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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2011 20:09:38 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Chicago Cubs (6-0) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (4-2)[/shadow]
CHC: Rich Harden (0-0, 0.00 ERA) PIT: Zach Grienke (0-1, 7.50 ERA)
The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates have gone through major renovations the past two seasons. Their reconstructed rosters make them two of the best teams in the PBL.
The Cubs have only four players remaining from their 2012 campaign. Starter Michael Bowden, infielder Jeff Baker, shortstop Anthony Hewitt, and center fielder Anthony Hicks. The rest of their roster has undergone major upgrades, filling the team with superstars. Of their five starters, four have an ERA under two, with big free agent signing Rich Harden joining last season's big trade pickup Brett Anderson with blank ERA's.
Former AL East stars Robinson Cano and Evan Longoria have hit well in the early going, while three-time Hank Aaron Award winner Prince Fielder has been the game's best hitter in the early going, crushing the Padres and Mets with five home runs, eight RBI's, and a .381 average to begin the year.
The Pirates have also added some star power, and will send Zach Grienke to the mound to face off against Harden in the matchup of two stud right handers. Grienke has struggled since winnign the Cy Young in 2011 and leading his Royals into the ALCS. He was tagged for five runs in six innings in his first start of the season against the Cardinals. His performances have to be better than that, and he was brought in specifically to shut down lineups like Chicago's.
He'll get help from Augusto Gomez if he has a lead. Gomez has three saves to start the season, and appears back from his torn elbow he suffered last season.
A few questions for each GM:
For Shane Callahan and Pittsburgh, the offense is rolling, with 23 runs over the last four games, and big bopper Matt Wieters is hitting .500 with two home runs in 18 at bats off of Rich Harden. How comfortable are you facing off against big-game Rich Harden?
Second, with Grienke's big name, and mediocre results, how much stock do you put into this game with the Cubs to see where he stands?
Finally, Prince Fielder has decimated the league. What's your strategy to limit his impact?
And for Garrett Cubbies, while Chicago's offense has destroyed the Mets and Padres, the Pirates represent a step up in class. How do you see your offense faring against Grienke?
On Sunday, Fielder was intentionally walked in an RBI spot in the 8th inning, but the offense still came through with Brian McCann singling in the go-ahead run, and Hilton Richardson producing a key sacrifice fly. Can you talk a little bit about Fielder's protection in the lineup?
Finally, Francisco Rodriguez made things interesting against the Mets, after blowing a save against San Diego. Are you concerned with his start to the season?
Of course, fans are more than welcome to stop by and chime in with their own questions and answers here on the PBL Game of the Week!
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Post by NickP_Marlins GM on May 28, 2011 20:35:04 GMT -5
Wow, great write up!
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2011 21:24:49 GMT -5
First off Erick I am really liking these game of the weeks! I really appreciate how much effort you put into making this league...well awesome!
"While Chicago's offense has destroyed the Mets and Padres, the Pirates represent a step up in class. How do you see your offense faring against Grienke?"
We did have a couple of great series against the Mets and Padres. I'm very impressed with how my guys came out opening day and made a statement against a very good young man in Sampson!
I know Shane has a great team in Pittsburgh we saw it first hand last year...I don't want to mention our record against them! Grienke hasn't been that dominate SP for a couple of years now but that's not to say he won't be in Pittsburg! Behind that line-up anyone can look good even if your sporting a 4+ era as he did in NY. That being said I think my line-up can have some success. We have some big lefties this year and they were brought in to handle business. Even though we are on the road and Pitt isn't as friendly as Wrigley we should be ok! Just keep that Taillon guy off the mound!
"On Sunday, Fielder was intentionally walked in an RBI spot in the 8th inning, but the offense still came through with Brian McCann singling in the go-ahead run, and Hilton Richardson producing a key sacrifice fly. Can you talk a little bit about Fielder's protection in the lineup?"
