No "Around the Horn this week". Maybe I'm done with that, seeing as how the Cubs season is down to a one-game playoff at least 3 times in a row.
Let's just get this out of the way: the Cubs must win. Plain and simple. It is not impossible for the Cubs to go into Los Angeles and take two, bring it back to Chicago, and finally win a game at home. But there is no chance of that if the Cubs' play does not pick up. NOW.
The pitching has been brutal so far. Ryan Dempster got a bad case of the "it's-the-playoffs-OMGZ" in Game 1. No hitting, save Mark DeRosa. Carlos Zambrano, despite taking a tough loss, was a victim of unspeakably bad defense by every infielder. That fateful 2nd inning, Zambrano essentially pitched 7 outs. Ryan Theriot should have gloved the ball after the lead off single, DeRosa should have had an easy double play, and Derrek Lee, most surprisingly of all the infielders, booted a can of corn grounder. Normally, he picks that like a badly congested nose. Counting the double play as two outs, that's 4 potential outs passed up, and Zambrano had to work for the next 3. 7 outs. SEVEN! Unbelievable and unallowable.
Not in October. Not even in February and March! Not even if you are a 14-year-old in Little League.
I can't be too hard on Mark DeRosa, because he is the only Cub who is hitting with any sort of consistency so far. Jim Edmonds has barely missed hitting 3 home runs by a combined total of 15 feet. I will, however, jump on Derrek Lee for a complete lack of leadership and plate discipline, as well as Alfonso Soriano for not being able to pick up Derek Lowe's slider for 3 straight pitches after taking the same pitch in the same at bat. If you don't quite get what I mean, this is how it went down, with Soriano's supposed thought process:
Pitch 1: Low and away, leave it be. Can't reach it anyways.
Pitch 2: GOTTA HIT IT! IT'S RIGHT THERE! Aww, missed it.
Pitch 3: OH MY GOD! HERE IT COMES! Shoot, no good, same pitch. OK, swing only if it's a good pitch this time.
Pitch 4: AHHHHHH! HITHITHITHITHIT!!!!! Crud.
Get it together Soriano.
You may see me write again, if there is a Game 4. God, please make it be a Game 4.
