Result: Cubs 6, Marlins 3. The Cubs lead the NL Central by 1 game over the Brewers and 4 over St. Louis. The Crew completed a four-game sweep of the Cards on Thursday at Busch Stadium. The Brewers host Houston for a three game series starting tonight, while St. Louis visits Shea to take on the Mets.
What happened: Ronny Cedeno and Henry Blanco got rare starts and each homered as the Cubs overcame an early 2-0 deficit. Carlos Zambrano tossed seven strong innings and Carlos Marmol worked into and out of a jam in the 9th for the save. Florida took a 2-0 lead on Hanley Ramirez's homer in the third. Cedeno's solo shot cut that lead in half, and the Cubs took the lead for good in a four-run fifth. Zambrano tioed the score with an RBI double, and Aramis Ramirez snapped out of his recent slump with a two-run double. Marmol maddeningly walked three to load the bases in the 9th, but recovered to strike out Wes Helms to end it.
Concerns: A sudden lack of depth (and reliability) in the bullpen. With Kerry Wood out for the time being due to a finger blister, the 9th inning falls to Marmol or Bob Howry, neither of whom have looked the part lately. Maybe Chad Gaudin can work into that mix? Of course, that bumps up everyone else an inning, and some of those guys have been ineffective lately. This may put the Cubs in the market for another end-of-the-bullpen arm before the trade deadline. The shortage of arms in the bullpen (remedied today by the calling up of former Notre Dame football star Jeff Samardzija) may have led to Lou sending Z out for the 7th, which led to his pitch count reaching 127.
Up next: Marlins-Cubs, 1:20 today at Wrigley. Josh Johnson vs. Ryan Dempster
In Memoriam: Dickey Betts
11 months ago
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