LIVE game talk Cubs-Astros 8/4

(FYI -- All my times are Pacific Time) 

4:02 p.m.

It's Monday, August 4th. The Cubs and Astros are about to face off. The wind is always something to pay attention to at Wrigley....and it looks like it is blowing at around 10-15 mph from right to left field, straight across. Sweet outfits and hair on many of the fans tonight. It's 70s night...

4:07 p.m.

Astros lineup:

2B Kazuo Matsui

SS Miguel Tejada

1B Lance Berkman

LF Carlos Lee

RF Hunter Pence

3B Ty Wiggington

CF Darin Erstad

C Humberto Quintero

P Brian Moehler 

Top 1st Inning ---- As I figured, Edmonds and Ward are playing tonight, considering Edmonds and Ward have great numbers against Moehler. So, Lee has the night off since he has been struggling and the Cubs have a day game tomorrow. Daryle Ward just made a great backhanded snag and toss to Dempster for an out at first. (And I thought Derrek Lee was on the bench?!)

4:11

Bottom 1st Inning ---- If I see one more Brett Favre news alert on ESPN's scrolling news ticker on the bottom of the screen I will hurt someone. I didn't hear enough of it on every single ESPN show today.......Anyway.... Carlos Lee just dropped a hit in front of Fukudome in right, and Kosuke looked out of rhythm on his throw home. It sailed into the crowd...... Tejada scored from second and Carlos Lee advanced to third on the wild throw.   *** SCORE: ASTROS 1 / Cubs 0 ***    Edmonds with an Edmonds-like diving catch coming in from center to end the inning.  

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4:16

Cubs Lineup:

LF Alfonso Soriano

2B Mike Fontenot

1B Daryle Ward

3B Aramis Ramirez

CF Jim Edmonds

C Geovany Soto

RF Kosuke Fukudome

SS Ronny Cedeno

P Ryan Dempster 

Bottom 1st Inning ---- Moehler just used his hand to write something in the dirt on the mound before his first pitch. I didn't know the game was at the beach.... Kaz Matsui also thinks it is playtime..... he just slipped and went to his knees on the dirt chasing a groundball... basehit for Fontenot. Boring inning for the Cubs... Fontenot is stranded on first.

4:27

Top 2nd Inning ---- Back-to-back K's for Dempter to start the inning. A bat just went flying into the crowd.... a middle-aged man got hit near the face, but he seems to not be injured. Lucky dude has a great souvenir. Oh nevermind, I forgot, it's a ripoff these days....the fan has to give the actual bat back to the player and the fan will get a different bat back in return. So, he gets hit in the face and that's the love he gets.....ouch.  3 outs.

4:32

Bottom 2nd Inning ---- Thank you ESPN, I had almost forgotten about the Brett Favre situation.... the ESPN "Right Now" news-break is unnecessary as ever.  Oh, now the announcers are talking about Favre. Good thing they were cut short, but unfortunately it's because the Cubs just had a 5-pitch inning. 

4:37

Top 3rd Inning ---- The Astros pitcher, Brian Moehler, is up to bat first this inning..... he has yet to get a hit this year. That streak continues.  Dempster strikes out Matsui... Dempster's 3rd K of the game. (He had 9 in his last outing) 1-2-3 this inning. Not much offense in this one. 

4:45 

Bottom 3rd Inning ---- Moehler has thrown 16 strikes in 19 pitches. My guess is the Cubs will start attacking those plentiful strikes....Soriano especially, considering he likes to jump on pitches early in the count. Base-hit for Cedeno. Dempster is up next... he should definitely be sac bunting. Let's get Cedeno to second with Soriano coming up next. He does in fact bunt successfully. Soriano strikes out...Fontenot grounds out. 3 outs..... Another man stranded on base. Still 1 to 0 Astros. 

4:53

Top 4th Inning ---- Dark clouds appear to be rolling in. Sounds like some potentially severe weather may be moving in. Let's hope that holds off for a while. Dempster strikes out Berkman. Big out.... and it's Dempster's 4th strikeout of the night. The Cubs are in trouble now. Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence, and Ty Wigginton get back-to-back-to-back singles... loading the bases. Only 1 out and bases loaded at this point. Let's see if the old veteran Darin Erstad can hit into a DP or something. Instead it was a strikeout.... 5th strikeout for Dempster tonight. Now Dempster gets to a 3-0 count against Quintero. And yes... he walks in a run on the 4th pitch. *** SCORE Astros 2 - Cubs 0 *** Dempster, please don't do the same to Moehler. Remember, he has yet to get a hit this year... 0 for 26. Dempster throws his 6th strikeout of the night, while Moehler continues his hitless streak and leaves 3 red jerseys stranded. 

