Game 14: Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs 1:4

Well, did you also have that feeling that this one was in the Cubs' bag just as soon as Todd Walker hit that homerun in the first inning? Too bad it proved right with the way Greg Maddux was pitching for the Cubs last night... Quick, efficiently played ballgame, with the wrong result. That's what it was.

Things that cross my mind:

(1) Do you think poor hitting is becoming a trend lately? The last four games we scored only five runs altogether, while playing against much better pitching than in the PHI and PIT series. Out of the regulars only Bill Mueller is firing on all cylinders. At this point I would certainly regroup the lineup somewhat (assuming Kent is back within a couple of games and Garciaparra is coming off the DL by the weekend). How about:

SS Furcal
CF Repko
3B Mueller
2B Kent
RF Drew
LF Cruz
1B Garciaparra
C Navarro
P pitcher

Mueller would be moved up from the sixth spot, while I'd drop both Drew and Cruz down a notch. At this point I'm not willing to move Kent out of the clean-up spot yet.

(2) The mantra of the last couple of days was leaving too many men on base. Grady Little defends himself saying that at least we did get them on in the first place. I am not scared with Little's AL pedigree (a.k.a relying on the longball too much), because of some promising "little" ball I saw put together by our manager. What is the reason then for the hitting slump then?

(3) Franquelis Osoria watch: I claimed that Osoria's ERA will go down to lower than 5.00 ERA by game 20, if he's used on regular basis. After last night's contest in Game 14 (three scoreless and hitless innings with 3 KO's) Osoria's ERA is at 6.75 and going down. Good.

(4) Tonight is Derek Lowe night. He's squaring off against Carlos Zambrano at 7:10 p.m. PT. Lowe, Kuo and Baez combining on a five-hitter shutout? Heck, why not - anything to avoid a first three-game losing streak of the season.