The Pirates couldn't have come at a better time

Saturday: Cubs 17, Pirates 2


I see no reason why Major League Baseball can't allow the Cubs to face Charlie Morton every single day.

He faced the Cubs on August 13, 2008, as a member of the Braves, and didn't make it out of the 3rd inning. He allowed four hits, four walks, and ... four runs, en route to a 10-2 Cubs win.

On Friday, he one-downed (opposite of one-upped) himself by failing to get an out in the 2nd inning. Seven hits, three walks, TEN runs. In just one inning. So in his two starts against the Cubs, Morton's ERA is 37.80. His 2009 ERA was 3.81 heading into Friday's game, but it was 5.15 when he hit the showers.

Friday's fun fest featured some feats you don't see every day, and I figured we could all use some fun facts after a painful week of Cubs baseball, so let's get to it:

• By the 2nd inning, every Cubs starter--including Randy Wells--had at least one hit.
• The Cubs scored 10 runs in the 2nd, more than the nine runs they scored in the three-game series against the Phillies.
• The Cubs batted around in the 2nd inning before making an out.
• The Cubs had five plate appearances with the bases loaded in the 2nd inning, and seven total bases loaded plate appearances in the game.
• By the 4th inning, Derrek Lee had come to the plate three times with the bases loaded. He walked and doubled twice in those three at-bats. Lee tied a career high with seven RBI; he had seven RBI on July 2 of this year against the Brewers.
• Through the 4th inning, the Cubs had racked up five walks, eight singles, three doubles, two triples, and a home run.
• 17 runs is the most scored by the Cubs since a 19-run outburst April 30, 2008, against the Brewers.
• The last time the Cubs scored 14 runs by the 2nd inning was 1906.
  
• Last Saturday, the Cubs had 17 hits and only five runs. Friday, they had 18 hits and 17 runs.

The offense obviously did its job, and so did Randy Wells. With his ninth victory, he tied Ted Lilly for the team lead in wins. Why Lou Piniella took him out after six innings and just 86 pitches, despite a beleaguered bullpen, is beyond me. Wells has now pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA leaderboard, and is tied for 12th in the NL with a 3.01 ERA.

Saturday, Tom Gorzelanny will start against his former team. Hopefully he'll enjoy his first start at Wrigley as a Cub, and hopefully the offense has some more runs in 'em.