Smile for the birdie, then punch it in the face
Much of the pregame time was swallowed up by picture day at the Ravine, and the rest was filled with reaction to the big UFC fight last night. There was a lot of pre-fight chatter yesterday among the Blue, so I figure they did their part to juice the pay-per-view numbers. I know nothing about UFC, really, since mixed martial arts isn't really my bag, though I will say octagons are inherently more interesting than squares. Apparently the whole thing lasted under two minutes. I don't speak very good Spanish, but I'm pretty sure I witnessed Rafael Furcal reenact the action for Wilson Betemit and Tony Abreu. A lot of pantomimed punches, a couple elbows, and an emphatic slam to the ground. Furcal's performance was good enough that I'm willing to say he saved me $60, or whatever it cost to buy the fight. So I appreciate that.
In the Sunday Medical Notes section, both Furcal and Jason Schmidt arrived at the park feeling a lot better. Furcal's knee, as I'm sure you've already deduced, is good to go. He'll be in the lineup today. Schmidt threw somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pitches in the bullpen with no ill effects. Hopefully he's kicked the bug to the point he can get back on his schedule of simulated games. "He threw well and felt good, so we'll see what the next step is from now," Grady Little said. "He felt his strength coming back from that little bout he had with the flu."
Good news for Dodgers starter Randy Wolf- other than Cesar Izturis (4-8, .500), nobody in the Cubs lineup has had a ton of success against him. .231 for Derrek Lee, 0-6 for Alfonso Soriano. Aramis Ramirez is 3-13 lifetime against the lefty. Cliff Floyd, who isn't in the lineup, has hit him at a .267 clip. Cubs lefty Rich Hill is making his first career start against the Blue. Only Brady Clark (1-6, .167) and Luis Gonzalez (2-6, .333) have faced him.
Gonzalez passed Mickey Mantle on the career hits list yesterday, moving into 99th place all time with 2,416 knocks. He's now tied with Pie Traynor, which reminds us all that there aren't nearly enough guys walking around named Pie anymore.
LINEUPS
Dodgers- Little is sitting Andre Ethier with the left-handed Hill on the mound, and Nomar is getting a day off as well. Kent and Furcal are both back in the starting nine.
Rafael Furcal- SS
Juan Pierre- CF
Russell Martin- C
Jeff Kent- 2B
Olmedo Saenz- 1B
Luis Gonzalez- LF
Andy LaRoche- 3B
Brady Clark- RF
Randy Wolf- P
Cubs
Alfonso Soriano- LF
Ryan Theriot- 2B
Derrek Lee- 1B
Michael Barrett- C
Mark DeRosa- 3B
Matt Murton- RF
Angel Pagan- CF
Cesar Izturis- SS
Rich Hill- P
BK
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pierre should be fined every time he hits the ball in the air. The wolfpac looks good again,he has that barry zito curveball and it didnt cost us 126 million to get it!!!
Posted by: bigtaxdizzle | May 27, 2007 at 02:03 PM
bigtaxdizzle-
I actually think they should make him do pushups, like Willie Mays Hayes in Major League.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | May 27, 2007 at 03:07 PM
I'm having a really difficult time trying to make a decision.
It boils down to this: would it be more painful to gouge out my eyes or watch Pierre play for the Dodgers for the next five years.
I'm leaning toward self-mutilation as being the lesser of two evils.
Posted by: wausroamer | May 27, 2007 at 03:29 PM
HAHA yeah push ups would be nice anything to make this guy play the way he is supposed to!!!! Pierre getting hit by the pitch was the best thing that could have happened in the game!!! 4 more fly balls i feel the same way that wausroamer feels........4 more years after this??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good bullpen attack again cant say enough about those guys
Posted by: bigtaxdizzle | May 27, 2007 at 05:22 PM
I'm glad the Dodgers won, but they also nearly wasted another excellent pitching performance. This is becoming more and more frequent.
What a great rally to win!!!! 3 walks and a hit batter. Almost embarrassing.
Posted by: Dodgerdog | May 27, 2007 at 05:34 PM