Results tagged ‘ Jeff Samardzija ’

5/30 Looking ahead

Following the Interleague series against the White Sox, the Cubs play host to the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. Here are the pitching matchups:

Friday: RHP Matt Garza (0-0, 4.00) vs. LHP Wade Miley (3-4, 4.53)
Saturday: RHP Jeff Samardzija (3-6, 2.85) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (2-3, 4.70)
Sunday: RHP Edwin Jackson (1-7, 6.11) vs. LHP Patrick Corbin (8-0, 1.71)

5/27 Cubs 7, White Sox 0

Jeff Samardzija threw a career-best two-hitter Monday night to lead the Cubs to a 7-0 victory over the White Sox Monday night. Julio Borbon smacked his first home run and Anthony Rizzo hit a double, a triple and drove in two runs to back the right-hander, who collected his second complete game and first career shutout.

Samardzija struck out eight. He gave up a leadoff single to Conor Gillaspie in the third, and got Jeff Keppinger to ground into a double play. Alexei Ramirez also singled with two outs in the ninth.

This was the first of four Interleague games to be played between the intracity rivals in a new format in which the Cubs and White Sox will play two games at U.S. Cellular, then two at Wrigley Field.

5/26 Cubs vs. White Sox

The Cubs return to Interleague action on Monday when they face their intracity rivals, the White Sox, at U.S. Cellular Field. This year, the Cubs and White Sox will play a four-game, home-and-away series back to back rather than six games. The Cubs are 2-1 in three games against the AL so far, with 14 Interleague games remaining, including 10 against AL West opponents.

* The Cubs own a 109-128 (.460) all-time record in Interleague play, dating to 1997.

* Here are the pitching matchups for Cubs vs. White Sox:

Monday: RHP Jeff Samardzija (2-6, 3.25) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (3-1, 3.48)
Tuesday: RHP Edwin Jackson (1-7, 6.11) vs. LHP Chris Sale (5-2, 2.53)
Wednesday: RHP Scott Feldman (4-4, 2.80) vs. LHP John Danks (0-0, 4.50)
Thursday: LHP Travis Wood (4-3, 2.73) vs. RHP Jake Peavy (6-2, 2.97)

* The Cubs will play Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field and Wednesday at Wrigley Field, marking the first time they’ll play the same team in different ballparks on consecutive days since April 1990. In that year, the Cubs and Mets played at Wrigley Field, April 16, followed by a game at Shea Stadium the next day. The game played at Wrigley was a make-up game because of the lockout of 1990.

– Carrie Muskat

5/23 Cubs vs. Reds

The Cubs open a three-game series against the Reds on Friday. Here are the pitching matchups:

Friday: RHP Scott Feldman (4-3, 2.19) vs. RHP Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 3.28)
Saturday: LHP Travis Wood (4-2, 2.24) vs. RHP Homer Bailey (2-3, 3.09)
Sunday: RHP Matt Garza (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Johnny Cueto (2-0, 3.22)

* If you’re looking ahead to the Cubs vs. White Sox Interleague series, Chicago will go with Jeff Samardzija on Monday, Edwin Jackson on Tuesday, Feldman on Wednesday and Wood on Thursday.

5/22 Pirates 1, Cubs 0

On Opening Day, Jeff Samardzija held the Pirates to two hits over eight scoreless innings and picked up the win. Pittsburgh got that many hits in the first inning alone on Wednesday, which was just enough.

Garrett Jones smacked a RBI single in the first to back Francisco Liriano, who struck out nine over seven innings, and lift the Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the Cubs.

Samardzija was the winning pitcher on April 1 at PNC Park in the Cubs’ 3-1 victory but took the loss on Wednesday. It was his first defeat in 15 career games (four starts) against the Pirates, and first loss in nine games (four starts) in Pittsburgh. The right-hander did strike out eight and scattered three hits over seven innings.

In the Pirates’ first, Andrew McCutchen doubled with two outs and scored on Jones’ single. That was all Liriano needed.

The Cubs have struggled with runners in scoring position, and failed again in the third. Chicago loaded the bases with none out but Julio Borbon hit into a fielder’s choice, forcing the runner at home, then Starlin Castro struck out, and Anthony Rizzo flew out to right.

Chicago entered the game batting .218 with runners in scoring position, worst in the National League, and went 0-for-6 for the game.

– Carrie Muskat

5/22 Cubs lineup

The Cubs face another left-hander Wednesday in Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano. Julio Borbon gets another start in center as well. Here’s the lineup:

Borbon CF
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
Soriano LF
Hairston RF
Castillo C
Ransom 3B
Barney 2B
Samardzija p

5/15 Post-game notes

* Anthony Rizzo picked up his 20th extra-base hit of the season with a double in the first. He is batting .392 since April 26 with nine doubles, three home runs, 16 RBIs.

* Jeff Samardzija picked up his first win since Opening Day, ending a five-game losing streak. His two-run homer was the first by a Cubs pitcher since Travis Wood did so Aug. 28 against the Brewers.

* David DeJesus notched his 500th career RBIs with his first inning home run.

* The Cubs have 24 doubles in the last six games, and lead the Majors with 92 doubles.

