Iowa Cubs (70-65)

The Iowa Cubs made it four in a row tonight with a 7-4 thumping of the Oklahoma City RedHawks.

Casey Fossum improved his record to 6-4 by allowing only one run on two hits over five innings. Fossum walked four and hit two batters. He struck out nine.

Blake Parker pitched the ninth inning and picked up his 20th save. Parker allowed one hit and didn’t walk anyone. He struck out two.

First baseman Micah Hoffpauir went 2 for 4 with three RBI and a run scored. Third baseman Andres Blanco was 2 for 5 with two runs scored. Shortstop Darwin Barney was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Tennessee Smokies (34-28)

Ryno’s Boys stayed tied for first place by beating the Moblie Bay Bears, 7-4.

Starter Jeremy Papelbon gave up two home runs in his five-inning start, but got the win anyway. Papelbon allowed four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out one.

Brian Schlitter got save number twenty-one. He pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing no runs on one hit. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.

Right fielder Tyler Colvin hit a bases-loaded triple and a solo home run for four RBI tonight. Colvin was 2 for 4 and scored twice.

Third baseman Marquez Smith was 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Shortstop Starlin Castro went 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored. Castro also stole his third base for Tennessee.

Daytona Cubs (27-34)

The D-Cubs were thrashed by the Clearwater Threshers, 6-2.

Rafael Dolis started and only went three innings. He gave up two runs on three hits, although one of the two runs was unearned. Dolis walked four and struck out three as his record dropped to 3-9. His ERA is a respectable 3.54 though.

Left fielder Marwin Gonzalez hit his second home run, a solo home run in the fifth inning. Gonzalez was 1 for 3.

DH Brandon Guyer was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Second baseman Jake Opitz was 2 for 3 wih a walk.

Peoria Chiefs  (38-23)

The Chiefs shucked the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 11-1.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx continues to dominate the Midwest League. Tonight he improved his record to 7-1, tossing 6.2 innings and allowing only one run on five hits. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out six.  The Chiefs expect Bibens-Dirkx to start the playoffs for them, but I really think he needs to get a September call-up. Please?

It was a six RBI night for right fielder Kyler Burke, including a triple and a grand slam. It was Burke’s 14th homer this year. Burke was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored twice.

DH Ryan Flaherty was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. He scored twice and had two RBI. First baseman Rebel Ridling was 2 for 5 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Center fielder Jose Valdez made his Midwest League debut a successful one. He was 2 for 5 with two runs scored.

Boise Hawks (30-38)

The Hawks lost their sixth game in a row as they were messed up by the Tri-City Dust Devils 3-1.

Starter Robert Hernandez was pretty good tonight. He went five innings and allowed only one run on four hits. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out five.

Eduardo Figueroa got the loss in relief. He gave up two runs, one earned, over his 1.2 inning relief stint.

Shortstp Hak-Ju Lee was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

During this week’s news coverage of one of the significant news events mention was made of one family’s mantra. It went as follows: “To whom much is given much is expected.”
I thought about how this might apply to a person that made ten million dollars a year and that…



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Make it 15 wins for Justin Verlander. The Tigers’ ace shook off a recent slump with eight strong innings and Detroit rallied for a 4-3 win over the Rays.

Rockies-Giants live

Orioles-Indians recap

Braves-Phillies recap

The information about Alfonso Soriano buried in one paragraph of this Sun-Times article today absolutely floored me:

Soriano injured the knee in April when he hit the outfield wall going after a ball. He has had treatment for months without complaining, but his mobility defensively and running have become increasingly affected. He has gone through some of the longest hitting slumps of his career — including going without a home run from July 29 to Friday, when he hit a game-winning, three-run homer in the eighth inning.

He hurt his knee in April?? And they didn’t do anything about it then? Those of us who have been saying since at least mid-May that Soriano didn’t seem to be running well either in the outfield or on the bases were, apparently, correct. Why he didn’t go on the DL for a couple of weeks in May — when he was slumping and the team wasn’t playing well — and fix this problem, so he could be at full strength now, is absolutely mystifying.

And further:

Soriano admitted he hasn’t been able to put weight on his left knee, “but I don’t want to just watch games — I want to play,” he said Friday. “It’s August. We only have one month left [in the regular season].”

I suppose you have to give credit to a guy who wants to get out there and help his team. But playing on a bad knee isn’t really helpful, as we have seen by Soriano’s play the last three months (with the exception of that three-week hot streak he had in July). If the treatment he can get along with a couple days’ rest can get him out there and hitting again (as well as not dropping easy fly balls), great. If not, that’s another mistake made by management in 2009, not getting Soriano’s problems fixed three months ago.

