Riding the Iowa Merry-Go-Round

Yesterday, the Cubs made yet another move, calling up the delightfully named Rocky Cherry from Iowa and sending Billy Petrick back down to the minors. Now I know what you're thinking, Billy who? Apparently we brought this guy up on June 26th and his major league debut was lost in the three-ring circus that was the Rockies series. So the only thing that surprised me about yesterday's move was that I had no idea Billy Petrick even existed.

But Billy didn't even have time to unpack his bags when he got to Iowa, as Cherry was placed on the DL today with a "right lat strain". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but as long as it's not his groin he should be alright. Either way, losing Rocky Cherry is never a good thing, as the guy has worked his way to a 2.38 ERA in the bigs, despite only being able to pull off a 6.75 ERA at Iowa.

EDIT: Turns out Billy didn't even make it back to Iowa. He drove home to Morris, IL, which is about an hour and a half from Wrigley, and was still there when he got the call. At least he's saving the Cubs some money on airfare.

Zambrano's Hips Don't Lie

The big news before today's game was that Carlos Zambrano had been working on his mechanics. Apparently he was doing something wrong with his hips during his delivery, and that's what caused him to look like a fifth starter. Right. Well whatever it was that Zambrano fixed (maybe just using the computer less?), it worked extremely well. Big Z was in late 2006 form, pitching a full 8 innings while only giving up one run. He even went up to bat in the 9th inning, as if to tell the bullpen "That's right, we don't trust you, even with a 9 run lead". Lou did bring in Scott Eyre to finish off the game, however, and soon discovered that Scott Eyre is only good when he is given an enourmous lead. Who knew?

Game Summary for May 15th, 2007

• Score: Cubs destroy the Mets, 10-1.
  
• Player of the Game: Big Z. Great performance at the perfect time, giving our bullpen a chance to relax and not get blamed for a loss.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Rocky Cherry. Don't know what he did wrong, but for some dumb reason he was just optioned back to Iowa for a middle infielder, albeit an impressive one. I just don't understand how a 2.89 ERA isn't good enough for the majors Lou. Send Ohman down to the minors, see how he likes it.
  
• Comments: Zambrano got his groove back with a stellar outing, and the Cubs bats exploded against a young pitcher who though he was something. There can only be one Rich Hill kid, and I think your name is Maine or something. Tough luck. The grand slam by Aramis Ramirez in the 6-run sixth inning capped off an easy night for the team.
  
• Magic Number: 131. Brewers lost yet again to the Phillies. I'm thinking east coast teams may be their kryptonite.

Rich Hill tries to dismantle the Mets tomorrow night, facing off against Jorge Sosa in the third game of this strenuous four game series. Let's put together a streak of some kind boys.