bmfc1

Phillies lose.

Molasses is insulted at the comparison to Castro. I love Reyes' reaction to Castro getting an infield single.

Pirates take the lead.

mario25 wrote: A week left in the season and the Mets are starting a kid with 2 career starts Just like last year when Humber started the 4th to last game. That's how Omar's teams do it.

[u:f73a96e6d1]Chicago Cubs[/u:f73a96e6d1] Alfonso Soriano LF Ronny Cedeno 2B Derrek Lee 1B Aramis Ramirez 3B Geovany Soto C Mark DeRosa RF Reed Johnson CF Ryan Theriot SS Jason Marquis P [u:f73a96e6d1]New York Mets[/u:f73a96e6d1] Reyes, ss Murphy, lf Wright, 3b Delgado, 1b Beltran, cf Church, rf Castillo, 2b Schneider, c Niese, p

Remember what I pointed out earlier about Schneider and Castro vs. Marquis? I guess that was irrelevant to Jerry. I'm sure he knows better: Reyes, ss Murphy, lf Wright, 3b Delgado, 1b Beltran, cf Church, rf Castillo, 2b Schneider, c Niese, p

From Adam Rubin: [u:9bf8ac8294]Marquis vs. Mets (lifetime, 5-5, 4.55):[/u:9bf8ac8294] Carlos Delgado .556, HR, 9 AB Ramon Castro .455, 2 HR, 11 AB Luis Castillo .409, 22 AB Damion Easley .333, 3 AB Fernando Tatis .333, 3 AB Marlon Anderson .308, 13 AB David Wright .300, HR, 20 AB Jose Reyes .292, 24 AB Endy Chavez .214, 14 AB Ramon Martinez .176, 17 AB Carlos Beltran .118, HR, 17 AB Brian Schneider .059, 17 AB Ryan Church .000, 2 AB Here�s Cubs manager Lou Piniella, as quoted on the team�s Web site, about how they�ll approach the Mets series having already clinched the NL Central: �When we go to New York, we�ll play a team that�s in contention for the postseason, and we�ll play as representative a lineup as we can. At the same time, we still haven�t clinched home-field advantage for the playoffs, and we have to do that, hopefully. And then we have to look at a few positions on our team to ensure that we give people ample opportunity to make this team. There are probably a couple spots that we can play around with. �I can�t let these guys all sit. We have to use them to keep them as sharp as possible. We�ll play our regular lineup in these games (against the Mets). The worst thing that can happen is Major League Baseball calls us and tells us, �Hey, you people have a responsibility,� and we�re going to honor that.� � Ted Lilly has a career-high 16 wins. � Jason Marquis issued five walks against the Brewers while surrendering three runs in 5 1/3 innings in his last start. It was his first appearance in 11 days. � Reliever Chad Gaudin, who was obtained from the A�s on July 8, has been out for more than three weeks with lower-back soreness but is expected to see action this series. � Chicago has four players with 20-plus homers: Alfonso Soriano (29), Aramis Ramirez (26), Geovany Soto (23) and Mark DeRosa (20). Bergen Catholic�s DeRosa has set career highs for homers, RBI (83), walks (68) and runs (98). � Ramirez leads the Cubs with 109 RBI. He reached triple-figures in RBI before Sept. 1, the first Cub to do so since Sammy Sosa in 2001. � Infielder Ronny Cedeno is hitting .328 since July 24. � Jim Edmonds has started 54 of the Cubs� last 80 games in center field. � Kosuke Fukudome hit .193 in August and is hitting .217 this month. � Soto earned NL Rookie of the Month honors last month.

Thanks for the knowledge FK.

Some pertinent points from [u:8701d479f4]The Chicago Sun-Times[/u:8701d479f4]: The Cubs "magic number" for best record in the NL is one. The "framework" for starting pitchers is five innings. Rest for the position players will be "spaced out." Slumping Kosuke Fukudome will get some ABs. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1176823,CST-SPT-cub22.article

BG: I appreciate your posting of the numbers and analysis. I know where the numbers may be found, but you do a nice job of dissecting the numbers and explaining them.

M.O.T.: "Member of the Tribe, a colloquial term for Jews"--Wikipedia.

It's early, but rather than sit and mope about yesterday, I want to think about tonight's big game. Jason Marquis is pitching for the Cubs. Two reasons to like him and only two: he's a M.O.T. and he was born in Manhasset, LI. This year, he's 10-9 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He hasn't faced the Mets this year. Last year, the Mets beat him up twice. Given that he's a righty, you would think that Schneider would get the start but Brian is 1-17 lifetime against Marquis while Ramon is 5-11 with 2 HR and a double. Wright, Beltran and Delgado also have HR's off Marquis.

I'm off to my son's game. For the 2d Sunday in a row, he's going to look at me from the dugout and I'll have to tell him the score via a thumbs down. Ugh.

And with that, we return to the bullpen sucks days of... last Sunday. Two Sundays in a row, the bullpen has taken victory and literally thrown it away. They tried on Wednesday but couldn't cough up a 8-1 lead, pitched fine for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but couldn't do their jobs today. None of them.

Got it. Thanks, FK.

Hi TransMonk!

The mlb.tv feed didn't go away after Gary threw it to the commercial. Ronnie said "Jerry treats this bullpen like they're the last kids picked in dodgeball." I'm not sure what that means. Previous commercial break, Ronnie said, "I know they're trying, but...."

[u:3215342d17]Your New York Mets[/u:3215342d17] J. Reyes, SS Murphy, LF Wright, 3B Delgado, 1B Beltran, CF Church, RF Castillo, 2B Schneider, C Pelfrey, RHP [u:3215342d17] Their Atlanta Braves[/u:3215342d17] Anderson, CF Prado, 3B K. Johnson, 2B McCann, C Infante, SS Kotchman, 1B Francoeur, RF Blanco, LF Parr, RHP [u:3215342d17] Pelfrey vs. Braves (lifetime, 2-3, 5.74):[/u:3215342d17] Gregor Blanco .444, 9 AB Brian McCann .400, 15 AB Jeff Francoeur .308, 13 AB Chipper Jones .300, 2 HR, 10 AB Kelly Johnson .250, HR, 12 AB Yunel Escobar .250, 4 AB Omar Infante .250, 4 AB Casey Kotchman .000, 3 AB Greg Norton .000, 3 AB Martin Prado .000, 3 AB [u:3215342d17] Parr vs. Mets (never faced) [/u:3215342d17]

In the 8th, Marlins had 2d and 3d, 0 out, a grounder was thrown home, the runner slid under the tag, by CB Bucknor, one of the worst umps in the game, called the runner out. The inning ended with Moron Cody Ross K'ing with 2d and 3d.

Geez--bad call by CB Bucknor on a play at the plate that would have tied the score.

I can't believe that Marlon is under contract for another year.

Jerry is a genius.

One reliever pitched two innings... how? Back in 1st folks!

Note that Shea is male in one and female in the other.

This inning is like a dream--one clutch hit after another.