Chi Cubs (2-1) at Milwaukee (1-2)

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chc

Out to prove: Harden begins his season

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Rich Harden has heard all of the different diagnoses of his right shoulder. He wants to show the Cubs and everyone else that nothing is wrong.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Rich Harden

  • #40 RHP
  • (0-0) -.-- ERA 0 SO
Harden moved to Arizona this offseason so he could rehab with the Cubs staff, and the extra effort appears to have paid off. The only thing that has slowed him was some bad chicken salad. A bout with food poisoning resulted in Harden losing seven pounds and missing one spring start. The Cubs have been careful with him, making sure he has plenty of time to strengthen his shoulder. Last year marked the first time he faced the Brewers, and he was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 41-20 3.23 612.2 262 612 .216

Series at a Glance

Standings - 04/10/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 2 1 .667 - 0-0 2-1
Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central) 1 2 .333 1.0 0-0 1-2
Stats - 04/10/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
CHC .282 17 5 17 2 22 3.62 27.1 29 10 20
MIL .208 11 2 10 4 27 6.84 25.0 30 12 20
mil

Brewers host Cubs in 2009 home opener

Rick Eymer / MLB.com
Braden Looper, who had a setback during Spring Training because of an oblique injury, takes the mound in the Brewers' home opener.
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Brewers probable pitcher

Braden Looper

  • #41 RHP
  • (0-0) -.-- ERA 0 SO
Looper has been on a fast track to this start -- Milwaukee's home opener -- leaving him a bit behind the rest of the starters in terms of arm strength. He was set back by about two weeks, beginning Feb. 28, when he strained a muscle at the back of his left rib cage. He didn't make his first Cactus League appearance until March 26, and in his two official games surrendered seven earned runs on 14 hits in six innings. He made his finale tuneup in Minor League camp. The Brewers signed Looper to a one-year deal to deepen a starting rotation that lost CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency, and he'll be counted on as an innings-eater, but he needs to find the sink on his fastball in order to be effective. In his final official exhibition game against the Padres, he faced 22 hitters and induced only five ground balls.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 58-58 3.93 981.1 309 569 .268

Cubs hitters vs Braden Looper

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff - - - - .333 3 0 1
Blanco, Andres - - - - 1.000 1 0 0
Bradley, Milton - - - - .250 8 2 3
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - 1.000 1 0 1
Fontenot, Mike - - - - .250 16 0 1
Fox, Jake - - - - .250 4 0 0
Fukudome, Kosuke - - - - .333 24 1 2
Fuld, Sam - - - - - - - -
Hill, Koyie - - - - .167 6 0 0
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - .125 8 0 1
Lee, Derrek - - - - .324 34 2 7
Miles, Aaron - - - - 1.000 1 0 0
Ramirez, Aramis - - - - .345 29 2 5
Soriano, Alfonso - - - - .158 19 0 1
Soto, Geovany - - - - .375 16 1 1
Theriot, Ryan - - - - .310 29 0 0

Brewers hitters vs Rich Harden

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Braun, Ryan - - - - .231 13 0 1
Cain, Lorenzo - - - - - - - -
Escobar, Alcides - - - - 1.000 2 0 3
Fielder, Prince - - - - .111 9 1 2
Gamel, Mat - - - - - - - -
Gerut, Jody - - - - .167 6 0 1
Gomez, Carlos - - - - .333 3 0 0
Hart, Corey - - - - .429 7 1 1
Heether, Adam - - - - - - - -
Iribarren, Hernan - - - - - - - -
Kottaras, George - - - - - - - -
McGehee, Casey - - - - 1.000 3 0 3
Rivera, Mike - - - - - - - -
Salome, Angel - - - - - - - -
Weeks, Rickie - - - - .167 6 0 0

Weeks works wonders in wild walk-off (2-2) (2-2)

Brewers 4, Cubs 3

Cubs fall in ninth

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Kevin Gregg stymied a rally in the eighth inning, but suffered his first blown save with the Cubs when he allowed two runs in the ninth. Chicago had gone ahead on Koyie Hill's two-run homer in the sixth, which put Rich Harden, who struck out 10 over six frames, in line for the win.

