Giants v Cubs series finale postponed due to rain
Chicago Cubs manager, Mike Quade, was fully prepared to take on the San Francisco Giants pitcher par excellence Tim Lincecum. He shuffled up his line up in preparation by moving Blake DeWitt to fifth position and Reed Johnson to the sixth one.
Alfonso Soriano and Marlon Byrd got days off so space could be made for the other two. Unfortunately, his plans couldn’t come into play due to the rain that postponed the match.
The game will be made up for on June 28 at Wrigley Field as a part of a day-night doubleheader.
The Cubs haven’t been performing like a team, who want a chance at the Division Title. In the duration of five losses, the Cubs have left forty-five of their men on base and have gone seven for forty-three with runners perched on scoring positions.
"My sense is that there were more missed opportunities to score runs than anything else", Quade said. "If we're going to continue to struggle and if run production is going to be an issue right now, we need to play perfect baseball in other areas".
In the first game of the series, they were excellent against the reigning World Series Champions. Ryan Dempster changed his approach to a more authoritative one, which definitely paid off, given that the Cubs defeated the Giants 11-4. He set his season high
of striking out eleven and led his team to break their six game Wrigley Field losing streak.
"I think I'm probably a lot more aggressive", said Dempster, "For some reason, it felt like before I was trying not to lose the game rather than win it. I don't know the reason why and I don't really care what the reason is, but I went there today and attacked
the strike zone and got after guys".
He was excellent as he pitched six innings in which he sacrificed two runs off six hits effectively ending the Giants six game winning streak.
The second game went in favour of the Giants, who won 3-0 against Chicago. In this game, Ryan Vogelsong was the star, as he pitched six scoreless innings. In his first complete game since the season began he allowed seven hits and struck out an equal number
of players, while helping the Giants double play twice.
The Cubs made many errors throughout the game that contributed to the Giants victory over them.
The Cubs are going to continue with a two game set against the Florida Marlins before going on a seven game road swing, starting Monday (May 16, 2011). They will be playing against the Cincinnati Reds, the Marlins and the Boston Red Sox before returning
home to Wrigley Field to battle against the New York Mets.
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