CHICAGO. August 12, 2009. It was raining again tonight in Wrigley Field… sadly it was raining runs and they were not from the Home team. But never fear the good times are near. Cub fans We Believe. We really do believe. So lets have some PMA here…positive mental attitude. Look on the bright side. You can’t really be sure that you’re down until you get a good kicking. And generally when you are at the bottom the only was is up. The Cubs got their 2nd kicking in a row.

They may be down after tonight but luckily for them they are not at the bottom. They are still in second place in the NL Central Division, 4 games behind the Cardinals who have played 4 more games. It is now only a matter of Lou “The Guru” Piniella putting things right. And at least we can be sure of one thing, he is trying things.

So ok, last nights effort to bring Jeff Samardzija in for his first Major League start didn’t work. The kid is good and I have no doubt he will learn a valuable lesson from the mauling. And don’t underestimate the lesson he will have learned from watching Carlos Marmol who pitched out the close in the 9th. Carlos gave up all those walks Wed night and tonight he had his stuff back. Now I know you will say that by then the game was basically over and I will concede that but remember it is after all baseball and as we know it is never really over till it is over. If the Phillies were able to get 8 runs in the 4th to give them a 12-1 lead there was always the possibility that the Cubs could get 9 or 10 in the 9th … they had narrowed the gap in the 5th with 2 runs to make it 12-3. At least a real positive is that they didn’t give up and they did get 2 of the 9 required in the 9th to extend the game.

To run through it quickly the Phillies got 2 triples and a double and 2 runs home in the first to start it 2-0. A Baker single in the 2nd got Fukudome home to make it 2-1. Victorino homer’d in the 3rd to rack up more 2 RBI’s for the Phillies and it was 4-1.

It was still all to play for at the start of the 4th but Young Jeff gave up a run when Ruis singled. Two men were still on bases after he got Martinez out on a ground out. “The Guru” Lou knew how dangerous the next man up Rollins is and he stepped in to protect his young protégé. Samardzija was relieved by Sean Marshall who by the end of the 4th was wishing he was somewhere else. His first 36 pitches chalked up a homer to get 3 RBI’s first ball up for Rollins, the 2nd out, a single, a walk, a further homer with 3RBI’s to Ibanez, a double by Werth and a single to give an RBI to Feliz. The eight ball that the Cubs were behind must have looked as big as the Anish Kapoor “Cloud Gate” a.k.a. “The Bean”, the sculpture down in Grant Park. So there you have it. At the end of the 4th it was 12-1 and the final result was 12-5.

The Cubs have lost 6 of their last 7 games but that won’t deter the Cub fans. Me, I am continuing to believe but I now have my fingers crossed for tomorrow’s game. Let’s get some runs!

A.L.

Chicago Cubs Baseball Insider