Is this THE year or just another "Wait til next year"?

Well, the Cubs did it again last night showing us a new way to lose a game. The bullpen blew ANOTHER chance for Randy Wells to earn his first MLB W. He left with a 5-1 lead in the 8th after giving up an HR to Garret Anderson and E-3 on "gold glove" D-Lee (not fair as this was only his 1st E of the season) as he just whiffed on a low throw from Theriot. Enter Marmol who promptly walks Francoeur on 4 pitches, gets a nice catch by Fukudome on a hard-hit liner to RF and then plunks the .129 hitting Norton to load the bases. Ya .129 so let's start him off with a slider low and in...perfect. He's not done yet...as he walks in a run with .250 hitting Kelly Johnson to get to the middle of the Braves order. A sac fly by Escobar made it 5-3 and then he gets Chipper to ground out to end the inning and the damage. By the way, at this point the Braves had all of TWO HITS and 3 runs.

Moylan throws an 8-pitch inning for the Braves in the 9th to lower his not-so-stellar ERA to 4.82. It started with a horrific "I've never faced an MLB pitcher before EVER" AB by Soto on a 3-pitch strikeout where he guessed wrong on ALL three pitches swinging (if that's what you want to call it) at the last pitch that was 2 feet off the plate outside.

This set the stage for Gregg's second blown save (not sure how that's possible with a Borowski-like ERA of 5.24). It started well enough with a harmless fly out to Soriano (does anyone else HATE that little hop?). The next batter is the key to why I am calling this a new way for the Cubs to lose. On a 1-2 pitch, Gregg throws a nasty slider that Anderson swings over the top of for strike 3 and the second out, but wait...Soto fails to block the ball in the dirt instead letting it get all the way to the wall behind the plate and Anderson reached on a dropped 3rd strike so there's still only one out and a guy on first bringing the tying run to the plate. Prado flies out harmlessly to Reed Johnson in CF for the real second out although the Cubs should be out of the inning with a rare road W.

Now someone needs to explain the Francoeur pitch sequence to me. You've got a guy in Francoeur they once called "The Natural" batting 7th in a not-so-powerful Braves lineup because the rest of MLB figured out he can't hit a breaking ball. He's up there representing the tying run and does have some pop in his bat and Gregor Blanco up next still looking for his first hit of the season. Again, the scouting report says he CANNOT hit a breaking ball. You just struck out Garret Anderson on a nasty slider so what is the pitch sequence to Francoeur? How about 4 straight (and I mean STRAIGHT) 4-seam fastballs measured at 92-93 mph with the last one going out faster than it came in to tie the game with a 2-run HR. Soto wanted low and outside and Gregg threw it belt high on the inner half ending Wells' latest attempt to get his first MLB W despite a sparkling 1.69 ERA. The Braves summary through 9 innings is now 5 runs, 3 hits, and 1 error.

So WHAT was going through Lou's head (I would say "brain" but I'm not sure there's one in there) in the 12th? I have to admit I stopped watching after the 10th, but just looking at MLB Gameday (is this THE BEST applet EVER?!?) I can see what happened. With 1-out, base hit by Escobar who then stole second for his 2nd SB of the season and 9th in his 3-year career. Come on guys! This was big as Chipper singled to LF to win the game for the Braves in the bottom of the 12th and complete the blown 5-run lead with 6 outs to go by the Cubs and probably worst loss of the season to date (there's still a LONG way to go for them to top this though). Anyway, so WHY does Lou pitch to Chipper with 1st base open? McCann was 0-4 for the game regardless of what he had been doing prior to this game so I just don't get it. Why was Soriano so deep in LF that he didn't even attempt a throw to get the winning run out at the plate?

So do I blame Lou for this loss? Fair or not, YES I do. Why pull Randy Wells after merely 83 super efficient pitches? The bullpen has proven time and again they can't hold a lead for this guy so why not let him try to finish it up himself? Would he have pulled him if Lee hadn't whiffed on the Theriot throw? Doubtful so why pull him after the E-3? The 83 pitches marked the LOWEST pitch count this season for Wells who threw 111 in his last start preceeded by 95, 97 and 84 in his three previous outings this season. Next...who is in charge of calling pitches and scouting reports? Why does Francoeur get 4 straight 4-seam fastballs when EVERYONE in MLB or watching at home knows he can't hit a breaking ball? Was Soto calling the game and worried about another wild pitch? Who cares?!? You had a 2-run lead so the guy on base means NOTHING.

Can't you just tell this season just has NO good vibe at all? Prized free-agent (prized by Hendry anyway) left the game with a strained calf in just his 33rd start this season (out of the Cubs 50 games) as it is including a suspension. Theriot, Fontenot, and Fukudome have as many HRs as Bradley and are only 1 behind D-Lee for second on the team with 5 apiece. Zambrano has been hurt and suspended; Aramis apparently nearly lost his arm with as long as he's been out. Soriano leads the team in RBIs from the lead-off spot with Theriot second! In 19 games in the entire month of May, D-Lee drove in 9 runs. Just to put that in some perspective for 1st baseman getting paid what the Cubs pay D-Lee, Pujols had 7 RBIs in ONE GAME back in April.

In conclusion...this is NOT the year! Sorry Cubs fans - "Wait til next year!" AGAIN!