See? It's Not Just Us.

Much has been made of the repeated failures of the Cubs bullpen this year. Scott Eyre, Will Ohman, Bob Howry, and all the rest of them have been utter disappointments, with a few exceptions. But last night's game showed that we're not the only team with issues in that area, as the Dodgers bullpen gave up 7 runs in 7 innings. This allowed the Cubs to storm to a, 8-5 lead, which lasted for all of an inning. The Cubs would not be shown up, however, as the Howry-Ohman-Guzman trifecta handed the Dodgers 4 runs and the victory in the 9th. Howry and Ohman were responsible for all 4 of those runs will getting no outs. All those kids in AAA Iowa better start packing their bags for the bigs.

Today was a much better day. Carlos Zambrano decided to leave as little as possible to the bullpen, going 7 and 2/3's innings before Lou decided enough was enough. Ohman came in at that point and got the last out, leaving Dempster to pick up the easy save in the 9th. Cubs win 4-2. Also, Ramirez and DeRosa got the Cubs their first Back-to-Back Jacks of the season, which I'm sure made Ron Santo a happy man.

Tomorrow is the rubber game, with the struggling Rich Hill facing off against Randy Wolf, who would have an awesome and terrifying name if his first name wasn't Randy. That being said, I like our chances.

Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

The same day that Lou says he is going to go with whoever has been good in the past, he threatens to call up some rookies to try and solve the bullpen's lackluster pitching.

"I'm going to find out if there are some kids down in Triple-A throwing the ball," Piniella said. "Maybe that's the answer -- get some different kids up here who can throw the ball. I don't know what else to say. I've tried everybody out there. You keep hoping it comes around, but we're getting into the middle of May now."

I like the unpredictability Lou, you gotta keep those veterans on their toes. I just don't think this is the right time to pull out that threat though. Today you finally used Neal Cotts, Rocky Cherry, and Michael Wuertz like I've been begging for a while. Between those three, the only mistake that was made was an RBI walk given up by Wuertz, bringing up his ERA to a still incredible 2.08. You don't threaten someone who has a 2.08 ERA after one bad outing. You do it when people like Will Ohman and Bob Howry give up 6 runs right after the Cubs scored six runs. I love the attitude, you just gotta work on the timing.

Also, Ms. Muskat wrote this gem in the game recap:

"They weren't bad pitches -- they could've been better," Wuertz said. "I've just got to pitch better. This is one of those nights I'm going to forget about and I have to move on."

Whether he'll get another chance remains to be seen.

Does she honestly think Lou would send down Wuertz, of all people? That's the most ludicrous thing I've heard today. I think it's time the Cubs got a new beat reporter. Coincidentally, I'm available. Feel free to contact me Mr. McDonough, I have great things in mind for the Cubs website.

Game Summary for May 14th, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose a hard fought battle to the Mets, 5-4.
  
• Player of the Game: Jason Marquis' offense. Went 2-for-3 with a two run single.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Apparently it's Michael Wuertz, because a 2.08 ERA just isn't good enough anymore, especially when we have people like Scott Eyre and his 8.76 ERA who could be pitching instead.
  
• Comments: Jason Marquis showed that he's not invincible, giving up four runs over five innings and raising his ERA to 2.22, still one of the best in the major leagues. Three of the Cubs starting pitchers have an ERA in the 2's, which means there is no reason this team should be under .500. Obviously it's an issue with the bullpen, I just think Lou's frustration was a little misplaced today. Soriano batted in the 3-spot as Derrek Lee is out with neck spasms, and he did fairly well, going 1-for-3 with a run.
  
• Magic Number: 133. The Brewers are on a two game losing streak. I say it's about time.

Zambrano tries to get his stuff together tomorrow against a pitcher named John Maine. I've never heard of him before, but with a 5-0 record and a 1.79 ERA, he makes Rich Hill look like a minor leaguer.

Who really is running this team?

It might be a valid question.

In light of a recent Tribune article on the bullpen, along with how Lou has been handling the outfield situation, I'm beginning to wonder if Pinella really is the hard ass that we all expected him to be.

"I've been going basically with the people that have done it here in the past." -Lou

Now this is all fine with me, as long as the guys that have been getting it done in the past are getting it done in the present. The problem is, they're not.

Mike Wuertz has stranded ALL of the 22 runners he's inherited so far this season. Rocky Cherry has limited the 32 hitters he's seen to 6 hits. But theses guys are not getting the ball because of Lou's current favoritism towards the "veterans".

