Pleasant Surprise

The Cubs have won 2 in a row in Coors field which is quite an accomplishment in my mind considering what the Rockies did to the Brewers earlier this week. When I determined the pitching rotation was going to be Lilly, Marquis, Hill, and Marshall, I figured we had to win the Lilly game and then hope for one other. Well that one other already came in the form of a stellar Jason Marquis start. He pitched 6 and 2/3 innings giving up only 1 un-earned run, 5 hits and struck out 5. Quite a dominant performance at Coors with red hot hitters such as Holliday, Hawpe, Tulowitzki, and Atkins.

Everyone knows I was really against the Marquis signing at the beginning of the year, but I finally have to admit he's been a solid addition. He did struggle there for a bit after a great start and I figured he'd continue to decline throughout the season. But he has put in a couple of really good performances lately and we really need that to continue.

Jacque Jones and Matt Murton homered.
For Jones he hadn't homered in what seems like forever (June 1). For Murton, it was his 2nd HR in as many days at Coors Field. For his career, he is 7 for 17 (.411) with 3 HRs at Coors in 4 games. Extrapolate that out over 81 games and he'd have 60 HRs at home if he were a Rockie. Maybe Jim Hendry can inform Dan O'Dowd (Rockies GM) of that stat and perhaps we could exchange Murton for Matt Holliday? Just wondering.

Anyway, Jones and Murton basically have to keep starting everyday until they prove us otherwise. They are too hot to bench and with Murton on pace to be the greatest player of all time (as long as he plays at Coors), I am sure Lou will stick with them. Additionally, our best defensive outfield of the season would be Murton in LF, Pie in CF, and Jones in RF. Let's just go with that and hope Soriano is back in a few weeks.

Ryan (my boy) Theriot actually went 0-5....I had to rub my eyes when I saw that. He has now only gone hitless 4 times in his last 22 games. Remarkable. I love the guy and frankly I love him WAY more in the leadoff spot than I do Soriano.

Playing Colorado is just what the doctor ordered. We are playing with more offensive confidence now. Let's keep this streak going. Let's cheer for once for the Astros and for them to beat the Brewers. We are only 1/2 game back....Let's take that lead and not look back.

I've heard before that you need to just win series in baseball. Win all your series and you'll have a .667 winning percentage (pretty stellar). Well I've also heard that if you take the first 2 games of a series, you then have to go for the kill. Don't just be satisfied with the series win. We've won the first 2 of 4 from the Rockies. We now need to win 1 more. And if we win today, let's pull off the 4 game sweep!

GO CUBS GO!