Well Prince is the protection...a one man wrecking crew ;D. In all seriousness though I think my line-up is very versatile. At the moment we have him surrounded by McCann and Cano against righties. Against lefties its Longo and Striech making the Prince sandwich. A big part of protection though is also getting guys on base in the one two hole. Richardson surprised me this first week...we almost went with Hicks leading off against righties as he is against left handers. My original plan was to start the season was a Hicks, Cano, Longo, Prince, McCann first five but Longo suffered against RHP last season so we moved him down. He is killing so far this year so we could see changes made if guys start struggling. Like I said I think we have a lot of versatility with the batting order and guys that play multiple positions. Adjustments are a part of the game if I think its something that needs to be addressed we will look into it!
"Finally, Francisco Rodriguez made things interesting on Sunday against the Mets, after blowing a save against San Diego. Are you concerned with his start to the season?"
I don't think we are to concerned about K-rod. He had a heck of a season for us last year after the acquisition from Detroit and moving him back to his original position CL. Its only the first week I don't expect Prince to hit a 100 HR's or us to remain undefeated! Baseball is filled with ups and downs our team is up right now, that's what matters most! K-rod will find his rhythm and if he falls I hope our guys pick him up like Tootle and Devine did last week.
I just want to say good luck to Shane this year. He's a great competitor/rival....I would talk smack about him but I got a lot of respect how he's really transformed this team with some brilliant moves!
Oh and thanks again Erick this was great!
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on May 28, 2011 21:47:47 GMT -5
I think this GOTW is going to be very interesting all season long... Well done...
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 6:52:49 GMT -5
Kenny, would you be able to get a recap of this game done and a preview of the next GotW? If not, I can get to it later today, but between a best friend's graduation and birthday; my own graduation; work and bbq's, I'm scrambling with my schedule until the end of the week
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 7:40:51 GMT -5
I've got time to write the recap, let me know if you need help.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 8:50:03 GMT -5
Game Recap:
The bucs bombarded Chicago's pitching staff which was led by stalwart Rich Harden, and doused the red hot Cubbies on a blustery afternoon in Pittsburgh today.
The game began well enough for the Cubs as their lead off man, RF Hilton Richardson, laced Zach Greinke's first pitch into center field. After SS Renaldo Navarro reached on an infield single, the Cubbies executed a risky double steal which gave them a huge opportunity to bounce Greinke in the opening stages of the contest. However, Greinke persevered and escaped the inning almost unscathed; only allowing a Sac fly from C Brian McCann.
Pittsburgh immediately answered in the bottom half when C Matt Wieters singled home LF Gerardo Parra.
Chicago phenom CF Aaron Hicks led off the top of the 2nd by roping a line drive through the 15 mph wind and over the right field wall. But once again, Greinke settled down and retired the bottom of the order.
Both pitchers seemed to find a groove at this point until Harden unraveled in the 5th. After two quick outs, 3B Pablo Sandoval singled up the middle. The crowd noise really got into the pitcher's dome while Wieter's was at the plate because, Harden made the mistake of going to his mouth while toeing the rubber, and the umpire called a balk!
After the disasterous mental error, Harden fell off the tracks and walked both Wieters and Tabata opeing the flood gates for 2B Miguel Arrendell who emptied the bases with a double down the right field line. Mark Reed added an RBI single before Harden hit the showers, and after 5 innings, the score was 5-3 Pirates.
The game was Greinke's to win at this point, and he held on for an Inning, but Chicago's big off-season aquisitions weren't going down without a fight! In the top of the 7th, Chicago leveled the score, with 1B Prince Fielder following McCann's single with a single of his own, plating Navarro to pull within one run. Longoria then knotted the game even at 5 when he singled home McCann.
In the bottom of the 7th, with Harden already chased from the mound, it was up to the Chicago's bullpen to keep them in the game. Unfortunately, the hits kept comin for the Bucs, who recevied a clutch, 3 run linedrive homerun from utility infielder Je d Lowrie, who entered the game as a pinch hitter.
At that point the score was 8-5 and the momentum had shifted back to the Pirates for good. They never looked back and piled on more runs with the final result being 12-5.
I have some questions for both GM's coming up shortly..
