Home Sweet Home
A quiet day at the plate derailed the Chicago Cubs’ momentum their last time out.
They’ll
try to jump-start their offense Saturday as they continue their
three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.
NL
Central-leading Chicago (65-45) scored 40 runs during a five-game
winning streak, including four straight in Milwaukee prior to this
series, but the bats went silent Friday as the club managed just five
hits in a 3-0 defeat to Pittsburgh (51-58).
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Chicago -180 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has not
been set at this time (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that
75% of bets for this game have been placed on Chicago -180 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
"There’s 54 games to
go," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "You get a hangover this quick, I
don’t think that’s an excuse. Give their pitchers credit. They pitched
a good ballgame, they played well and they beat us."
The Cubs, who top the NL with 580 runs scored, stranded eight and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
"We
had a lot of guys on base and we just didn’t get key hits with men in
scoring position," third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who went 2-for-3, told
the Cubs’ official Web site. "When you do that, you’re not going to win
ballgames."
Chicago fell to 7-7 in its last 14 games at Wrigley Field, but still owns the best home record in the NL at 39-15.
After
having little success versus newly acquired Pittsburgh starter Jeff
Karstens on Friday, Chicago will now contend with Paul Maholm (7-6,
3.79 ERA), who has yet to lose to the Cubs. He is 4-0 despite posting a
6.15 ERA in seven career outings against Chicago, and the Pirates have
won six of those appearances.
The left-hander, who went 2-1 with
a 2.43 ERA in five July starts, equaled a career high with nine
strikeouts and yielded one run and four hits in seven innings, but left
without a decision in a 3-1 home loss to Jake Peavy and San Diego on
Sunday.
"Overall, whenever you go seven and give up one run and
keep your team in the game, especially against a guy like Peavy – it’s
going to be a low-scoring game and you’ve got to keep them in the
game," Maholm told the Pirates’ official Web site.
In Maholm’s
most recent start versus the Cubs, he gave up five runs and eight hits
in eight innings of a 6-5, 11-inning win in Pittsburgh on May 25. Ted
Lilly (10-6, 4.49) was reached for four runs and 10 hits in six innings
in that contest, and will match up with Maholm again on Saturday.
Lilly
allowed three runs and seven hits – two homers – in six innings Monday,
but didn’t receive a decision in a 6-4 win at Milwaukee. The
left-hander is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in seven career appearances against
Pittsburgh.
Lilly now looks to help the Cubs avoid a fourth
straight defeat to the Pirates since they dropped five in a row from
Aug. 28-Sept. 5, 2006.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, won for the third
time in four games Friday and appears to be adjusting to life without
Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, now with the New York Yankees, and Jason
Bay – dealt to Boston on Thursday in a three-team trade that moved Red
Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"There’s
going to have to be people who step up," center fielder Nate McLouth
said. "It’s just going to take a lot of contributions from everybody.
They’re certainly missed. I guess we’ll see who rises to the challenge."
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