cubsfan1980
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Jeff Baker & Geovany Soto both went deep to help support the Chicago Cubs’ offense, as they accounted for six of the team’s runs during their 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday evening from Miller Park.
The Cubs tried to strike for an early run in the top of the first, as Marlon Byrd hit a two-out opposite field double off Brewers starter Randy Wolf.
Aramis Ramirez then drew a walk, which put runners on 1st & 2nd for Geovany Soto.
Soto popped up to Prince Fielder at first base to end the scoring threat.
Milwaukee struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, as Prince Fielder launched a lead-off solo homer (1st of season) to deep left center off Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
The inning continued, as Casey McGehee followed Fielder’s homer with a walk.
Yuniesky Betancourt then singled to left, as that put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Nyjer Morgan.
Morgan laid down a sacrifice bunt, as it advanced both McGehee & Betancourt up 90 feet for George Kottaras.
Kottaras hit an RBI groundout to Jeff Baker at 2nd base, as McGehee scored from third to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead.
With 2 outs & Morgan on 3rd base, Wolf struck out looking to end the inning.
Chicago then struck for a huge third inning, as Jeff Baker & Starlin Castro hit back-to-back 1-out singles off Wells.
That brought up Byrd, who hit into a double-play to end the scoring threat.
The Cubs then tied it up in the top of the fourth, as Ramirez reached safely on an error by Rickie Weeks in shallow right.
Soto followed with a 2-run homer (1st of season) to straight-away center off Wolf, as that blast tied the game 2-2.
Alfonso Soriano hit a 1-out single to left off Wolf, and Zambrano followed that up two batters later with another single.
With runners on 1st & 2nd with two outs, Baker launched a three-run homer (1st of season) to deep left as that gave Chicago a 5-2 lead.
The Brewers scored a run in the bottom of the fourth, as Betancourt drew a 1-out walk from Zambrano.
Morgan then slapped a single to center, as that put runners at the corners for Kottaras.
Kottaras hit a sacrifice fly to Soriano in left, as Betancourt scored from 3rd base to make it a 5-3 game.
Milwaukee crept closer in the bottom of the fifth, as Weeks hit a lead-off single against Zambrano.
3 batters later, Fielder drew a 2-out walk to keep the inning alive for McGehee.
With runners on 1st & 2nd, McGehee hit an RBI single to left which scored Weeks from second & made it a 5-4 game.
Betancourt then grounded out to Castro at shortstop to end the inning.
Chicago then added onto their lead in the top of the sixth, as Soriano hit a lead-off single to left against Wolf.
Soriano advanced to 2nd base on Wolf’s wild pitch during Colvin’s at-bat, as he grounded out to Betancourt at shortstop.
Zambrano also grounded out to Betancourt at shortstop, as Soriano was unable to score on the play.
That left it up to Baker, who continued his big game with a two-out RBI single to left. Soriano scored from third, as the Cubs took a 6-4 lead.
The Cubs added a key insurance run in the top of the ninth, as Jeff Baker hit a lead-off single against Brewers reliever Zach Braddock.
After Castro flied out to Weeks in shallow right center, Byrd hit an RBI double to the wall in left, as Baker scored all the way from 1st base to give Chicago a 7-4 lead.
Facing former Cub Sergio Mitre, Aramis Ramirez flied out to Fielder near the pitcher’s mound, which left it up to Soto.
Soto was retired on a nice diving stop by Betancourt at shortstop, who threw to Fielder in time at 1st base to end the inning.
The Brewers attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth, as Morgan reached on a lead-off single to right center against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol.
Kottaras then drew a walk, as that put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Mark Kotsay.
Kotsay struck out looking, which brought up Weeks.
Weeks flied out to Colvin to right, which left it up to Gomez.
Gomez struck out swinging to end the game.
Carlos Zambrano (1-0) gets the win for the Cubs after pitching 6 innings & giving up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking three & striking out five.
Randy Wolf (0-2) takes the loss for the Brewers after allowing 6 runs (2 earned) on 9 hits in 6 innings while walking one & striking out five.
Despite allowing the first two Brewers to reach base in the 9th inning, Carlos Marmol was able to retire the side for his 3rd save of the season.
My Cubshub.com Player of the Game Award goes to…
2B Jeff Baker.
Baker had his best offensive game as a member of the Cubs tonight, as his 4th inning three-run homer with two outs put Chicago up for good. He also added a key 6th inning RBI single as it helped stop a possible Milwaukee comeback.
For Baker, it’s his first 4-hit game since September 19th, 2010 at Florida & his first 4-RBI game since July 3rd, 2008 which also came against Florida. (Baker was a member of the Colorado Rockies in July of 2008)
Game 2 of the weekend series will resume on Saturday evening at 6:10 PM cst, as Matt Garza (0-0, 3.86) will pitch against Brewers lefthander Chris Narveson (0-0, 0.00).
Garza finished with a no-decision in his Cubs debut on April 3rd, as he pitched 7 innings & gave up 3 runs on 12 hits while walking none & striking out a career-high twelve batters during Chicago’s 5-4 loss.
Narveson is a perfect 3-0 against the Cubs in 2 starts against them with a 3.66 ERA.
Before Friday’s game, the Cubs announced that James Russell will start Tuesday’s game at Houston, as they called up Jeff Stevens from Triple-A Iowa to fill their vacant bullpen spot.
Stevens appeared in 18 games for the Cubs last season and had an ERA of 6.11 in 17.2 innings pitched.
