Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Soriano using the big bat

CHICAGO -- Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood both wanted to pitch Monday for the third straight day, and both got a chance. At this rate, they'll both appear in 100-plus games.
Alfonso Soriano hit his second homer in as many days and added a late RBI single to back Randy Wells and lift the Cubs to a 4-1 victory over the D-backs. Wells (1-0) got the win but give the bullpen an assist. The Cubs' last three games have been decided by two runs or fewer, and Wood and Marmol have pitched in all three.
"It'd be OK if we came out and took a 10-0 lead tomorrow," Cubs manager Mike Quade said, laughing. "Just keep playing. If nothing else in these four games, they've done that. They pick each other up and they do a lot of things I like. We've got to get better and we still have plenty of work to do, but at least the approach and attitude out of the chute has been good."
Wells served up six hits and walked four over six innings. The right-hander had to battle this spring to win a spot in the rotation, and he didn't make it easy on himself in the game. He served up a leadoff homer to Willie Bloomquist, a leadoff single to Miguel Montero in the second and walked the leadoff batters in the fourth and fifth innings.
"He just needs to stay focused and hit the glove," Quade said. "You say that a lot with pitchers, but given his sinker and given his repertoire, it's so important he keeps the ball down in the zone and just hits the glove pitch after pitch. He did that all spring in a very tough place to pitch. He's still evolving, too."
The key for Wells is location. Unfortunately, his fourth pitch of the game was in a spot that Bloomquist liked, and he launched it into the left-field bleachers.
"The home run was a mistake," Wells said. "First hitter of the game, you don't want to walk him, and I get behind 2-1 and tried to get a fastball away and it leaped out over the middle, and he put a good swing on it. That's not the end of the world -- a solo home run. You start the game over and go back to work."
Soriano tied the game with a leadoff blast in the Chicago third off Joe Saunders (0-1), his second homer in as many games. The Cubs left fielder didn't hit his second homer until his 15th game last season.
read more at mlb.com

6 comments:

  1. Can't say I'm a sports fan, but it was an interesting read nonetheless.

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  2. Nice start to the season no doupt.

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  3. Im more of a stro's fan but that involves a looooot of tough love

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  4. If I go to the states one day I wanna see them life. The great Chicago Cubs!

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  5. I'm more of a Jays fan(I'm canadian) but still, you have an interesting persppective. Good read.

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  6. I'm with iKhazModan, a big TBJ fan. I used to play lots of baseball too as a kid! Supporting and following. alphabetalife.blogspot.com

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