6/15/08 @ Toronto; W 7-4; (45-25)

Happy Fathers Day! The Cubs winning a road series is as good a present as I could ask for. The Cubs were victorious today, 7-4, against the Blue Jays to take two out of three.

Reed Johnson got the opportunity to lead off again today and went 2 for 5 with two runs scored. Four Cubs tallied two hits in this game, Lee, Edmonds, and Hoffpauir being the other three.

Ted Lilly was superb today allowing only one hit through six innings. He struck out six Blue Jays as well. The bullpen allowed four runs against the Blue Jays but that wasn’t enough as the Cubs had jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

The scoring started in the third inning with Micah Hoffpauir. He doubled to lead off the inning. Reed Johnson singled to advance him, and then he scored on a single by Fukudome. Derek Lee singled to score Reed Johnson and Edmonds singled to plate Fukudome.

Chicago extended the lead in the seventh. Theriot singled and Reed Johnson doubled. With two outs, Derek singled to score both runners. That was followed by Aramis Ramirez’ first homer in three weeks.

The Chicago offense was better on the road than it has been in a while. They hit .274 in this three game series in which they faced a pretty good pitching staff. The Blue Jays have the third best ERA in the major leagues. The Cubs managed 15 runs over the weekend series.

It won’t get any easier as the Cubs head to Tampa Bay. They are scheduled to face Scott Kazmir and Andy Sonnanstine in the first two games. Those two have only five losses between them on the season. The Rays are also the owners of the third best home record in the majors.

Fukudome hit a little better in this road series and Jim Edmonds is hot. The Cubs will need everyone to be swinging well. I expect to see a similar lineup to today, with Johnson leading off and Fukudome hitting second. Geovany Soto has struggled over the last 30 days, hitting only .228. We need him to get going as well as Kosuke, who showed signs of improvement against the Jays.

The Cubs will head into this series twenty games above .500 at 45-25. The last time they were 20 games above this early was 1969, when they were 45-25. I hate making comparisons to the ’69 team, because that will be the battle cry for Cub haters later this year. That not withstanding, the Cubs didn’t get to twenty games over .500 in 1908 or 1945 until late July and even August.

6/14/08 @ Blue Jays; W 6-2; (44-25)

Let’s lead off…pun intended….with a discussion of the lead off hitter for the Cubs. Today, Reed Johnson got the opportunity to lead off against his former team. He didn’t exactly make the most of it, going for 1 for 5. However, the one hit was a three run homer in the second inning. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings in the lead off spot as the lineup is expected to include more regulars.

The lineup was quite different today with Soto and Theriot getting some rest, and Aramis was used as the DH. That meant Johnson was playing left field, DeRosa third base, with Fontenot covering second defensively. Ronny Cedeno and Henry Blanco got starts in place of Soto and Theriot. Fukudome was used in the two hole, and went hitless, reaching base only on a walk.

Derek Lee had a nice day in the third spot going 3 for 4 and scoring two runs. One of those was a triple to lead off the fifth inning. Aramis had one base hit batting fourth and Edmonds followed in the five spot since Fukudome was moved up. Edmonds had two more hits today continuing his recent surge. He is hitting .355 in June raising his average 41 points. DeRosa, Fontenot, Blanco, and Cedeno rounded out the lineup each getting a base knock today.

Pitching performances today were solid for the Cubs as well. Jason Marquis pitched a nice game going seven plus innings and not allowing a run until the eighth. He picked up his fifth win of the season and fourth in a row. He hasn’t lost a decision since May 13th. Carlos Marmol inherited bases loaded in the eighth and only gave up one run while garnering two strikeouts. Bob Howry took over for the ninth inning and finished things up.

The end result is a 6-2 win on the road. So today I am flying my W Flag proudly as the Cubs win on the road.

6/13/08 @ Blue Jays; L 2-3; (43-25)

The Chicago Cubs are 3-0 at home in June. They have won their last eleven games at Wrigley Field, last losing to the Pirates on May 17th. During that eleven game home winning streak, they are 6-7 on the road. While that has improved during June, they are 4-3 this month while away from Wrigley, the road has not been kind.

Friday June 13th was no exception. The Cubs started a road trip Friday night as well as a 15 game stretch against the American League. They lost 3-2. Sean Gallagher gave up a lead off double to Alex Rios in the bottom of the third. That was followed by back to back home runs by Matt Stairs and Scott Rolen.

I wasn't able to see any of the game, but it doesn't seem Gallagher was sharp, throwing 100 pitches in only five innings. He managed five strike outs compared to only two walks, but allowed seven hits. The Blue Jays didn't score against him other than the third inning. The bullpen was solid, having been given plenty of rest in the Braves series. They put together three scoreless innings to keep the Cubs in contention to win the game.

It was a lack of offense hurting the Cubs tonight. Typical for this season, if they don't score more than three runs, the game doesn't end well. In their last fifteen games, they are 9-0 when they score at least five runs. They are 2-4 when scoring three or less.

Chicago put together eight hits tonight, but managed to score only two runs. Jim Edmonds stayed hot, going 2-3 and driving in a run. Aramis and Kosuke each had two hits as well, and Fukudome scored both Cub runs.

This was the first interleague game of the year, allowing Lou to work a lineup with a DH. Without Soriano, Lou opted for Theriot leading off tonight. In the finale against the Braves he had used Eric Patterson, but tonight he hit in the nine hole. Micah Hoffpauir hit second and got the start at first base while Derek Lee hit third as the DH. The middle of the lineup was the fairly familiar order of Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome, Soto, Edmonds, and DeRosa.

I like Theriot a lot, but I am not sure he is our lead off man. I definitely don't think Hoffpauir is a two hole. I would like to see Lou give Fukudome the nod at the top, followed by Theriot. Let Hoffpauir hit between Edmonds and DeRosa, or drop him in behind Soto.

Regardless of the order, Chicago is going to have to hit better and be more productive on the road. Especially considering tonight was the start of a 22 game stretch where 16 are on the road.