B4B Headin’ to Wrigley!
Biking for Baseball is headed to venerable Wrigley Field to see their 19th stadium this summer as the Cubs take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. The suddenly hot Cubs improved to an NL-best 12-3 at home in the last month after taking 2 of 3 from the Cards this weekend. Yesterday’s game was a highlight with rookie Anthony Rizzo hitting his first career walk-off home run to give the Cubs a 4-2 victory in the 10th inning.
Taking the mound for the Cubs tonight is long relief man Justin Germano making a spot start, his first since Oct. 3, 2010 when he was a member of the Cleveland Indians. Tonight’s start will be only his third appearance on the mound this season after he came over in a trade with the Red Sox last week.
Erik Bedard counters for the Pirates, who enter today 3 games back from the red-hot Reds for first place in the NL Central, but definitely in the thick of things for the two-team wildcard this season. The Pirates haven’t finished above .500 or made the playoffs since 1992 when they had some guy named Barry Bonds roaming left field. When Bonds left, the Pirates endured a 20-year stretch of futility before recently accumulating a core group of young players who have energized the great fan base of Pittsburgh.
Andrew McCutchen is having an MVP-type season for the Pirates, batting .368 with a 191 OPS+. The 25 year old phenom is a big reason why the Pirates are where they are in the standings. The Pirates have also benefited from a career year from James McDonald and the resurgence of A.J. Burnett. Both starters give the Pirates a good chance to win the game every time they take the mound. And finally they have All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan locking it down the ninth innings, which helps to explain how the Pirates have the most wins in the majors in 1-run games, with a record of 23-16. That alone could be the difference between a .500 team and a playoff team.
The Cubs are in fifth place in the NL Central, but their young talent, recent surge in wins, and new Cubs exec Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer have made fans excited about the future of the franchise. With Epstein running things, the Cubs have already shown a much different approach to player signings and trades than under previous GM Jim Hendry.
The Cubs boast an infield of promising players that includes Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, and Darwin Barney. Bryan LaHair is having a decent season, and the regrettable contract of Alfonso Soriano doesn’t AS BAD as it usually does this time of year. Soriano has 19 home runs, a 123 OPS+, and he is actually providing above average production, so they’ve got that going for them.
The Cubs are definitely on the upswing, and the only thing that can make watching the Cubs at historic Wrigley Field better than it already is, is watching the Cubs win many games at historic Wrigley Field.