At least he didn't give up five home runs
Welcome back to the starting rotation Jon Leiber. You’ve been missed by fans and Major League hitters alike.
Lieber probably needed a hug after giving up four home runs in the first inning to the Reds. Even if that hug came from a giant flesh-eating wild animal.
But give him credit. He lasted one more inning than most of us would have had we given up four home runs in one inning. Unfortunately after Lieber’s two innings of ”work” (five runs off seven hits), the Reds continued to pound the Cubs en route to a 9-0 drubbing. The next two pitchers weren’t much better.
Sean Marshall and Sean Gallagher proved to Seans can’t make one good pitcher. The two combined to give up four runs off six hits (three were home runs) in four innings of work.
It’s a bit unnerving that Lieber’s stats were still worse than that of Sean duo.
Reds rookie sensation Edison Volquez scattered six hits and struck out 10 (fantasy points!) over seven innings of work. No Cubbie had more than one hit.
Thanks to this set back, the Cubs have now lost four consecutive series. Chicago has a day off to recuperate from that embarrassment and mentally prepare for baseball’s best team — the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The first game of the series may be difficult with Dan Haren (4-1. 3.13) toeing the rubber for Arizona. But the following two games set up well for Chicago. Ryan Dempster (4-1, 2.72) and Carlos Zambrano (5-1, 1.80) go up against Max Scherzer (0-1, 5.40) and Randy Johnson (2-1, 5.06), respectively.
Should that series go awry, Cubs fans may want to find their own giant flesh-eating animal to hug.
