Hoge: Cubs Were Handed One Last Night By Brewers
By Adam Hoge-
CHICAGO (CBS) First off, let me say I have been impressed by the Cubs fight the last two nights against the first-place Brewers.
With that said, the Brewers had no business losing either of those games. Especially last night.
Ron Roenicke is in his first year managing in the big leagues and for the most part, I've been impressed with the way he has handled a team that has been begging to break out for a few years now.
Unfortunately, last night was not one to remember for Roenicke.
Why wasn't LaTroy Hawkins pitching in the eighth inning instead of Marco Estrada? Hawkins (0.55 ERA this season) hadn't pitched in nearly a week and has a much better track record than the young Estrada (4.65 ERA). It was a 4-1 game so you are going to need closer John Axford in the ninth anyway, so why not go with Hawkins in the eighth? He was obviously available because he ended up pitching in the ninth after Estrada blew the lead.
Then there was that mess in the 10th inning. Why did Roenicke have Tim Dillard – a side-armed righty – pitching against three straight lefties?
I don't want to take anything away from Aramis Ramirez, Tony Campana and Starlin Castro who came up with three big hits, but they never should have been facing the pitchers they were facing in the first place.
Again, great win by the Cubs last night, but did they really need to celebrate like they won the World Series?
Mike Quade claims Tony Campana is the fastest runner in the league. Campana responded by challenging any player in the league to a race. Do I smell a Tony Campana-Brent Lillibridge prop bet for the Crosstown Classic next week at U.S. Cellular Field?
Shout out to the Minnesota Twins officials and the umpires at Target Field last night for postponing the game as quick as they did. It was obvious around 5:30 p.m. that it was going to rain all night long and they had that thing called after only an hour rain delay.
Speaking of the Twins, they can't buy a break. Justin Morneau is now on the disabled list, which means the White Sox won't see Morneau, Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel or Denard Span the next two days. Those are four guys who kill the White Sox. If the Sox don't leave Minnesota without two victories it would be a disappointment.
If the Bruins can pull off the win in Vancouver tonight then all should be right in Chicago. Sure, it's a meatball move to root against the team that knocked your team out of the playoffs, but it's excusable when that team is so classless that the entire country is rooting against them too. The Heat already lost and the Canucks could be next.
Finally, I shared this on Twitter yesterday, but this is why golf doesn't need Tiger Woods anymore. Get to know the new age of golf. These guys are awesome:
Do you agree with Adam? Post your comments below.
Adam is the Sports Content Producer for CBSChicago.com and specializes in coverage of the White Sox, Blackhawks and college sports. He was born and raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep before going off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Journalism degree. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHogeCBS and read more of his columns here.