Signing off for now,
Matt T for Cubshub.com
The Cubs tried to strike for an early run in the top of the first, as Marlon Byrd hit a two-out opposite field double off Brewers starter Randy Wolf.
Aramis Ramirez then drew a walk, which put runners on 1st & 2nd for Geovany Soto.
Soto popped up to Prince Fielder at first base to end the scoring threat.
Milwaukee struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, as Prince Fielder launched a lead-off solo homer (1st of season) to deep left center off Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
The inning continued, as Casey McGehee followed Fielder’s homer with a walk.
Yuniesky Betancourt then singled to left, as that put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Nyjer Morgan.
Morgan laid down a sacrifice bunt, as it advanced both McGehee & Betancourt up 90 feet for George Kottaras.
Kottaras hit an RBI groundout to Jeff Baker at 2nd base, as McGehee scored from third to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead.
With 2 outs & Morgan on 3rd base, Wolf struck out looking to end the inning.
Chicago then struck for a huge third inning, as Jeff Baker & Starlin Castro hit back-to-back 1-out singles off Wells.
That brought up Byrd, who hit into a double-play to end the scoring threat.
The Cubs then tied it up in the top of the fourth, as Ramirez reached safely on an error by Rickie Weeks in shallow right.
Soto followed with a 2-run homer (1st of season) to straight-away center off Wolf, as that blast tied the game 2-2.
Alfonso Soriano hit a 1-out single to left off Wolf, and Zambrano followed that up two batters later with another single.
With runners on 1st & 2nd with two outs, Baker launched a three-run homer (1st of season) to deep left as that gave Chicago a 5-2 lead.
The Brewers scored a run in the bottom of the fourth, as Betancourt drew a 1-out walk from Zambrano.
Morgan then slapped a single to center, as that put runners at the corners for Kottaras.
Kottaras hit a sacrifice fly to Soriano in left, as Betancourt scored from 3rd base to make it a 5-3 game.
Milwaukee crept closer in the bottom of the fifth, as Weeks hit a lead-off single against Zambrano.
3 batters later, Fielder drew a 2-out walk to keep the inning alive for McGehee.
With runners on 1st & 2nd, McGehee hit an RBI single to left which scored Weeks from second & made it a 5-4 game.
Betancourt then grounded out to Castro at shortstop to end the inning.
Chicago then added onto their lead in the top of the sixth, as Soriano hit a lead-off single to left against Wolf.
Soriano advanced to 2nd base on Wolf’s wild pitch during Colvin’s at-bat, as he grounded out to Betancourt at shortstop.
Zambrano also grounded out to Betancourt at shortstop, as Soriano was unable to score on the play.
That left it up to Baker, who continued his big game with a two-out RBI single to left. Soriano scored from third, as the Cubs took a 6-4 lead.
The Cubs added a key insurance run in the top of the ninth, as Jeff Baker hit a lead-off single against Brewers reliever Zach Braddock.
After Castro flied out to Weeks in shallow right center, Byrd hit an RBI double to the wall in left, as Baker scored all the way from 1st base to give Chicago a 7-4 lead.
Facing former Cub Sergio Mitre, Aramis Ramirez flied out to Fielder near the pitcher’s mound, which left it up to Soto.
Soto was retired on a nice diving stop by Betancourt at shortstop, who threw to Fielder in time at 1st base to end the inning.
The Brewers attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth, as Morgan reached on a lead-off single to right center against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol.
Kottaras then drew a walk, as that put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Mark Kotsay.
Kotsay struck out looking, which brought up Weeks.
Weeks flied out to Colvin to right, which left it up to Gomez.
Gomez struck out swinging to end the game.
Carlos Zambrano (1-0) gets the win for the Cubs after pitching 6 innings & giving up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking three & striking out five.
Randy Wolf (0-2) takes the loss for the Brewers after allowing 6 runs (2 earned) on 9 hits in 6 innings while walking one & striking out five.
Despite allowing the first two Brewers to reach base in the 9th inning, Carlos Marmol was able to retire the side for his 3rd save of the season.
My Cubshub.com Player of the Game Award goes to…
2B Jeff Baker.
Baker had his best offensive game as a member of the Cubs tonight, as his 4th inning three-run homer with two outs put Chicago up for good. He also added a key 6th inning RBI single as it helped stop a possible Milwaukee comeback.
For Baker, it’s his first 4-hit game since September 19th, 2010 at Florida & his first 4-RBI game since July 3rd, 2008 which also came against Florida. (Baker was a member of the Colorado Rockies in July of 2008)
Game 2 of the weekend series will resume on Saturday evening at 6:10 PM cst, as Matt Garza (0-0, 3.86) will pitch against Brewers lefthander Chris Narveson (0-0, 0.00).
Garza finished with a no-decision in his Cubs debut on April 3rd, as he pitched 7 innings & gave up 3 runs on 12 hits while walking none & striking out a career-high twelve batters during Chicago’s 5-4 loss.
Narveson is a perfect 3-0 against the Cubs in 2 starts against them with a 3.66 ERA.
Before Friday’s game, the Cubs announced that James Russell will start Tuesday’s game at Houston, as they called up Jeff Stevens from Triple-A Iowa to fill their vacant bullpen spot.
Stevens appeared in 18 games for the Cubs last season and had an ERA of 6.11 in 17.2 innings pitched.
Signing off for now,
Matt T for Cubshub.com