub outfielder will be suspended by major league baseball for 8 games (will be reduced to 7) his offense.

Cubbie Birthdays:

Robert Machado (36)

Jose Molina (34)

Steve Smyth (31)

Starting Lineup:

• Soriano, LF
• Theriot, SS
• Kosuke, RF
• Lee, 1B
• Fontenot, 3B
• Johnson, CF
• Hill, C
• Blanco, 2B
• Lilly, P

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