YOUR Milwaukee Brewers limp into Chicago today, fresh off a three-game kidney punch at the hands of the Houston Astros. The good news? The Cubs are also riding a five-game losing streak, having dropped three straight to the Rockies (17-2 in the opener, followed by back-to-back one-run Colorado victories) following two losses to the 'Stros.
So: we've got that goin' for us. Which is nice.
2010 vs. Cubs: 3-6, 35 runs scored, 62 runs allowed
Current three-game series:
- Monday, August 2, 2010 @ 7:05 p.m. CDT. TV: FS Wisconsin Radio: 620 WTMJ
- Tuesday, August 3, 2010 @ 7:05 p.m. CDT. TV: FS Wisconsin Radio: 620 WTMJ
- Wednesday, August 4, 2010 @ 1:20 p.m. CDT. TV: FS Wisconsin Radio: 620 WTMJ and 1510 WRRD
Cubs Probable Starters (in order):
-
Randy Wells (2010 vs. MIL: 2 GS, 1-0, 4.05 ERA, 13 SO, 1 BB, 0 HR allowed)
-
Thomas Diamond (making MLB debut; 5-4, 3.16 ERA, 104 SO, 46 BB at AAA Iowa)
-
Ryan Dempster (2010 vs. MIL: 3 GS, 2-0, 3.72 ERA, 12 SO, 10 BB, 2 HR allowed)
Brewers Probable Starters (in order):
-
Yovani Gallardo (2010 vs. CHC: 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 SO, 2 BB, 0 HR allowed)
-
Chris Narveson (2010 vs. CHC: 4 G, 0 GS, 0-0, 8.77 ERA, 5 SO, 5 BB, 1 HR allowed)
-
Manny Parra (2010 vs. CHC: 1 G, 0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.0 IP, 4 SO, 1 BB, 0 HR allowed)
BATTING LEADERS
| Cubs |
|
Brewers | ||
| Batting average | Marlon Byrd, .315 | Batting average | Corey Hart, .288 | |
| On-base percentage |
Geovany Soto, .401 |
On-base percentage | Prince Fielder, .395 | |
| Slugging |
Tyler Colvin, .539 |
Slugging | Hart, .565 | |
| OPS | Soto, .913 |
OPS | Hart, .910 | |
| Home runs | Alfonso Soriano, 19 | Home runs | Fielder, 24 |
|
| Runs batted in | Soriano, 57 |
Runs batted in | Hart, 72 | |
| Runs scored | Byrd, 58 | Runs scored | Rickie Weeks, 71 | |
| Stolen bases | Starlin Castro, 5 | Stolen bases | Ryan Braun, 13 | |
| wOBA | Soto, .396 |
wOBA | Fielder, .388 | |
| WAR |
Byrd, 4.3 |
WAR | Weeks, 4.0 |
PITCHING LEADERS
| Cubs |
|
|
Brewers | |
| Wins | Carlos Silva, 10 | Wins |
Yovani Gallardo, 9 |
|
| ERA |
Carlos Marmol, 2.55 |
ERA |
Kameron Loe, 2.53 |
|
| FIP | Marmol, 2.02 |
FIP |
John Axford, 2.11 |
|
| SO | Ryan Dempster, 139 |
SO | Gallardo, 130 | |
| K/9 |
Marmol, 16.78 |
K/9 |
Carlos Villanueva, 11.57 |
|
| WHIP |
Sean Marshall, 1.10 |
WHIP | Loe, 1.09 |
|
| IP | Dempster, 144.2 |
IP |
Randy Wolf, 141.0 |
|
| Saves |
Marmol, 19 |
Saves |
Axford, 15 |
|
| WAR | Randy Wells, 2.8 |
WAR | Gallardo, 3.2 |
Since Last We Met: Since the Brewers and Cubs clashed at Miller Park on June 8-10, the Cubs have gone 19-26, falling to a season-worst thirteen games below .500. Oh, and this happened. That was neat.
Who's Hot: Looks like somebody finally woke up third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who's sporting a .329 / .359 / .729 line -- with nine homers and 25 driven in -- in the last 28 days. That said, AmRam's been scuffling in the last week, picking up just one hit in his last 16 plate appearances.
Who's Not: In the last two weeks, leftfielder Alfonso Soriano has put together a .216 / .211 / .459 line, and has struck out 13 times in 38 plate appearances. Outfielder Kosuke Fukudome also warrants mention, as he's lost his starting spot to youngster Tyler Colvin.
Leave, Now, and Never Come Back: You may have heard that the Cubs included infielder Ryan Theriot in the trade that sent Ted Lilly to the Los Angeles Dodgers. If you're a Brewer fan, your thoughts on the move can be summed up in two words:
Thank God.
Ryan Theriot kills the Brewers -- not Derrek Lee vs. Jeff Suppan Level kills the Brewers, but kills the Brewers nonetheless. The Little Riot's career numbers vs. Milwaukee: 62 games played, 51 starts, .338 / .407 / .433, with 21 stolen bases. He's never homered against the Brewers, and he only hit 13 doubles, but for a guy who's job is to get on base and set the table for Lee - Ramirez - Soriano, he did a damn fine job vs. the Crew.
Good riddance, Theriot, and make sure you talk Lilly out of that nonsense about resigning with Chicago next year.