Carlos Silva threw seven strong innings against the White Sox on Saturday, but it was not enough to prevent his first loss as a Chicago Cub. Silva, who entered the game with an 8-0 record, allowed just two runs which proved to be one too many as the Sox won the game 2-1. The Cub offense was stymied for the second consecutive day, this time by Mark Buerhle who threw 6.2 scoreless innings while striking out seven batters. Buerhle and the rest of the pitchers for the South Siders gave the Cubs many chances, but once again the offense did not come through. They actually outhit the White Sox 10-9, but went 1-10 with runners in scoring position. The Cubs have struggled in these situations all year, and until this number starts to turn around wins will be hard to come by.
The Cubs stranded two runners on base in three different innings, and also left the tying run on base in the ninth inning. Over the past five games, they are 5-37 with runners in scoring position. That is a .135 average. You cannot win games hitting this poorly in clutch situations. The Cubs did everything else right yesterday except get the clutch hits, but most of the time that is what it comes down to.
The final game of the series will be shown in prime time tonight at 8 pm. Ted Lilly will take the mound for the Cubs, looking for his second win of the season. He is 1-5, but his ERA is just 3.28, not representative at all of his record. For the White Sox it will be Gavin Floyd who comes in at 2-6 with an elevated ERA of 6.18. However, Floyd is coming off of his best start of the season against the Tigers. Lets see if the Cubs can finally score a few runs tonight and avoid the sweep.
