Cubs Pummel Moyer, Avoid Sweep

It was 0-0 through 3 against the Phillies Wednesday, with Carlos Zambrano on the hill mowing down Philadelphia batters, and I was thinking to myself, “Oh great, here we go again wasting another great pitching performance.”  And then the Cubs offense made me shut my mental piehole by striking for 4 in the top of the 4th.

What made that Cubs rally unique, and particularly satisfying, was that it went off without a single home run.  Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley – he of the retooled swing – hit three straight singles off Jamie Moyer to load the bases, and were knocked in by a fourth single, from Alfonso Soriano, and finally an extra-base hit, a three-run double from Jeff Baker.

The key to hitting Jamie Moyer would appear to be not overswinging, and that’s how the Cubs got after him, chasing him after five innings.  Zambrano would unfortunately end up losing the shutout, allowing 3 runs in the 5th and 6th to let Philly climb back into it.  But there would be no Philadelphia comeback today; the Cubs continued mauling the bullpen like they beat up Moyer, finishing the day with 10 runs on 13 hits and – the key stat for me – not a single home run.

Yeah, it’s a big deal for the Cubs to be able to score via singles and doubles.  This team gets over 40% of its runs from the long-ball, but unfortunately, is not a consistent power-hitting team, which is why it so often posts goose-eggs.  More games like yesterday’s will mean more wins.

And by the way, I’m not going to say Jamie Moyer should retire, but if he were on a team that didn’t score like Philly does?  He’d have to retire.