I am all about giving these guys the chance to get back on track, but Cubs Nation shouldn't have to watch Howry and Co. (Eyre and "Oh man") give up 6 runs in an inning after the offense managed to take the lead with 6 just a half inning before.

And the same goes for the outfield. Jones and Floyd have had plenty of chances to prove that they are established vets, but they have yet to be the impact players that we need. We need Pie's defense in center.

Don't get me wrong, I effing love all these guys, but it's been a month Lou, quit playing the veterans just because they're older and play the guys that are showing results. Please.

At a Loss for Words

So many things about this game made me furiously angry that I'm basically out of things to say at this point. With the rain delay, completely incompetent relief pitching, and awful FOX announcers, there is too much to fit in here. So I'll be brief.

The color commentator in this game, Tim McCarver, was completely terrible. Apparently he has won a couple of Emmys for being a sports analyst, but apparently whoever voted for the Emmys was on crack. In the 6th inning, Alfonso Soriano steals 2nd base. This is notable because Soriano has been much more conservative on the basepaths ever since he strained his hamstring. Shortly thereafter Derrek Lee hits a single to center field, and Soriano is waved around third base. As he is rounding third, you can see him grimace in pain and he is running very awkwardly, almost with a limp. He is thrown out easily. For the next five minutes, Mr. McCarver tries to contemplate why in the world Soriano would run slowly on that play. Did he not feel like scoring a run? Was he just being lazy? Never once does he mention Soriano's recent injury and the fact that he was obviously in pain rounding third. No, McCarver instead believes that for some reason he just didn't feel like running on that play. I wanted to throw the TV out the window and listen to less moronic announcers on WGN Radio. Tim McCarver, whether you didn't know about Soriano's injury or you're just too dimwitted to make the connection, you sir are an idiot. Please go hang your head in shame.

Game Summary for May 12th, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose to the Phillies, 11-7.
  
• Player of the Game: Derrek Lee. Went 4-for-5 with two runs scored, though for some reason he is still completely incapable of hitting home runs.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Bob Howry. Worst. Outing. Ever.
  
• Comments: Lou, what the heck are you doing? When we're tied or have a tiny lead, you insist on bringing in pitcher like Eyre, Ohman, and Howry. Where's Michael Wuertz in these situations? What about Neal Cotts, or Rocky Cherry? Any of those would be better choices than what you're using. This is the one biggest thing I cannot understand about Lou's managing style at the moment. Wuertz and Cotts have ERAs of 1.62 and 1.98, respectively. Why don't they see any time in this game? Anyways, the three relievers we did use combined to give up 7 runs in 3 whole innings. Phenomenal.
  
• Magic Number: 136. The team is skidding out of control, and I don't know if Lou has what it takes to get us back on track at the moment. I'm starting to lose faith.

Ted Lilly tries to prevent the sweep while pitching against former Cub Jon Lieber tomorrow. Failure is not an option here. Just get it done.

Our Bullpen Needs a Nap

That's right, it turns out that the latest tendency the Cubs have of blowing games when the bullpen comes in to pitch is because they're overworked. Lou mentions the painful 14 inning game we all just had to endure, when he used all six of his bullpen pitchers. He then mentions that Ohman will get his stuff together eventually, which is a boldfaced lie. However, this is my favorite line:

Prior to Wednesday's game, Piniella stated that only Eyre, who used two pitches to get the final out in the ninth, was really rested.

Apparently being rested does not equate to pitching well as Eyre decided to follow up his first two easy outs with a walk, a single, another walk, and then two more singles. The Cubs had the lead for about 5 minutes when Eyre fell apart. I don't care how rested he was, Lou should have taken him out after the second walk. Even Dusty would have seen that coming.

Game Summary for April 18th, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose to the Braves, 8-6.
  
• Player of the Game: Mark DeRosa. The man is a machine. Another home run, two more RBIs, he's on pace to hit about 40 of them. Would have been Pie, but no one has won it twice in a row yet, and I'm trying not to overhype the kid too much.
  
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Scott Eyre. Was handed the lead on a silver platter, proceeded to vomit on said platter. Bad table manners Scott.
  
• Comments: Zambrano was bad in the first inning, but it's April so we expect that. What's important here is that the offense actually fought back to take the lead, and the bullpen couldn't hold it. Again. Pie scored two runs and is still the most exciting thing about this team.
  
• Magic Number: 152. Slowly dropping, but no fast enough. Remember, this needs to get to zero by the end of the season. A few weeks before would be nice too.

Rich Hill pitches tomorrow, so you can put away the Prozac. He's facing off against Mark Redman, who is 0-2 with a 12.96 ERA. If we can't finish the job here, an intervention is in order.