* Darwin Barney made a great defensive play in the fourth when he snared Carlos Gonzalez’s hard hit ball up the middle and threw in time to first.

“The one thing you do with Barney on defense is you don’t worry about it,” Dale Sveum said. “He’s either going to make a great play, and he never messes up any routine plays, even the pivot around second base.”

* Matt Garza makes a Minor League rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Iowa.

“It’s only going to get better when we get him back here,” Samardzija said. “Obviously, we want him to be healthy and that’s the most important thing.”

– Carrie Muskat

5/15 Cubs 6, Rockies 3

Check the standings. The Cubs are no longer in last place in the NL Central.

Jeff Samardzija smacked a two-run home run and struck out seven over eight innings to pick up his first win since April 1 and lead the Cubs to a 6-3 victory over the Rockies at Wrigley Field. David DeJesus hit a leadoff homer in the first to help the Cubs take the series and back Samardzija, who raised his season strikeout total to 64, which ranks among the top five in the National League.

Samardzija needed a win. This is the right-hander’s second full season as a starter, and he’s still going through some growing pains.

“He used the whole four corners of the plate,” Dale Sveum said. “He pitched up, he pitched in, he pitched away, used his slider, used his split, used a lot of cutters tonight. He used his whole repertoire tonight. He knew what he was doing tonight; he was pitching.”

Samardzija got off to a good start, needing just nine pitches to get through the first. He got some more help from DeJesus, who opened the Chicago half with his fifth home run and 14th career leadoff homer. The Rockies tied the game in the second but Samardzija answered in the Cubs half. With two outs, Darwin Barney doubled and Samardzija launched the first pitch from Jon Garland into the left-field bleachers for his second career home run and a 3-1 lead.

“That was huge at that time,” Sveum said. “For him to come through and pick us up like that was huge.”

Said Garland: “He’s a good athlete, a pretty good player. It was a cutter out over the plate. It was the first pitch and I was trying to get it over the plate. He was looking off-speed and got it.”

Samardzija’s other home run was Sept. 23, 2009, against the Brewers.

“I need to slow down around the bases and enjoy it a little bit,” Samardzija said of his fast-paced trot. “It doesn’t happen too often. We work a lot on hitting. [Pitching coach Chris] Bosio has us out there hitting every day in the cages. In the National League, it’s an important at-bat. There in the sixth when I got that bunt down, those are important plays in the game and we ended up putting up a three-spot. You can’t accept the out as a pitcher.”

The Cubs added three more runs in the seventh. They’ve now won back to back series for the first time this season.

“We’re playing great baseball and not shooting ourselves in the foot and we’re just looking to keep it going, keep the momentum going that we’ve built up in the last couple weeks,” Samardzija said. “It’s exciting now, it’s exciting in the locker room and fun to play with these guys.”

– Carrie Muskat

5/15 Cubs lineup

Luis Valbuena is back in the Cubs’ lineup for the series finale against the Rockies. Jeff Samardzija will be on the mound, looking for his first win since Opening Day. Here’s the lineup:

DeJesus CF
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
Soriano LF
Schierholtz RF
Valbuena 3B
Navarro C
Barney 2B
Samardzija P

* Anthony Rizzo has not struck out in his last 28 at-bats dating to the sixth inning, May 7, vs. the Cardinals. It’s the second-longest active stretch in the Majors without a strikeout, trailing only the Orioles’ J.J. Hardy, who has not fanned in his last 31 at-bats (thanks to STATS Inc. for the info).

Rizzo was batting .380 (21-for-71) with eight doubles, three homers, 15 RBIs and a 1.056 OPS in his last 18 games dating to April 26. He has struck out eight times in that stretch. Prior to this 18-game span, he batted .173 (14-for-81) in his first 21 games to open the season with 26 Ks. His .380 batting average since April 26 is fourth-highest in the National League.

– Carrie Muskat

5/15 Rizzo on hair, Theo & Jed, & more

Anthony Rizzo appeared on MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” and revealed that he had to borrow a belt, that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are his “step parents,” and he’s jealous of Jeff Samardzija’s hair. During the interview with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose, Rizzo was asked for his first response when told the Cubs wanted to give him a long term contract.

“[I said] ‘Where do I sign?’” Rizzo said.

He did sign a seven-year, $41 million deal on Monday but apparently had to borrow a belt from teammate Ryan Sweeney for the news conference.

Epstein, Hoyer and Jason McLeod, the scouting and player development director, first selected Rizzo in the 2007 Draft. Then Hoyer traded for him when he and McLeod went to the Padres. Epstein, Hoyer and McLeod were reunited on the Cubs, and traded for Rizzo again. Does the first baseman have a man crush on Epstein and Hoyer?

“Those are my step parents, to be honest, Jed, Theo and Jason,” Rizzo said. “They brought me along on their ride. I think I have a crush on them more now.”

Millar and Rose wanted to know who has the best hair on the Cubs. Rizzo said it’s not him.

“[Samardzija] and [James] Russell have the best hair on the team so far,” Rizzo said.

He may like the locks, but during a quick Q&A, Rizzo couldn’t spell Samardzija’s name.

– Carrie Muskat

« older posts | back to blog home | newer posts »
Theme: MLB “pro” | Get a free blog at WordPress.com
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 205 other followers