Cubs Win!

I Tivoed yesterday's game and watched it after I got home - it was great, and there were lots of good omens for this Cubs team. Matt Murton (who looks like high school acquaintance Matt Noerpel) showed that he was legit, with a 3 run homer and some good defense. Pierre scored three runs, Walker drove in a few, and Derrek Lee reached base 4 out of 5 abs. One of the best things was seeing the new speed on the cubs lineup. In the 6th inning they scored their first few runs on a walk and 5 singles, three of which were infield hits legged out by Cedeno, Pierre, etc. A lot of out bench players saw action, and all of them performed well too. Hairston, Perez, and Pagan all got on base and showed some great situational hitting. One of the other good signs was that the Cubs scored 16 runs on only one homer, despite playing in a homer-friendly ballpark.

The pitching side was a little shakier. Zambrano's numbers seem worse than they are though - the ump was calling a really tight strike zone and he was pitching in homer-happy GAB. He should perform better once he gets in a groove. The better story was the bullpen though - they pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up 2 runs (in the middle relief, not late relief). They did walk too many guys, but they were able to keep that lineup quelled in a tough park, especially after the cubs built a big lead. They should get better as the season progresses as well.

Cubs Win!