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 8:57:59 GMT -5
To Chicago's GM:
What can you make of Harden's erratic 5th inning, and is there anything you can do or say to him to help him bounce back for his next start?
Hicks's Homer was impressive to say the least, and he was one of your best performers today. Do you have any plans to move him up in the batting order?
Your bullpen struggled today, is this a cause of concern for you and do you plan on improving your pen during the year?
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 9:08:17 GMT -5
To Pittsburgh's GM:
Great comeback today! How much coinfidence does this win give your young ballclub considering it was against another elite NL squad?
Zack Greinke had another unimpressive outing today. It is early days still but is their any level of concern coming from the front office?
Is Jed Lowrie your go-to man in cluth pinch hitting situations?
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 9:19:32 GMT -5
Great effort by Rockies, Pads and Yankees on these game of the week previews/reviews, really detailed interesting stuff and can't wait for a Giants game!
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 9:34:41 GMT -5
What can you make of Harden's erratic 5th inning, and is there anything you can do or say to him to help him bounce back for his next start?Pittsburgh has a tough line-up what can I say. The Panda is a hitting machine that not to many people talked about last season....he definitely doesn't go unnoticed in the NL Central . We're not going to give Harden a pep talk or anything....he's a 32 yr old vet. He knows what he has to do to prepare better then we do. I'm just going to tell him to stay loose out there and have fun! We obviously want he's walks to go down but overall he's performed well so far this season. Hicks's Homer was impressive to say the least, and he was one of your best performers today. Do you have any plans to move him up in the batting order? Well I'm from the philosophy "if its not broke don't fix it" that said if guys fall off you could see changes made. Navarro is hitting .333 against RHP out of the 2 hole and Cano .343 with 3 bombs batting behind Prince. Hicks is a phenomenal player....trust me it hasn't gone unnoticed in my eyes! Since losing Brett Jackson early in 2012 in the "brick wall incident" Hicks came in and has completely taken over CF! Hicks is batting .273 with 1 HR right now against RHP so right now I like him where he is. Against LHP he's hitting over .400 and batting 1st in the order. I like what my team is doing right now....if things change it will be when we start loosing or the dreaded injury bug hits our team. Right now neither of those things have been happening. Your bullpen struggled today, is this a cause of concern for you and do you plan on improving your pen during the year?The bullpen is definitely a weak area on our team. I have a couple guys in AAA that could see some time if things don't change. The "Grinder" is a nice young Lefty that could see time in the show as well as Brooks Raley. We would be open for a trade but it seems that a nice young LH reliever is as pricey as SP these days....and as much as I would like to add to my pen I don't see us trading one of our Ace pitchers to add a bullpen arm! Great write up Sean! Even though we lost the game it was very interesting for me and I enjoyed it! I defiantly appreciate everyone's hard work being put into PBL...makes for a great way escape the real life for a bit ;D
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Post by AstrosGM_Shane on May 30, 2011 15:52:16 GMT -5
Hey great stuff Erick. Just got back from long weekend. Just read all of this. Will try and answer if can get some time here, but wanted to say great stuff. As of right now overall, Grienke and Cain trades are looking rough. Grienke is off to a bad start but I expect him to get into a groove. And Cain got friggin' hurt for the season . As far as handling the Cubbies, I don't have a clue. Their pitching is ridiculous.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 17:36:38 GMT -5
I've got time to write the recap, let me know if you need help. Sean, you're the man!
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 17:38:26 GMT -5
I've got time to write the recap, let me know if you need help. Sean, you're the man! No Problem, just hit me up with a PM if you need help again.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 17:42:42 GMT -5
Hey great stuff Erick. Just got back from long weekend. Just read all of this. Will try and answer if can get some time here, but wanted to say great stuff. As of right now overall, Grienke and Cain trades are looking rough. Grienke is off to a bad start but I expect him to get into a groove. And Cain got friggin' hurt for the season . As far as handling the Cubbies, I don't have a clue. Their pitching is ridiculous. Glad to see you back Shane...I thought you were gone but I was hoping you could share in the discussion of our first game of the week! If you would lighten up your line-up I wouldn't have to have a ridiculous rotation ;D
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