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5:09

Bottom 4th Inning ---- Aramis is disgusted with the home-plate umpire after a very questionable outside strike struck out the Cubs third baseman. With 2 outs, Edmonds pokes one to right field and Pence muffs the ball while trying to make an unnecessary slide attempt to catch the ball. The official scorer gives him the benefit of the doubt and awards Edmonds with a double instead of an error on Pence. The home-plate ump has made 2 very questionable outside strike calls this inning. Don't be surprised if tempers flair later in the game. The inning ends with another Cub stranded on base. 

5:22

Top 5th Inning ---- Dempster shows some athleticism with some quick hands on a hard hit one-hopper right back to the mound. Now Dempster is just showing off..... this time he makes a barehanded play on a drag bunt from Tejada. I'll take a bunt from Tejada every time.... thank you Miguel. Dempster was a stud this inning... he strikes out Berkman again and now has 7 K's.

5:33

Well, as I mentioned earlier, there was a possibility of rain coming to Chicago. It just came. Not sure if it will stop.... it's coming down pretty hard. Apparently there is a tornado warning in the area also. Well, I guess I can eat dinner.

RAIN DELAY!!! 

Cubs fans may be interested in this.... 

The Brewers are getting beat 6 to 2 by the Reds, and a fight within the Brewers dugout just broke out as Prince Fielder shoved the Brewers starting pitcher, Manny Parra, twice near the face. Parra must be smart, as he just sat down after Fielder shoved him.... he obviously wanted no part in the shoving and fighting. Good idea. Fielder weighs what?.... a healthy 270-280?  

8:25 

Ok, the Cubs are back and I am back. A 2 hour, 45 minute rain delay, but it's baseball time again. 

Top 6th Inning ---- If I'm quiet it's just because I'm a little tired. The rain delay almost put me to sleep. Chad Gaudin is pitching for the Cubs. The crowd is rowdy.....These are the best Cubs fans, the ones willing to wait through 3 hours worth of severe weather to watch the Cubs in a 2-0 game that will likely end around midnight. I love it. More rain drops are falling....and Gaudin has a great inning.

8:34 

Bottom 6th Inning ----  Tim Byrdak from Oak Lawn, Illinois is the new pitcher for the Astros. Let's hope the Cubs hitters can get to these relievers. Aramis just hit a LONG foul ball to left field out of the stadium....He takes a walk. Edmonds grounds out to third. Still no offense to speak of for the Cubs. 

8:49

Top 7th Inning ---- Quintero loses the bat out of his hands and it goes into the crowd. He was the same player that had a bat fly out of his hands in the 2nd inning. Gaudin finishes his 2nd scoreless inning in a row. His stuff was pretty nasty tonight. If Gaudin continues to pitch well, and Samardzija, Marmol, and Wood continue to pitch the way they have this year, the Cubs would have one of the premier bullpens in the National League if they make the playoffs.  

8:58

Bottom 7th Inning ---- The Astros bring in a new reliever; Jeff Geary. DeRosa will get a pinch-hit opportunity. The Cubs were about 3 feet from a tie ballgame. Instead, Carlos Lee leaps and catches DeRosa's drive to left at the ivy. Still nothing to cheer about for the Cubs fans. 

9:05

Top 8th Inning ---- The lefty, Neal Cotts, enters the game for the Cubs. He gets Tejada and Berkman out to start the inning as lighting and thunder crash around Wrigleyville. The crowd makes ooing and awwing noises along with the wild weather. Cotts finishes off a great inning by striking out Carlos Lee. Now let's see if the Cubs can provide a little excitement for all you poor blog readers that have not had much good Cubs news to read about so far. Don't worry, I'm struggling right along with you.

9:10

Bottom 8th Inning ---- Latroy Hawkins, the ex-Cub came in to pitch for Houston. The fielding crew manager just came out to talk to the umpire, but it looks like the game will continue through the lightning. The feed on ESPN froze for a few seconds as lightning appeared to strike within blocks of Wrigley Field. Lance Berkman sprinted straight in from 1st base to his dugout. Another rain delay..... don't fall asleep people. 

10:03

Well, the game was just officially cancelled. Cubs lose in a lame ending. Sorry folks. 

Astros 2 - Cubs 0