With the Cubs and Sox both entering the second leg of their season series under .500, the Crosstown Classic doesn't carry quite the intrigue it did last year when it looked as though it might be a preview of October baseball. Nevertheless, both teams entered Friday within six games of first place, and there's no doubt that fans on both sides of town remain optimistic about playoff baseball.
With the Cubs having lost their last four games by a combined six runs, a confidence-producing win against the Sox was much needed. Randy Wells did his part by allowing just two runs (he's now allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his nine starts), and the offense turned the power on behind homers by Jake Fox and Geovany Soto. Fox has now had two consecutive games with a single, double and homer, while Soto has homered in four of his last eight games.
But the Cubs, who have now played 25 one-run games, just didn't feel comfortable with a big 5-2 8th-inning lead, so enter Carlos Marmol stage left. Marmol proved useless once again, walking two more batters and allowing a hit for good measure. Carlos is supposed to be the guy in Cubs' 'pen who can get out of jams, but Piniella's going to have to add a firefighter to the 25-man roster to put out all the fires created by Marmol's ineffective wildness. Fortunately, Marshall induced a 3-2-3 double play and Kevin Gregg (who also walked one) scored the save in the 9th to lock down Wells's second consecutive victory.
And if all these one-run games aren't enough drama for you, how about Milton Bradley having words with the water cooler and then his manager and being told to leave the park? Piniella said he was fed up with players' antics in the dugout (e.g. Dempster and Zambrano teaming up to put the fancy new Wrigley drink dispenser six feet under) and told him to leave. Bradley continues to make it difficult to determine what's worse, his average or his antics. But either way, this is just another stitch in the pattern that is his hotheaded career, and my guess it that it will blow over sooner rather than later.
That said, it's obvious that Bradley is not entirely happy with the Cubs, and also that he has some issues. Do we really have to deal with this for 2 1/2 more years?
Cubs sale
According to the Trib, the Ricketts deal is now gaining steam.
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