Anyway, let’s sweep this series. No matter what it ultimately means, and no matter how injury-depleted they are, it’s always satisfying to beat the Mets.

Today’s Starting Pitchers

Carlos Zambrano Cubs vs. Nelson Figueroa Mets 7-5 W-L 1-3 3.80 ERA 5.40 105 SO 17 60 BB 8 9 HR 4 vs. NY – vs. Cubs

Nelson Figueroa is a New York City native who was originally drafted by the Mets in 1995. He was traded to the Diamondbacks in 1998 in a deal that featured Bernard Gilkey. Then he was involved in the deal that got Curt Schilling to Arizona from the Phillies. This is all to tell you that he’s 35 and been around a long time. He is 0-4, 4.40 in nine career appearances (four starts) against the Cubs, the last of those being on April 22, 2008 at Wrigley Field. Aramis Ramirez is 4-for-9 with a double and a HR off Figueroa.

Carlos Zambrano has made eight career starts vs. the Mets and is 4-1, 3.76. He got hit pretty hard by them last September 24 in New York, but a lot of that damage was done by a grand slam from Carlos Delgado, who, along with $90 million worth of his teammates, won’t play today. This would be a really good day for Z to step up and be that “ace” the Cubs need him to be.

This is an unusual TV day in this cable/satellite age: broadcast TV! WGN in Chicago, WPIX in New York. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin’ Avenue.

Overflow comment threads will post today at 2:15 pm, 3:15 pm and 4 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

That got your attention. The Cubs will break a record when they get their first hit off the Mets‘ Bobby Parnell this afternoon.

You’re still wondering what this is all about. Let me explain.

On September 20, 1958, Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm threw a no-hitter against the Yankees, while pitching for the Orioles. The Yankees then went 6,980 games without being no-hit, until six Astros pitchers no-hit them on June 11, 2003, about 44 1/2 years’ worth of games.

The last time the Cubs were no-hit was Sandy Koufax’s perfect game on September 9, 1965, a little less than 44 years ago. Through yesterday, the Cubs had completed 6,980 games without being no-hit. Thus, when the Cubs get their first hit this afternoon, they’ll break that record. Thanks to SABR member Madison McEntire for the research and confirming to me the exact date of this record-breaking event.

The other big issue to discuss this morning is: where are Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman going to finish the year? Both have been claimed on waivers, Harden by the Twins, and Heilman by the Giants. (Ironic — Heilman was brought in, at least in part, to replace Bob Howry, who was signed by the Giants. Now, they could become teammates, and further, the Cubs could wind up facing Heilman in San Francisco in September.) My feeling is: let Heilman go — he’s not likely to be back next year and the Cubs could easily replace him with Jeff Stevens or Justin Berg, for now. As for Harden, if the Cubs keep him and he then leaves as a free agent (presuming arbitration is offered, which it likely would be), he would net the Cubs two draft picks. Jim Hendry thus has to find out whether he can get two prospects from the Twins who would be worth more to the organization than the draft picks. If so, let him go — because you could then re-sign Harden anyway as a free agent.

We’ll know the results by Monday, the last day a player can be traded to a new team and still qualify for postseason play.

Today’s Starting Pitchers

Ryan Dempster Cubs vs. Bobby Parnell Mets 7-7 W-L 3-6 4.07 ERA 5.08 122 SO 50 54 BB 30 18 HR 5 vs. Hou – vs. Cubs

Bobby Parnell was supposed to be a mainstay of the Mets’ bullpen this year. He was doing a pretty good job of it till mid-June, when he started to get pounded; in 25 relief appearances between June 10 and August 5, he put up a 5.56 relief ERA. Then, due to injuries, he wound up in the Mets’ rotation; he is 1-3 in four starts with an even worse 8.82 ERA. He made two relief appearances vs. the Cubs last September; no current Cub has more than two AB against him.

Ryan Dempster’s career numbers vs. the Mets aren’t too good — 8-4, but with a 5.54 ERA, in 23 lifetime appearances (12 starts). However, all of those starts were in his previous incarnation as a starter with the Marlins and Reds — he didn’t start vs. the Mets last year. Most of the Mets who hit him well (Carlos Beltran, David Wright) are on the DL.

The Cubs and Mets are on Fox-TV today. Surprisingly, this game is being considered Fox’s “A” game. The list of markets is too long to post here; click here to see if the game is on in your city. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin’ Avenue.

Overflow comment threads will post today at 4:15 pm, 5:15 pm and 6 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.