Hey Hey, the Cubs swept the Pirates right off the seas last week. Maybe another sweep is in store for us this weekend. Lilly ain't pitching this series, so there may be hope.

Friday... Rich Hill (0-0 5.00 ERA) vs. Ian Snell (2-0 3.93 ERA) 1:20p WGN
Sat... Jason Marquis (0-0 5.23 ERA) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (1-1 6.75 ERA) 12:05p on Comcast Sports Net
Sun...Ryan Dempster (2-0 2.73 ERA) vs. Zach Duke (0-0 2.89 ERA)

So the Cubs face a righty today and two lefties.
Patterson has been less than impressive. I hope to see Pie in center and Johnson in left, because we need DeRosa at 2nd cause so far, Mike Fontenot stranded SEVEN baserunners yesterday! WOW!

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Snell will get 10+ K's today and beat Hill. Ian Snell might be the best pitcher no one has ever heard of.

I disagree.

Care to make a wager, HV?

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Seriously?

How many extra innings will they play this weekend?

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You already got my mag-lite - I have nothing to offer

ian snell:

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_sta ... rID=430636

not bad, but his numbers arent that impressive. nothing about his previous starts indicates to me he is going to dominate the cubs today, and blow them away with 10 k's. you never know, though, thats why they play the games.

Snell had 10 on opening day against the Marlins. The Cubs have 108 K's in 15 games which comes out to 7 a game. I'm standing by my prediction.

Perhaps as many as the Sox did last night... with better results of course.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

I know a friend of a friend who has bounced around the majors for the last 10 years. He told us Snell has some of the nastiest right-handed stuff in the NL. He said he hasn't figured it out yet but when/if he does he can dominate everytime out.

Hmmmpf.

I think you are scared to wager the one and only (well, not only, I guess) Ryno's Wife.

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Seriously?

my prediction: snell will be gone by the 5th, cubs roll.

rich hill takes no-hitter into the 3rd, but cant finish the deal.

Boy, go out on a limb with the third inning!

6 up 6 down.

Now that is what you call a gem of an outing.

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ted lilly-esque.

Ouch.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

Lilly would have to have a single 1-2-3 inning before he could do something as dramatic as take a no hitter all the way into the 3rd.

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lilly started out pretty strong yesterday, up until the 4th he looked darn good. i think he had a 1-2-3 in there somewhere. walks killed him in the 4th, along with a dose of joey votto.

this is going to sound crazy, but i think lilly showed signs of life yesterday. just a blip, mind you, but he had several effective innings.

Its sounds crazy because it is crazy. "Several effective innings?" 6 hits, 5 earned runs, and 3 walks in just 6 innings pitched is effective?

I know. Somebody probably said "no hitter" in the top of the 2nd inning, and that jinxed him.

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yes, during yesterdays outing, he had several effective innings. his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings were uneventful and he looked pretty effective. i didnt say his outing was good, or that his overall performance was dazzling.

You could have a couple of walks, not have a 1-2-3 inning and still take a no hitter into the third.

Ted Lilly's ERA is closer to 10 than it is 9 in his 4 starts this year*. Please explain to me how that is effective for the Cub.


*edit- I stand corrected. His ERA is 9.16

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frank, lilly has sucked this year. i have never stated otherwise. the only point i am making is that yesterday, during his outing against the reds, for the first 3 innings of that game, and in the 5th, after a terrible 4th, he showed signs of life. overall his performance was lousy and they got pounded. thats all. nothing in there between the lines to read. he looks shitty, and he needs to get better.

Exactly. I don't care if he had an inning here or there where he "showed signs of life." A broken watch is still right twice a day. The fact is that he gave it up-- again-- and you cannot call his start effective by any means.

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ok frank.

Frank would sooner eat glass than say something positive about the Cubs <waits for pun laden positive statement>

That said, back to the game.
Hill is VERY lucky he's only given up one run so far. Yikes.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

So much for that no hitter Hill was supposed to have going..

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never claimed to be a fortune teller!

There's been some nice defense being played by the good guys today. Too bad some offensive chances have gone by the wayside.
Theriot triples with one out and gets stranded.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

A word of advice to all those who bet on the Cubs...don't take tips from Hawkeye Vince!

(His bacon and water chestnut recipes are a different story, however...)

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Seriously?

I understand with Howry being ineffective and Hill only pitching 5 innings today, Marmol had to pitch two innings.

I just worry that the Cubs don't wear the guy out. He pitched two innings a couple of days ago and seems like he has had a heavy workload this year.

Hopefully Howry can regain some velocity and become another set up option for Lou.