While the Twins were busy hitting sac flies, bunting (including pitcher Kevin Slowey, who has 11 career at-bats), and putting the ball in play, the Cubs were hard at work whiffing, running into outs and throwing the ball into the stands at inappropriate times. It was quite a contrast in focus and fundamentals, and the result was an ugly 7-4 loss to Ron Gardenhire's Twins.
I'm not going to lament Randy Wells's poor start, partly because it was his first of the year, and partly because there's just no time for it considering all the Milton Badly ridiculousness we have to get to.
Bradley, who is batting .222 in June, had an inexcusable mental lapse in the 8th inning when he threw the ball into the stands despite there being just two outs and a runner at first. He also lost a ball in the sun (more excusable) and had a baserunning gaffe.
I could deal with Bradley getting hurt every now and then; I could deal with him being a streaky hitter; I could deal with him having a brain fart every now and then; I could deal with him being a bit of a nutcase; I could deal with him mouthing off through the media sometimes. But all of these combined? Aren't we payin' this guy like $30 million?
Bradley's miscues overshadowed his 2-for-4, 2 RBI performance at the plate. Derrek Lee drove in the other two runs to tie Soriano for the team lead in RBI with 27.
There weren't a whole lot of other positives to take from this one. The Cubs are back at the .500 mark, and Rich Harden returns on Saturday and will try to get the Cubs back above sea level.
Bobby Scales was sent down to make room for Harden, giving the Cubs 13 pitchers and just four bats off the bench: Hill, Hoffpauir, Blanco, and whoever doesn't start in center (Johnson or Fukudome). With the team struggling to score runs, I'm not sure that losing a bat is the way to go.
I think you said it all.... and one of the few times I think about hoping for a White Sox win and that didn't come to fruition either.
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