Cubs Drop Opener to Cardinals; Milton Bradley Gets Booted

We’re only in the second week of the season, and already, both our worst nightmares about Milton Bradley have been partially realized.  Last week, Bradley fulfilled the first part of the double-header of dread – injury proneness – by coming up lame against Milwaukee and having to leave.  Bradley would sit out the next couple of games, and wasn’t in to start on Thursday against the Cardinals in Wrigley.  Bradley was available to pinch-hit however, and got a chance in the bottom of the 6th when he came in for Aaron Heilman.  That was when the second half of the double-header reared its head:  Bradley was called out on a borderline 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, blew up at the umpire and was ejected.

So Bradley looks to be exactly as advertised, unreliable physically and mentally.  Not that he could’ve helped the Cubs today anyway:  the Cardinals pounded out 12 hits and 7 runs against starter Sean Marshall and the inconsistent bullpen, while the Cubs offense managed just 6 knocks against Adam Wainwright et al.  Luckily, one of those knocks was a three-run homer by the Cubs’ best hitter so far this season, Kosuke Fukudome.  The Cardinals would ultimately win 7-4, going to 8-3 on the season while dropping the Cubs to their second straight defeat.  The story of the day, however, was Bradley, who has to now be considered a major question mark for this club, both for health and temperamental reasons.