That's really all you need to know. All the runs came on home runs, for both teams. A bad defensive play by Theriot set up the winning run, but the loss was inevitable anyway. 12 runners left on base.
Now I don't know why the Cubs, who are a predominantly right-handed hitting team cannot generate runs against really pretty ordinary left-handers, but the facts are there. They just don't score and it's not just a phenomenon for this year. They never score against lefties. Who knows? Don't they ever take batting practice against lefties? Don't they have a pitching machine that simulates the spin of a left-hander? Again, who knows? I know a few years ago they made a big deal about getting someone to throw batting practice left-handed, but I can't remember if anything came of it. Their record surely did not improve.
One thing is for sure: that all right-handed lineup doesn't do it. Lou keeps trotting out the same tired alignment and they keep losing. I've noted before that just having a bunch of righties out there with no rhyme or reason makes little sense. The two major switches the Cubs make is the insertion of Jeff Baker for Mike Fontenot and Xavier Nady for Kosuke Fukudome. Baker's and Nady's career numbers against lefties are good on paper, but the game isn't played on paper. Each of them tonight wrecked innings where the Cubs had scoring chances, Baker leaving five runners on base in the process. Nady was unaccountably allowed to bat against a right-handed reliever in a key spot while Fukudome, Colvin, Tracy, and Fontenot were on the bench. Go figure.
No comments:
Post a Comment