October 9, 200322 yr Matt Clement will start Game 4 against the Marlins, but Dusty Baker hasn't announced his Game 5 pitcher yet and has hinted it won't be Carlos Zambrano. Baker said the Cubs need more out of their other starters if they hope to win it all. Who else? Estes? I'll take Beckett against whoever they want to throw out there for Game 5. As a matter of fact, you could even take Pavs out of the bullpen & start him for Game 5. Then you'd have Josh Beckett in a Game 6 or 7 situation where you may need a win to clinch it. Game 3: Redman-Wood Game 4: Willis-Clement Game 5: Pavano-Zambrano/Estes/whoever Game 6: Beckett-Prior Game 7: Redman vs Wood I guess it depends on how games 3 & 4 turn out.
October 9, 200322 yr Willis better show up for game four. Not five good innings and then blow up (I know, he was running the bases. But I seem to remeber other games where he dominated for 5 or 6, then came unwound.) And no first-batter-of-the-inning-four-pitch-walks either. THAT, from a fan's perspective, is really frustrating. We need as many big innings as we can out of him.
October 9, 200322 yr maybe Prior in game 5 and Wood in game 6? just something i read about on a cubs website
October 9, 200322 yr maybe Prior in game 5 and Wood in game 6? just something i read about on a cubs website I think they want Wood for Game 7, but if they are down 3-1 you can pretty much look for Prior game 5. He is beatable and so is Wood, nothing big.
October 9, 200322 yr That's likely the only way it will happen, and maybe not even then. Baker is pretty steadfast about not pitching his guys on 3 days rest.
October 9, 200322 yr We will Clinch Sunday Believe Sunday would only put us up 3-1 in a 7 games series, right? We can't clinch Sunday.
October 9, 200322 yr We will Clinch Sunday Believe Sunday would only put us up 3-1 in a 7 games series, right? We can't clinch Sunday. assuming we win Friday, Saturday and we can clinch on sunday with a win because it will put us up in the series 4-1 with 2 games left. and impossible to win the series for the cubs.
October 10, 200322 yr ESPNEWS said earlier in the day Johnny B Baker ( dusty ) was thinking of bringing Prior and Wood back on 3 days... if this IS the case then leaving Prior in for 116 pitches seems even dumber.
October 10, 200322 yr he went 130 the game before. and he wasnt As sharp as usual even though he was great. on the three days rest i think we can reely get to him.
October 10, 200322 yr We have to face another Good pitcher (wood). We need to adjust to the speed and swing the bats earlier than you would against a slower pitcher. They just need to stay back and Think Fastball. If you Thing Curveball you will not hit anything he throws....Kerry is very wild along with Clement so we have a little advantage there. Like Bill Robinson Says " Be Patient and you will be more Succesful". Thats what they need to do in order to hit kerry wood. If not it will be another 10+ K's for Wood AGAIN! Lets get the First two on base and we'll be alright. I know it sounds confusing but....
October 10, 200322 yr Matt Clement will start Game 4 against the Marlins, but Dusty Baker hasn't announced his Game 5 pitcher yet and has hinted it won't be Carlos Zambrano. Baker said the Cubs need more out of their other starters if they hope to win it all. Who else? Estes? I'll take Beckett against whoever they want to throw out there for Game 5. As a matter of fact, you could even take Pavs out of the bullpen & start him for Game 5. Then you'd have Josh Beckett in a Game 6 or 7 situation where you may need a win to clinch it. Game 3: Redman-Wood Game 4: Willis-Clement Game 5: Pavano-Zambrano/Estes/whoever Game 6: Beckett-Prior Game 7: Redman vs Wood I guess it depends on how games 3 & 4 turn out. Woah, that's crazy talk, Baker! Zambrano isn't pitching game 5? How can that be, what's the reasoning? Zambrano pitched on Tuesday, the opening of the NLCS, and game 5 is Sunday. Tuesday to Sunday is 5 days, the normal rest for a starter. I guess Prior could pitch Sunday, but if that was the case why would you let him throw 118 in his previous start? Shawn Estes wasn't on the NLDS roster to my knowledge, I don't know if he's on the NLCS roster, but if he's getting the start in game 5, WTF could Baker be thinking? One question for Marlins fans: Does your team struggle against lefties? Because that is why Estes got his last regular season start - beacuse the Reds were poor against lefties. You guys must beat Clement on Saturday. He's been having groin problems so your speed guys need to force Clement to field a few bunts, hopefully reinjuring his groin. I'd bet that the Marlins will not see Estes at all, but rather Juan Cruz if Baker is not going to start Zambrano. Juan Cruz is like 140 pounds and while a better pitcher IMO than Estes, he's still worse than any of the other front-four Cubs starters.
