Mets Leave Cubs with Bad Taste, 18-5

The Cubs lost big and once again showed why I can't make a living as a prognosticator of sports events. I said the Cubs would win, and that Starlin Castro would continue a multi-hit game streak, and neither happened. In fact, the Cubs were murdered 18-5; it wasn't all because of the pitching, although the pitching was certainly part of it.

Carrie Muskat has posted an article titled "Dempster, bullpen roughed up by Mets."

Aramis Ramirez had a nice game. He hit another homer that was a two-run shot, and also got his 1,600^th hit. Tyler Colvin had a "break-even" day. He hit a triple but then, after catching a fly ball, he dropped the ball on the transfer and, as a result, runs were scored.

As Muskat reports, perhaps the most embarrassing moment involved rookie super-star Starlin Castro. He hit into a force out and, thinking that it was the third out, headed back to the dugout, where he was tagged out.

These are the types of errors that make up for the good hitting. Young players make young-player errors, although I read a lot more into Castro's error. This is not the first time that he didn't "have his head in the game." I was watching a couple of games ago when he was called off of a fly ball by center fielder Marlon Byrd. He stopped trying to catch it, but instead of getting out of the way like you are supposed to do, he just stood there and nearly prevented Byrd from making the catch.

Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster (12-10) was given a lead two times and was unable to hold it. This was his second poor outing in a row after having four solid wins in a row. As I've said before, this surprises me because Dempster, of all the Cubs players, has been very excited about Quade and the "new" Cubs' system, but has not done well recently. I have wondered if it has something to do with the fact that Dempster was pulled well before he should have been a couple of games ago. While he said he wasn't bothered by it because the Cubs won, Quade was actually pretty arrogant about the whole situation, and in fact, had I been Dempster ,I would not have been happy.

The Cubs entertain the Houston Astros starting today for a three-game series. We'll see how things go.

References:

Chicago Cubs' Website, Carrie Muskat, "Dempster, bullpen roughed up by Mets"