Misery loves company and Reds fans have to be pretty miserable right now. They were on top of the playoff mix for a lot of the second half until an August decline and now they’re pretty much out of it after the Cubs squashed them over the weekend.
Things didn’t start well. The Cubs were shut out and held to five hits on Friday. Juan Mateo was throwing very well but he came out after three innings with some back problems. Carlos Marmol then came in and got shelled and gave up all four Reds runs in the fourth inning.
The Cubs returned the favor on Saturday and Rich Hill is looking better and better as the year goes on. He threw a two hit complete game shutout in which he struck out ten. Jacque Jones hit his 25th homerun of the season and Aramis Ramirez had two hits and two RBIs in the 4-0 win.
Yesterday was a beat down. The Cubs tagged Eric Milton for six runs in a start that he didn’t even get out of the first inning. In the meantime, Carlos Zambrano coasted to an easy win with seven shutout innings. Zambrano is 15-6 and while he won’t get much play for the Cy Young, he certainly should get some votes. The Cubs hit six homeruns, including two by Ryan Theriot. Jones drove in three runs in the 11-3.
Two more weeks left, and fortunately, it looks like the Cubs won’t be losing 100 games this year. They’re two games back of the Pirates for last place in the National League. Next up is the Phillies, who are another spoiler candidate.