October 10, 200322 yr bc2k, dusty is covering all the bases. if Prior feels good after 3 days rest he will start if hes not ready Zambrano or Cruz may start, same thing goes for Wood. hes just giving Jack some extra things to think about...
October 10, 200322 yr One question for Marlins fans: Does your team struggle against lefties? We hit as good as anybody in the league against lefties. Our whole lineup is right handed except pierre. Well, Castillo is a switch hitter but he kill lefties. So it wouldn't make much sense for Baker to use Estes.
October 10, 200322 yr As a matter of fact, you could even take Pavs out of the bullpen & start him for Game 5. Then you'd have Josh Beckett in a Game 6 or 7 situation where you may need a win to clinch it. Game 3: Redman-Wood Game 4: Willis-Clement Game 5: Pavano-Zambrano/Estes/whoever Game 6: Beckett-Prior Game 7: Redman vs Wood If Pavano isn't your best option to win, don't start him just because the Cubs are starting an inferior pitcher. Throw your best that day and go for the kill. We Sox fans experienced a chance to sweep the Yankees in Yankee Stadium with Mark Buehrle supposed to start the final game of that series. Our now ex-manager Jerry Manuel decided that since we've already won the series over such a great team, we might as well throw a rookie vs. the Yankees instead of Buehrle. This was not a phenom rookie like Dontrelle Willis, this was a kid making something like his third start of the season. Manuel held back Buehrle to face the Tigers! The Sox lost the third game to the Yankees with our rookie starter failing to get out of the second inning, and then lost Buehrle's start against the Tigers. Our losing continued and we nose-dived to the end of the season. Moral of the story: GO FOR THE KILL! LIVE AND DIE WITH YOUR BEST!
October 10, 200322 yr Does your team struggle against lefties? Because that is why Estes got his last regular season start - beacuse the Reds were poor against lefties. My friend, we hit lefties like a redheaded stepchild
October 10, 200322 yr One question for Marlins fans: Does your team struggle against lefties? We hit as good as anybody in the league against lefties. Our whole lineup is right handed except pierre. Well, Castillo is a switch hitter but he kill lefties. So it wouldn't make much sense for Baker to use Estes. farmer fran and CitanX, I think it's safe to say Shawn Estes will not be starting any game in this series. That leaves us with three options for game 5 listed in order most likely to happen IMO: Zambrano on normal rest; Juan Cruz; or Mark Prior on limited rest. (If Baker kept Prior under 100 pitches Wednesday, he would have been my second most likely option). Though the outcome of games 3 and 4 may have an effect on who Baker decides to pitch in game 5. If you guys win 3 and 4, would Baker really want Zambrano or Cruz pitching an elimination game? I've never even experienced your home field noise level on tv, so I'm looking forward to seeing that intangible giving the Marlins the edge.
October 10, 200322 yr Wins on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday would be 4 wins. Ah, I forgot about the Friday game.
October 10, 200322 yr Just wanted to add that the Tribune claims Dusty is thinking of going with Prior and Wood on short rest (and that means Clement in Game 7?) What do you guys think of that?
October 10, 200322 yr maybe Prior in game 5 and Wood in game 6? just something i read about on a cubs website I think they want Wood for Game 7, but if they are down 3-1 you can pretty much look for Prior game 5. He is beatable and so is Wood, nothing big. If Prior has to go on short rest I think the Marlins will be able to get to him; he threw 116 pitches in Game 2.
October 10, 200322 yr Author I didn't get Estes from anywhere, just was trying to think of who else they would throw out there (forgot about Cruz actually, I guess he'd be their emergency guy)... It was just because I'd read the first couple of lines from a Tribune article that mentioned "Baker has hinted he may not start Zambrano in Game 5, etc, etc..." and wondered who else he'd go with. Prior and Wood on short rest might be the answer though. If that happens it will most likely be because Florida is up 3-1, so either way I like our chances. And BC2K, the reason I brought up Pavano is that I'm wondering if he might not be a better option than Brad Penny at this point, who's had 2 awful playoff outings in a row now. Pavano for the most part has been steady this season, almost never walks anyone, & really has impressed Marlins fans the way he's stepped up. He leads the team in quality starts, which has more to do with being healthy than anything else, but also shows on most nights he will keep his team in the game. That's what I'm looking for. Looks like Pavs is getting lots of work out of the pen though, so it's not likely he'll start. Maybe the next time Penny starts, Jack should just have a quicker hook if he gets into trouble, & throw Pavs in there ASAP.
October 10, 200322 yr If Prior and Wood go on short rest, then they will very likely have subpar performances. They have both been pitching a ridiculous amount of pitches lately, especially Prior, and if they go on short rest, they would not be themselves. Prior will only go on short rest if the cubs are desperate and lost games 3 and 4, but if Wood procedes to lose tonight, it's likely that this pateint marlin team could just as easily beat him again. As long as wood doesnt dominate though, the marlins are in good shape.
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