Cincinnati (56-71) at Chi Cubs (77-49)

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cin

Reds eyeing defensive improvement

Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
The Reds know they need to improve their defense to become a successful team. The club entered Wednesday night ranked 14th out of 16 National League teams with a .981 team fielding percentage. Cincinnati's 90 errors were third most in the league.
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Reds probable pitcher

Josh Fogg

  • #33 RHP
  • (2-5) 7.71 ERA 38 SO
Reds: Fogg pitched two scoreless innings of relief in Saturday's loss to St. Louis, resulting in his spot in the rotation being pushed back to Friday. It was later bumped back a day to Thursday due to neck spasms suffered by Aaron Harang, who will pitch on Friday. Fogg seemed headed for a good outing on Wednesday vs. the Pirates, retiring 12 of 14 batters through his first four scoreless innings. It fell apart during a four-run fifth inning, when he threw 33 pitches in a 5-2 loss. Fogg lost command of the strike zone and gave up all four runs and two critical walks in the fifth. There were six hits overall, with two strikeouts. He is winless over his past four starts since being drilled in the face by a batting-practice line drive.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 62-65 5.06 1100.1 374 593 .288
Season 2-5 7.71 65.1 24 38 .307
August 0-2 7.31 16.0 7 9 .313
Vs. Chi Cubs 0-1 40.50 2.0 2 3 .538

Series at a Glance

Standings - 08/21/2008 W L PCT GB Home Away
Cincinnati Reds (NL Central) 56 71 .441 21.5 32-33 24-38
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 77 49 .611 - 46-18 31-31
Stats - 08/21/2008 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
CIN .245 535 145 513 70 875 4.60 1131.1 1217 428 966
CHC .280 678 142 644 71 915 3.73 1135.1 1031 415 986
chc

Marmol turning to fastball for results

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Carlos Marmol isn't superstitious and isn't keeping a lucky rabbit's foot in his pocket. He's just throwing fastballs. The Cubs setup pitcher has not given up a run since the All-Star break, a span of 16 innings over 15 games.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Carlos Zambrano

  • #38 RHP
  • (12-5) 3.38 ERA 107 SO
Cubs: Zambrano did not get a decision in his last outing, against the Marlins. He gave up five runs on four hits and five walks over six innings. The right-hander appears to be rushing his delivery, especially with runners on base; four of the five batters he walked scored. Zambrano is winless in his past three starts, and Cubs manager Lou Piniella says his ace needs to get back on track. He's 3-0 against the Reds this year.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 94-60 3.41 1350.1 601 1149 .228
Season 12-5 3.38 157.0 53 107 .243
August 0-1 8.80 15.1 7 11 .274
Vs. Cincinnati 3-0 1.17 23.0 4 13 .150

Reds hitters vs Carlos Zambrano

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Alonso, Yonder - - - - - - - -
Balentien, Wladimir - - - - - - - -
Bruce, Jay .000 3 0 0 .167 6 1 1
Dickerson, Chris - - - - .500 2 0 0
Francisco, Juan - - - - - - - -
Gomes, Jonny - - - - - - - -
Hanigan, Ryan - - - - - - - -
Heisey, Chris - - - - - - - -
Hernandez, Ramon - - - - .167 6 0 0
Janish, Paul - - - - - - - -
Phillips, Brandon .000 9 0 0 .229 35 1 4
Rolen, Scott - - - - .205 39 2 4
Rosales, Adam - - - - .000 1 0 0
Stubbs, Drew - - - - - - - -
Sutton, Drew - - - - - - - -
Taveras, Willy - - - - .174 23 0 1
Valaika, Chris - - - - - - - -
Votto, Joey .250 8 0 1 .353 17 0 1

Cubs hitters vs Josh Fogg

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff .667 3 1 2 .667 3 1 2
Blanco, Andres - - - - - - - -
Bradley, Milton - - - - .300 10 0 1
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - - - - -
Fontenot, Mike .000 2 0 0 .000 4 0 1
Fox, Jake - - - - - - - -
Fukudome, Kosuke 1.000 2 0 2 .500 4 0 2
Fuld, Sam - - - - - - - -
Hill, Koyie - - - - - - - -
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - - - - -
Lee, Derrek 1.000 2 1 1 .438 32 3 8
Miles, Aaron .000 1 0 0 .300 10 0 1
Ramirez, Aramis - 0 0 0 .345 29 4 16
Soriano, Alfonso - - - - .300 10 1 1
Soto, Geovany .500 2 0 2 .500 2 0 2
Theriot, Ryan .500 2 0 0 .400 10 0 0

Big Z puts on a show in rubber match (56-72) (78-49)

Cubs 3, Reds 2

Offense stymied

Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
The Reds went deep twice in the series finale against the Cubs on long balls by Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Unfortunately, both were solo shots, as the Reds were held to fewer than three runs for the third consecutive game.

