Cubs Face Halladay
In their second game without injured leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano, the Chicago Cubs once again struggled to score runs.
It won’t get any easier on Saturday, when the Cubs continue their three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays facing the red-hot Roy Halladay, who is looking to win six straight starts for the first time in five years.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Toronto -167 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 8 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 61% of bets for this game have been placed on Toronto –167 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Chicago (43-25) lost Soriano for six weeks with a broken left hand after he was hit by a pitch in Wednesday’s 7-2 win over Atlanta.
The Cubs defeated the Braves 3-2 in 11 innings Thursday, but lost Friday’s series opener in Toronto 3-2, snapping a four-game winning streak.
Chicago leads the NL in scoring with 374 runs, but stranded 11 baserunners Friday. Leadoff hitters Eric Patterson and Ryan Theriot have gone just 1-for-9 with a walk in the two games replacing Soriano.
"We had a lot of chances, we didn’t score runs,” Chicago manager Lou Piniella said.
The Cubs are also trying to get things turned around on the road, where they have lost three of their last four and are 14-17. Very few teams have been successful at defeating Halladay (8-5, 3.07 ERA) at Rogers Centre, though.
Halladay has posted a 2.89 ERA in winning his last five starts, striking out 32 and walking only two in 37 1-3 innings those outings. The Toronto staff ace leads the majors with five complete games and 102 2-3 innings pitched.
Halladay, who last won five consecutive starts May 10-June 3, 2005, hasn’t won six starts in a row since reeling off a career-best 11 straight from May 1-July 2, 2003 – the year he won the AL Cy Young Award.
On Sunday, Halladay gave up four runs, eight hits and struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings of a 5-4 home win over Baltimore.
The right-hander has won his last three starts at Rogers Centre, and is 4-1 with a 3.07 ERA in five starts there this season. He is 15-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 20 home starts since the start of last season, and 8-1 with a 2.97 ERA in his last 10 interleague starts at Toronto.
In his only career start against the Cubs on June 8, 2005, Halladay allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings of a 2-0 loss.
The Blue Jays (35-34) won for just the fourth time in their last 12 games Friday.
"We needed that one in a lot of ways,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said.
All the Blue Jays’ offense came in the third inning as Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer followed by a Scott Rolen solo shot – the first time this season Toronto has hit back-to-back home runs.
Rolen’s homer was his third of the season, and his first since May 7. Rolen, who spent his first 12 seasons in the NL, now has 23 home runs against the Cubs, tied with Cincinnati for his most against any team. He is 6-for-24 (.250) with three home runs lifetime against Saturday’s scheduled starter Jason Marquis (4-3, 4.54).
Marquis gave up one run and a season-low three hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. The right-hander has won his last two starts after winning only two of his first 10.
In his only start against the Blue Jays on June 15, 2005, Marquis gave up five runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings of a 5-2 loss for St. Louis.
Marquis has lost his last three starts in AL parks, posting an awful 13.20 ERA in those contests.
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