There's going to be a lot of pressure on the bottom of this inning. Top of the order up, and likely our last chance to see Marshall. After that, it's the Cubs bullpen... which isn't great, but it's certainly more difficult to score on them than it should be to score on this guy. It would really, really hurt to lose a game like this with Oswalt pitching at home vs. one of the worst teams in the league knowing that the Cards are getting blown out. Just one hit... that's all we really need right now. C'mon offense...
I'm not saying that bunting Biggio over to third was the wrong move... but I don't think its a move that will ultimately win us this game. The Cubs aren't going to hand us the WP's or errors that they have the last two games all the time... we need to get HITS.
I take it back... bunting with Burke (a fairly consistent performer over the course of this season) may have cost us the best chance to get a run this inning.
No doubt, why bunt there in the 7th inning with one of our best hitters? Morgan Ensberg is playing like crap, he and Ausmus couldn't hit a beach ball right now. DD
I'll say it was. It might not win us the game, but I don't remember the last time Ensberg hit the ball in the air, or at all. At least Burke's been pretty consistent with his hitting. No way I put on the bunt there.
I don't care what hitter you are or how cold you are, it should never be too much to ask against a pitcher this poor to get a simple flyball to the outfield. It was the right strategy. It was just a massive, massive choke job from Morgan Ensberg. Unreal.
you guys are a bunch of monday morning qb's. i'd bunt with burke there 100 times out of 100. if you dont have enough confidence that ensberg can get the run home, he should be on the bench in the first place.
Yea... I ultimately agree. It wasn't like its the 9th inning, or its the bottom of our lineup. It was our #2 hitter (who has pop), followed by guys who are supposed to get HITS to drive in runs, not sac flies. And, even if we had tied it... it took away a chance to have a BIGGER inning. Maybe Garner is seeing the hitter's approaches tonight, and just isn't too happy with their focus... especially Berkman.
I had confidence that Ensberg could have gotten the run home... I just thought that even if they had gotten the run, it totally eliminated the chance for a bigger inning, and it allowed Marshall (who will eventually start pitching up to his ERA) to get a FREE out against a decent hitter.
I wonder if Lamb would have drove in those runs earlier when Lane flied out with the bases loaded. Garner continues to screw Roy with the hitting lineups.
When's the last time Oswalt got a win? And I still agree with the bunt. A man on third with one out. You NEED to bring him home. Ensberg is seriously just choking right now. I fully expected him to take a walk there, which would have led to the same conclusion considering what Berkman did.
Lane hit the ball decently... if more Astros made that sort of contact tonight, they wouldn't have a big 0 tonight on the scoreboard. Alas, Mike should get an opportunity at some point tonight (with no more lefty for the Cubs).
scoring 1 run was the only vital thing. we were down 1-0 late in the ballgame. how can you play for a big inning when you have scored zero runs through 6?
We've won 7 out of 8 against the sCrUBS (seven straight). Even if you do, theoretically, "beat the teams you're supposed to beat" the majority of the time... the universe catches up on you, and makes it that much harder to beat the same team EIGHT times in a row. (and this game isn't over yet).