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Reds Wrap >

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Series at a Glance

 

Another series win

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Thanks in large part to ace Carlos Zambrano, who allowed just one run in seven innings and extended his hitting streak to seven games with his fourth homer of the year, the Cubs notched their seventh straight series win.
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Cubs Wrap >

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Cubs 3, Reds 2

CincinnatiABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Dickerson, LF2010202.344
Keppinger, SS4000004.262
Bruce, RF4111001.257
Phillips, B, 2B3000101.267
Votto, 1B4131011.281
Encarnacion, 3B4000012.247
Patterson, CF3010101.196
Bako, C4010022.213
Fogg, P1000010.105
  a-Rosales, PH1000000.143
  Masset, P0000000.000
  b-Cabrera, J, PH1000001.327
  Lincoln, P0000000.000
  c-Valentin, Ja, PH1000010.252
Totals322724615 

a-Reached on error for Fogg in the 5th. b-Flied out for Masset in the 7th. c-Struck out for Lincoln in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Patterson (13, Zambrano, C).
HR: Bruce (13, 6th inning off Zambrano, C, 0 on, 1 out), Votto (15, 8th inning off Marmol, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Dickerson; Bruce 4; Votto 6; Patterson 2; Bako.
RBI: Bruce (35), Votto (55).
2-out RBI: Votto.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Phillips, B; Bako; Dickerson; Keppinger.
GIDP: Keppinger.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
SB: Votto (5, 2nd base off Zambrano, C/Blanco, H).
CS: Patterson (7, 2nd base by Zambrano, C/Blanco, H), Phillips, B (8, 2nd base by Zambrano, C/Blanco, H).

FIELDING
DP: 3 (Votto-Keppinger, Keppinger-Phillips, B-Votto 2).
 
Chi CubsABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Soriano, LF2100210.288
Theriot, SS4020001.315
Lee, 1B3000012.289
Ramirez, A, 3B3010001.287
Edmonds, CF3000022.232
DeRosa, 2B3111011.281
Fukudome, RF3000011.265
Blanco, H, C3010000.293
Zambrano, C, P2111001.361
  Marmol, P0000000.000
  a-Fontenot, PH1000000.286
  Wood, P0000000.000
Totals27362269 

a-Flied out for Marmol in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Ramirez, A (35, Fogg).
HR: DeRosa (15, 2nd inning off Fogg, 0 on, 1 out), Zambrano, C (4, 3rd inning off Fogg, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Theriot 2; Ramirez, A 2; DeRosa 4; Blanco, H; Zambrano, C 4.
RBI: DeRosa (73), Zambrano, C (13).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Fukudome.
GIDP: Lee; Zambrano, C; Theriot.
Team LOB: 2.

FIELDING
E: Theriot (12, throw).
PB: Blanco, H (3).
DP: 2 (Theriot-DeRosa-Lee, Blanco, H-Theriot).
 
CincinnatiIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Fogg (L, 2-6)4.04331427.66
Masset 2.02000104.07
Lincoln 2.00001104.01
 
Chi CubsIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Zambrano, C (W, 13-5)7.06114413.29
Marmol (H, 24)1.01110012.86
Wood (S, 26)1.00000202.61

WP: Fogg.
Pitches-strikes: Fogg 60-41, Masset 19-14, Lincoln 23-14, Zambrano, C 105-59, Marmol 14-8, Wood 18-12.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fogg 2-6, Masset 3-2, Lincoln 2-3, Zambrano, C 10-5, Marmol 0-3, Wood 1-0.
Batters faced: Fogg 16, Masset 7, Lincoln 6, Zambrano, C 29, Marmol 4, Wood 3.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Todd Tichenor. 2B: Larry Vanover. 3B: Tim McClelland.
Weather: 74 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, In from RF.
T: 2:14.
Att: 40,730.
August 21, 2008

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner