Game 37 Recap: Cardinals 3, Cubs 0

A complete game 3 hit shutout on only 92 pitches by Joel Pineiro in 2 hours and 5 minutes.

Joel Pineiro.

Need I say anything more?

That really was one of the worst offensive performances out of the Cubs that I have ever seen, especially in the last 2 seasons. 3 hits, 1 extra base hit, 0 walks, 1 runner left on base with 2 outs. Against JOEL PINEIRO.

The Cubs decided to abandon all principles of making the pitcher work, shirking the approach that helped them become the best offense in the National League last year in favor of a strategy of hack first, ask questions later.

Things started auspiciously enough with an Alfonso Soriano single. Unfortunately, Yadier Molina set the tone for the evening by picking off Soriano on first base then quickly dispatching Ryan Theriot and Derrek Lee. I then changed the channel for 5 minutes to watch the Clippers win the NBA Draft Lottery, switched back to WGN and it was the 3rd inning. In the mean time, Yadier Molina had staked Pineiro to a 1 run lead in the bottom of the first with a single that scored Brendan Ryan.

Then, in the bottom of the 5th, Colby Rasmus put the game to rest with a mammoth 2 run shot off of starter Ted Lilly. Lilly was the hard luck loser, turning in another quality start using a particularly effective slow breaking ball to strike out 5 batters in his 7 innings. He yielded only 3 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks.

Normally after Cubs losses, I spend much of my recaps talking about missed opportunities, but the Cubs were so bad that they just didn’t have any good ones and, besides, the game was short so there’s just not much to write about and I don’t want to write about Joel Pineiro any more. Let’s just move forward to game 2 when Ryan Dempster will face off against the returning Chris Carpenter.