Two games in two days could not be more different. Tuesday night's performance was truly execrable. I really feel sorry for Carlos Zambrano who pitched quite well, giving up only two earned runs and surviving an inning from hell when Lee made run-producing errors on consecutive chances.
One note to Lou Piniella: How come you can play all right-handers against a left-handed pitcher (not a good idea anyway), but you seem to be limited to three left-handed hitters against a right-handed pitcher? You know, the percentages work both ways. In the Tuesday game, stringing together consecutive righties at the top of the order allowed Oakland to bring in a submariner who effectively shut down any comeback until Colvin's turn in the lineup, when he hit a home run. Not a lot of thought went into that lineup card.
Wednesday's game was like night and day. Dempster kept them in it and the Cubs had quality at bats for a change with the exception of Ryan Theriot. I managed to get out to the game and had a virtual wager going on how many pitches it would take to get our heroic leadoff hitter out. In no case was it more than three and that was in the AB where he struck out on three pitches. Something gives Lou the notion that this guy can lead off, but, of course, he had a similar guy in Soriano lead off for the better part of three seasons.
But other than Theriot's rotten play, the Cubs played very well both in the field and at the plate. Even Nady contributed, and Lee hit a home run. One of the real differences was their patience and selectivity. Now the real question is can they concentrate hard enough to string several good performances together. The mark of a mediocre team is that they cannot. So far this season the Cubs have not been able to do so.
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