1) The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 7-4 Tuesday evening, their fourth straight win and third straight over the Rockies, as Kyle Kendrick threw 7 1/2 innings of two run ball and struck out five. The Phillies now trail the Florida Marlins by 1 1/2 games in the NL East. The Rockies, on the other hand, fall 10 games back of divison-leading Arizona in the NL West and are only a 1/2 game up on San Diego for last place in the division.
Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation. He struck out two and, like most closers who pitch to just get some work in, gave up an earned run as he wasn't as lights out as usual. Lidge has to be one of the best stories of baseball this season, although it is easy to get lost in the shuffle since our game is filled with great story lines these days. But I am intrigued by the path that Lidge has taken to get to where he is currently in his career.
It was only a couple of falls ago that Lidge was one of the most dominant closers in baseball for a Houston Astros team that was an annual contender. It seemed as if the homerun Albert Pujols hit off of him in the 2005 playoffs set his career spiraling down. The Astros tried to get him on track but was soon demoted to set up role because of a lack of confidence. The native Texan no longer had the support of the hometown fans, and change was inevitable.
Once the Astros sent Lidge to the Phillies in exchange for speedy outfielder Michael Bourn and Lidge recovered from his spring knee operation, the old dominance began to return. The thing is, Lidge's failures were always some sort of dilemma. The great stuff-- mid 90s fastball and devastating slider-- never left, but yet he was more hittable than ever. Lidge chalked it up to a loss of confidence and had to rethink his career before he could find the way back to slamming ninth inning doors and opposing hitters' hopes alike. Wth 12 saves and a 0.82 ERA in 2008, the Lidge we used to know has finally resurfaced.
2) The Chicago Cubs topped the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 for the second consecutive day, and the Dodgers cannot say they played horribly these last two days, and the Cubs cannot say they have played great the last two games. Fact is, niether of these clubs is hitting and, more importantly, they aren't hitting with runners in scoring position.
Sean Gallagher got the win after allowing one run over seven innings. Gallagher is a command and feel lefty who relies on hitting his spots and using his offspeed pitches to keep hitters off of his fastball. He is a pretty typical lefty, except that he appears to be a little more aggressive in the strike zone with his fastball. He likes to throw inside and get ahead with the heater; both of those are plus strengths since junk ball southpaws have to be perfect if they don't want to get killed.
The hard-luck loser was Hiroki Kuroda who went 6 1/3 giving up two runs, one earned, and struck out three. Jonathan Broxton allowed Kuroda's second run when he came on in relief in the seventh, and then added one of his own for good measure.
The Dodgers' problem has been their starting pitching, but that was before their last 4 games or so. They are getting quality starts now, from Kuroda to Billingsley to young phenom Clayton Kershaw, but all of the sudden they can't score any runs. They are havign to bunt and scratch across runs every game, whether it be the 8th, 9th, or extra innings. That's no way to win a division, much less be a championship ballclub.
The Cubs have been fairly balanced throughout the year, and their offense should take even another couple of steps as the season rolls along. Derek Lee has been all that and more as the rock in the middle of the lineup, Kosuke Fukudome has been a pleasant surprise, Alfonso Soriano is starting to swing the bat with some authority, and Lou Pinella is still waiting for Aramis Ramirez to get hot.
The biggest surprise, and probably a bigger story than the aforementioned Lidge, is the emergence of Kerry Wood as the Cubs' closer. Now Wood is a guy who came into the Major League with a ton of potential and a world's worth of expectations, and multipled those by a million after he had that 20 strikeout game ten years ago. Since then, it has been ten trips to the DL for a shoulder and elbow that just couldn't take the demand of being a professional baseball player. His big frame and promising arm were failing him, and there were no answers for it beside dumb luck.
After admitting to himself that his body could not take the workload of a big league starter anymore, Wood reinvented himself as a ninth inning massacre, a guy could be the single biggest piece towards the Cubs making a run at the World Series or not. Wood has been pumping his fastball in at 95-96 mph this spring, along with a nasty 83-85 mph slider. He has been a joy to watch, and I don't know how he could not win Comeback Player of the Year if he keeps this type of performance up. Should be a great summer for the Wrigley faithful.
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