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Series at a Glance

 

Brewers rally at home

Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
Rickie Weeks doubled home the game-tying run in the ninth, moved to third on a wild pitch and slid home safely on a close play at the plate to give the Brewers a walk-off win in their home opener. Todd Coffey and Carlos Villanueva threw shutout frames to keep Milwaukee in it.
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Brewers 4, Cubs 3

Chi Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Soriano, A, LF 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 .250
Fukudome, CF 5 0 2 0 0 1 0 .429
  Gathright, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Lee, D, 1B 4 0 0 0 1 1 3 .118
Bradley, RF 3 1 1 1 1 0 3 .083
Ramirez, A, 3B 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .353
Fontenot, 2B 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .412
Theriot, SS 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 .583
Hill, K, C 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 .222
Harden, P 3 0 1 0 0 2 2 .333
  Heilman, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Cotts, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Marmol, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Miles, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000
  Marshall, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Vizcaino, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Gregg, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 33 3 9 3 5 7 16  

a-Grounded into a double play for Marmol in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Theriot (2, Looper), Fukudome (2, McClung), Fontenot (2, Coffey).
HR: Bradley (1, 4th inning off Looper, 0 on, 0 out), Hill, K (1, 6th inning off McClung, 1 on, 2 out).
TB: Fukudome 3; Bradley 4; Fontenot 3; Theriot 3; Hill, K 4; Harden.
RBI: Bradley (1), Hill, K 2 (2).
2-out RBI: Hill, K 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Harden; Bradley; Ramirez, A.
GIDP: Fontenot; Miles.
Team RISP: 0-for-7.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
CS: Fontenot (1, 2nd base by Looper/Kendall).

FIELDING
E: Theriot (2, throw).
 
Milwaukee AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Weeks, 2B 5 2 1 1 0 2 2 .200
Hart, C, RF 2 1 1 1 2 1 0 .200
Braun, LF 5 0 1 2 0 1 4 .294
Fielder, 1B 2 0 0 0 2 2 1 .143
Hardy, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .059
Cameron, M, CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .364
  Villanueva, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Hall, 3B 3 0 1 0 1 2 1 .300
Kendall, C 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000
Looper, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000
  McClung, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Counsell, PH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
  Coffey, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Duffy, CF 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .000
Totals 29 4 4 4 7 11 16  

a-Hit by pitch for McClung in the 7th.

BATTING
2B: Hall (3, Harden), Weeks (2, Gregg).
HR: Hart, C (1, 3rd inning off Harden, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Weeks 2; Hart, C 4; Braun; Hall 2.
RBI: Braun 2 (2), Hart, C (1), Weeks (2).
2-out RBI: Hart, C.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Looper 2; Braun 2; Hall.
S: Hart, C; Kendall.
Team RISP: 1-for-6.
Team LOB: 10.

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Hardy-Weeks-Fielder, Weeks-Hardy-Fielder).
 
Chi Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Harden 6.0 3 2 1 2 10 1 1.50
Heilman (H, 2) 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
Cotts 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.75
Marmol (H, 2) 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
Marshall 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
Vizcaino (H, 1) 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Gregg (BS, 1)(L, 0-1) 0.2 1 2 2 2 1 0 13.50
 
Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Looper 5.0 5 1 1 4 4 1 1.80
McClung (BS, 1) 2.0 3 2 2 1 2 1 6.75
Coffey 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Villanueva (W, 1-0) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

Cotts pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.
Marshall pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

WP: Gregg.
IBB: Kendall (by Harden).
HBP: Counsell (by Cotts), Hill, K (by Coffey).
Pitches-strikes: Harden 96-63, Heilman 8-3, Cotts 3-1, Marmol 16-11, Marshall 5-1, Vizcaino 8-6, Gregg 26-14, Looper 97-52, McClung 38-22, Coffey 14-8, Villanueva 10-7.
Groundouts-flyouts: Harden 4-4, Heilman 1-0, Cotts 0-0, Marmol 0-2, Marshall 0-0, Vizcaino 1-1, Gregg 1-0, Looper 4-6, McClung 2-2, Coffey 3-0, Villanueva 1-1.
Batters faced: Harden 24, Heilman 2, Cotts 1, Marmol 3, Marshall 1, Vizcaino 2, Gregg 6, Looper 22, McClung 10, Coffey 4, Villanueva 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Cotts 1-0, Marmol 2-0, Vizcaino 1-0, Gregg 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jim Reynolds. 1B: Tim Welke. 2B: Angel Hernandez. 3B: Bill Welke.
Weather: 62 degrees, roof closed.
Wind: 0 mph, None.
T: 3:13.
Att: 45,455.
April 10, 2009

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