Chicago Cubs: The Renaissance Period

[abefrohman]

Game 16-April 18, 2013

After struggling in his first two starts, Cubs starter Travis Wood came back strong with tonight's performance as he pitched six innings, striking out five, walking one and giving up one earned run as Chicago led 5-1 until the ninth inning. Reliever Hector Rondon gave up three earned runs as the Rangers cut the lead to 5-4, but they were unable to come back to take the lead.

[abefrohman]

Game 17-April 19, 2013

The Brew Crew came out swinging as they scored seven runs in the first four innings to defeat the Cubs 8-2. Milwaukee always seems to do better in my OOTP replays than they do in real-life for some reason.

[abefrohman]

Game 18-April 20, 2013

Not even two home runs by Nate Schierholtz or another by Luis Valbuena could help the Cubs defeat the Brewers today. After an impressive 2013 debut with Chicago, starter Casey Coleman struggled in his second start, giving up five earned runs in two innings of pitching.

[abefrohman]

Game 19-April 21, 2013

If there was a theme to this game it was "biting the hand that once fed you". Former Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva (now with the Cubs) struggled as his ex-teammates scored six runs in 4 1/3 innings against him. Former Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez (now with the Brewers) went 2 for 4 with a homerun and 3 RBIs against his ex-teammates. All in all, it resulted in a three-game sweep of the Cubs.

[abefrohman]

Game 20-April 22, 2013

Slowly but surely Jeff "Shark" Samardzija is getting better and he helped pitch the Cubs to a 4-3 victory in extra innings.

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Game 21-April 23, 2013

Mat Latos continues to have an awesome April with a 5-0 record as the Reds crushed the Cubs 8-1 tonight. Travis Wood struggled again for Chicago, going 5 1/3 innings, striking out five, walking five and giving up four.

[abefrohman]

Game 22-April 24, 2013

The Cubs and Reds kept it close until the bottom of the eight inning when the normally reliable Chicago reliever Shawn Camp gave up two earned Cincinnati runs as they won the game 6-4.

[abefrohman]

Game 23-April 25, 2013

I HATE the Marlins. For a variety of reasons, but it all goes back to Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. It continues today especially when a team like theirs with a miniscule payroll, a ragtag group of ballplayers and an owner I consider to be the worst in MLB is able to beat us 3-0. Not that we're much better this year, but to paraphrase George Brett, if losing to the Cardinals is like kissing your sister, losing to the Marlins is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out.

[abefrohman]

Game 24-April 26, 2013

THIS game is the most impressive game we've played all season. The Cubs were down 6-0 after three innings and Carlos Villanueva didn't make it past the first inning, but the bullpen held it together and the offense scored eight runs to defeat the Miami Marlins 8-6 in twelve innings.

[abefrohman]

Game 25-April 27, 2013

The renaissance of Chicago's Jeff Samardzija is beginning to take form as he pitched eight innings, giving up two runs as Carlos Marmol picked up the win with two scoreless innings as the Cubs defeated the Marlins 3-2.

[abefrohman]

Game 26-April 28, 2013

Nice rebound start from Travis Wood and series sweep of the Miami Marlins as the Chicago Cubs win their third game in a row.

[abefrohman]

Game 27-April 29, 2013

Before the game the Cubs announced that they had called up 3B Ian Stewart from AAA Iowa where he was completing a rehab assignment. They DFA'd INF Luis Valbuena and placed him on waivers. As for the game tonight, great performances all around especially from Chicago catcher "Beef" Wellington Castillo who went 3 for 3 with a single, double, homerun and three RBIs.

[abefrohman]

Game 28-April 30, 2013

This is not how we wanted to end the month. San Diego killed us in this game 12-1 and Cubs starter Casey Coleman gave up eight earned runs in four innings to raise his ERA to 8.35 this season. We've got Matt Garza pitching in AAA Iowa on a rehab assignment and we might be bringing him up really soon.

[abefrohman]

MLB Standings as of May 1, 2013

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Game 29-May 1, 2013

The month of May began with a loss to the San Diego Padres as Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva was denied his first win yet again as he falls to 0-4 on the season.

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Game 30-May 2, 2013

This game will be forever known as the "Bass/Shark" game since it featured Padres starter Anthony Bass versus Cubs starter Jeff "Shark" Samardzija. Samardzija continued his streak of good pitching, going eight innings, striking out five, walking two and giving up one earned run.

[abefrohman]

Game 31-May 3, 2013

Mat Latos remains undefeated as he improves to 7-0 as the Reds defeated the Cubs 6-2 and Cincinnati got back to .500 with a record of 15-15.

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Game 32-May 4, 2013

The Cubs came back from a 2-1 deficit to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and hung on to edge the Reds 4-3. Chicago starter Scott Feldman improved to 3-1 as the Cubs prepared for their rubber game against the Reds tomorrow.

[abefrohman]

May 4, 2013

I hate to see this headline pop up on one of my teams. Fujikawa has been suspended thirty-five games by the Chicago Cubs pending federal trial.

[abefrohman]

Game 33-May 5, 2013

Cubs starter Casey Coleman pitched much better this time around, giving up two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but it wasn't enough to earn him his first win of the season as the Chicago offense only scored one run against the Cincinnati Reds.