It’s Not Bad Luck, Cubs Just Suck! Incredible Dodgers Go For Wrigley Field Sweep

Dodgers lineup vs. Chicago

Stephen Fife-3-3 vs. Carlos Villanueva-2-7

Doesn’t it seem like this series has been forever? I feel like the Dodgers have been at Wrigley playing the terrible Cubs since last Tuesday. The series ends today with the final game of the four game series. The Dodgers looking for a four game sweep of the lowly Cubs at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. The last time the Dodgers swept the Cubs in a four game series at Wrigley Field was 1988. We all know what happened that season. The win yesterday gave the Dodgers a franchise record 13 consecutive road wins. The Dodgers will be going after the major league record of 16 in a row. The Dodgers have now won 30 of their last 37 games. This is the greatest stretch of Dodger Baseball in team history. This is Just incredible. The Dodgers are entering uncharted territory. This whole season has seemed like the uncharted waters right?

Wrigley Field sure is a strange and unusual ball park. I would love to see a game there one day, but it’s like stepping into a time warp. The Ivy on the walls, the brick wall, the rooftop seats. Wrigley Field is a very unique place. All the same I’ll be glad to see the Dodgers moving on. The Dodgers were barely even trying and still won the series. The Cubs don’t have 100 years of futility for nothing you know.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Stephen Fife (59)

The only worry we have at the moment is Yasiel Puig’s bruised thumb. Puig jammed his left thumb while making a great diving catch on a fly ball in the seventh inning of yesterday’s 3-0 Dodger win. Puig was reportedly seen wearing a soft brace on the hand while in the clubhouse. Don Mattingly said Puig was day-to-day and they weren’t sure if he would play today or not. The injury doesn’t appear to be serious, and no x-rays were needed. The Dodgers may just choose to rest him until Monday when the team begins a four game series in St. Louis against the Cardinals.

The Dodgers are going to have to announce a roster move this morning if Stephen Fife is going to be activated from the disabled list today so he can pitch. The logical move would be to DFA the atrocious Carlos Marmol, who used to be a Cub of course. I would be wary of any pitcher the Cubs released, but I wonder what the end game is with this Marmol experiment? He isn’t very good, the bullpen is already crowded enough as it is, and it’s just not worth risking these remaining games down the stretch when the team is trying to win the division. Just let him go Dodgers. The other option is to option Chris Withrow or Scott Van Slyke down to Albuquerque because they both have options. That would be a mistake though because the bullpen has been taxed the last few games and the Dodgers are probably going to need to Withrow to pitch this afternoon. Unless Fife goes nine, and that’s unlikely.

It’s kind of difficult to write these pregamers when the Dodgers don’t officially announce the starter until two hours before game time. I’m going to just assume that Fife will be starting. Fife who is returning from shoulder bursitis has never faced the Cubs before or pitched at Wrigley Field. Fife hasn’t pitched since the first week of July and is 0-3 with a 3.16 ERA on the road. Overall Fife is 3-3 with a 2.76 ERA. He’s done well at limiting base runners and has whiffed 35 and walked only 12. The improved control is a huge reason for his recent success.

The Cubs will counter with right hander Carlos Villanueva. The 29 year old Dominican right hander was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in January and hasn’t been as bad as you may think. On the season he is 2-7 with a 4.33 ERA. He has allowed 8.7 hits per nine innings, and whiffed 72 and walked 32 in 95 frames. He has been a spot starter, starting 13 of his 29 games. He’s been quite horrendous against the Dodgers in his career. He’s started one game and pitched in seven. His record is 1-2 but his ERA is an astronomically high 11.45. He’s allowed 15 runs to the Dodgers in just 11 innings, and walked eight and struck out four. That’s pretty pretty bad. At Wrigley Field he is 2-5 with a 4.23 ERA in 23 games. The Dodgers are batting .246 with four home runs against Villanueva. Check out the rest of the numbers the Boys in Blue have put up versus Villanueva.

PA

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

21

21

6

1

0

1

1

0

3

.286

.286

.476

15

15

3

1

1

0

0

0

4

.200

.200

.400

9

8

2

1

0

1

2

1

3

.250

.333

.750

8

8

4

0

0

1

2

0

0

.500

.500

.875

6

6

2

0

0

1

2

0

1

.333

.333

.833

5

4

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

.000

.200

.000

3

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

.000

.333

.000

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

.000

.000

.000

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.000

.000

.000

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.000

.000

.000

Total

72

69

17

3

1

4

7

3

15

.246

.278

.493

Choke Cubs choke, what a joke. Hey Chicago have no fear, Just wait until next year. It’s not bad luck, the Cubs just suck! Na na na na na, na na na na…..Na na na…..Cubs just suck!….

Oh sorry, that song is catchy. Gets in my head. Anyways, the Dodgers are now 11 games above .500 with a 60-49 record. Arizona lost last night to Boston so the Dodgers are now 4.5 games ahead in the NL West. The Dodgers will be trying to pad that lead today with a sweep of the Cubs. The Dodgers need to take advantage fully and stock up on these wins before the Cardinal series which is going to be tough. We’ll go ahead and update this pregamer when we find out what the Dodger’s corresponding roster move will be once Fife is officially activated this morning.

Game time will be at 11:20 AM today. So grab those cups of coffee and make some eggs. Pull up a chair and join us for some early morning Dodger Baseball, as the Dodgers finish their last game at Wrigley Field for the year. Join us over here after the game where we will have our usual Dodger recap. Go Blue.