Monday, April 19, 2004
4/19: Turning Point Game. At least for me.
At 6-6 going into today's action, I really didn't want to have to think about a sub-500 Cubs team that was struggling to beat the Reds on a regular basis. What I needed from the Cubs was a convincing victory, replete with a strong starting pitching performance, the appearance of a non-LaTroy Hawkins reliever who could manage not to give up a gopher ball, and continued good hitting.
Let's see: 8-1 final, 6 1/3 strong ones from Clement, 2 up and down for Kyle "Tightpants" Farnsworth (I lifted that from somewhere else, by the way), and a grand slam from Derrek Lee. This is how the Cubs are supposed to play this year.
Although Clement struggled in his first and last innings of work, he was obviously much improved from his first two starts. He was working both sides of the plate with good control, his breaking pitches were filthy, and he got lots and lots of ground balls. Control has been a major issue with the staff so far, both starters and relievers. Clement found his with the benefit of a highly questionable call from umpire Chuck Meriweather and then pretty much ate the Reds up for four innings. Maddux looked better yesterday, too, although his line will not indicate it. When the Cubs pitchers can start regularly getting through the first inning with less than 1 walk and 20 pitches, you will see me relax significantly.
This is kind of disjointed, but what do you expect after a series like this? And it's still April. I'm off to score some Xanax.
At 6-6 going into today's action, I really didn't want to have to think about a sub-500 Cubs team that was struggling to beat the Reds on a regular basis. What I needed from the Cubs was a convincing victory, replete with a strong starting pitching performance, the appearance of a non-LaTroy Hawkins reliever who could manage not to give up a gopher ball, and continued good hitting.
Let's see: 8-1 final, 6 1/3 strong ones from Clement, 2 up and down for Kyle "Tightpants" Farnsworth (I lifted that from somewhere else, by the way), and a grand slam from Derrek Lee. This is how the Cubs are supposed to play this year.
Although Clement struggled in his first and last innings of work, he was obviously much improved from his first two starts. He was working both sides of the plate with good control, his breaking pitches were filthy, and he got lots and lots of ground balls. Control has been a major issue with the staff so far, both starters and relievers. Clement found his with the benefit of a highly questionable call from umpire Chuck Meriweather and then pretty much ate the Reds up for four innings. Maddux looked better yesterday, too, although his line will not indicate it. When the Cubs pitchers can start regularly getting through the first inning with less than 1 walk and 20 pitches, you will see me relax significantly.
This is kind of disjointed, but what do you expect after a series like this? And it's still April. I'm off to score some Xanax.
