2015 Chicago Cubs --- Road to a Dynasty

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Round 1
Team: Name, Pos, Age, OVR(Potential)

1. ARZ: Lee Kim, SP, 22, 59(96)
2. COL: Howard Kendall CP, 18, 67(94)
3 TEX: Ray Capel, RF, 19, 45(95)
4 MIN: Harrison Michaud, SP, 19, 55(94)
5. HOU: Jason Drotar, SP, 22, 57(91)
6. BOS: Jermaine Hadley, CP, 18, 55(93)
7. CWS: Bob Wood, CP, 19, 59(94)
8. PHI: Chris Encarnacion, SP, 21, 59(95)
9. CHC: Jose Santana, CF, 20, 58(89)
Notes: Santana may have a lower potential than many of the other top picks but he also has an extremely high overall currently. A top hitter out of a 2 year college, Santana comes in at a 58OVR that has 96 durability (Means he will stay healthy and progress quickly)

10. CIN: Doug Staley, SP, 19, 59(94)
11. TB: Jordan Merchant, RF, 20, 38(98)
12. MIA: Patrick Katz, SP, 19, 57(93)
13. ATL: Frank Escobar, LF, 20, 60(91)
14. NYM: Curt Fisher, SP, 22, 58(92)
15. MIL: Elton Harper, SP, 20, 54(93)
16. NYY: Jim Hernancez, SS, 19, 48(91)
17. CLE: Reynaldo Gonzales, 1B, 21, 48(87)
18. OAK: Buddy Fitzgerald, RF, 20, 45(80)
19. PIT: Josh Goddard, RF, 21, 41(88)
20. SF: Luis Escobar, CF, 20, 40(79)
21. KC: Alejandro Ojeda, RP, 20, 51(85)
22. DET: Juan Ortiz, LF, 22, 51(78)
23. STL: Agustin Aviles, CP, 21, 64(83)
24. BAL: Joe Hill, 3B, 19, 52(84)
25. LAA: Alexis Alvarez, 19, 51(85)

Compensatory Round
1. ATL: Amaury Portillo, C, 19, 50(86)
2. TOR: Marty Darden, LF, 19, 61(83)
3. TOR: Antonio Villegas, C, 20, 53(77)
4. NYY: Robb Sparks, 3B, 22, 62(85)
5. OAK: Alexi Santana, RF, 19, 42(79)
6. OAK: Omar Luis, 3B, 19, 39(82)
7. PIT: Juan Perez, RP, 22, 52(83)
8. SF: Herbert Lott, RP, 22, 54(81)
9. KC: Juan Navarro, C, 20, 41(88)
10. DET: David Bermudez, C, 18, 45(84)
11. LAD: Angel Vaccaro, RF, 19, 43(83)
12. BAL: Sammy Armas, 2B, 19, 58(82)

Round 2
1. ARZ: Freddie McDonough, 2B, 22, 70(84)
2. COL: William Koo, 1B, 19, 48(88)
3. TEX: Tommy Crosby, SS, 19, 48(91)
4. PHI: John Kacizak, LF, 20, 58(90)
5. CIN: David Kim, SP, 21, 55(85)
6. TB: Adolfo Cairo, 3B, 18, 44(82)
7. MIA: Enrique Prado, SP, 20, 50(82)
8. SD: Pedro Santiago, 3B, 19, 44(87)
9. ATL: John Yama****a, 1B, 18, 42(82)
10. NYM: Jeffrey Belle, 1B, 20, 47(79)
11. MIL: Edgar Osuna, LF, 19, 47(89)
12. TOR: Vladimir Julio, 1B, 19, 39(87)
13. NYY: Bobby Lopez, CF, 18, 46(84)
14. CLE: Earl Bateman, RP, 18, 56(80)
15. SEA: Thomas Porton, C, 22, 41(77)
16. OAK: Josh Almanza, LF, 18, 58(79)
17. PIT: Roger Pereira, 1B, 18, 47(88)
18. SF: Ryan Rylander, RP, 18, 56(79)
19. KC: Sean Rosales, RF, 21, 56(84)
20. DET: Joseph Meeks, C, 21, 52(78)
21. STL: Josh Light, 1B, 19, 48(85)
22. LAD: Doug Callahan, SP, 22, 56(85)
23. BAL: Roberto Soto, RP, 18, 45(86)
24. WSH: Carlos Quintero, SS, 19, 55(94)
25. LAA: Ralph Valentin, SP, 19, 52(86)

Round 3
1. ARZ: David Richard, C, 19, 60(87)
2. COL: Boyd Howe, 1B, 20, 43(83)
3. TEX: Robby Lucas, C, 18, 52(86)
4. MIN: Forrest Sawyer, CF, 20, 37(80)
5. CWS: Steven Spillane, CF, 19, 45(79)
6. PHI: Adrian Young, C, 20, 38(83)
7. CHC: Joel Piedra, 1B, 22, 55(87)
Notes: One of the top college hitters in the draft fell an extra round further than expected. Piedra can play first and third and having already reached 55 overall with contact ratings in the 70s Piedra might not hit 50 homers but may hit .300 easily.
8. CIN: Jared Chance, 1B, 21, 45(83)
9. TB: Marco Silva, RP, 22, 49(80)
10. MIA: Chuck Underwood, RP, 18, 46(82)
11. SD: Beau Black, RF, 21, 46(88)
12. ATL: Johnnie Bankston, C, 20, 45(81)
13. NYM: Charles Rosas, 2B, 22, 61(87)
14. MIL: Michael Tadano, 2B, 19, 53(82)
15. TOR: Stephan Tejada, SP, 18, 51(87)
16. NYY: Quinn Wyters, SP, 21, 61(80)
17. CLE: Carlos Valdez, 1B, 21, 62(86)
18. SEA: Mario Osuna, 1B, 18, 61(81)
19. OAK: Tyler Chacin, C, 21, 46(77)
20. PIT: Rico Garcia, SP, 19, 52(77)
21. SF: Alexis Perez, SS, 20, 45(80)
22. KC: Christopher Oakes, RF, 22, 46(82)
23. DET: Barry Zahorik, LF, 21, 41(81)
24. STL: Kris Almanza, RP, 22, 50(76)
25. LAD: Demarcus Peters, LF, 19, 41(84)
26. BAL: Eric Finn, 2B, 21, 41(74)
27. WSH: Austin Dias, 1B, 19, 41(76)
28. LAA: Charles Pride, SS, 22, 49(79)

From Here we will just take a look at the Cubs selections rounding out the draft.
9. CHC: Jose Santana, CF, 20, 58(89)
Notes: Santana may have a lower potential than many of the other top picks but he also has an extremely high overall currently. A top hitter out of a 2 year college, Santana comes in at a 58OVR that has 96 durability (Means he will stay healthy and progress quickly)

7. CHC: Joel Piedra, 1B, 22, 55(87)
[b]Notes: One of the top college hitters in the draft fell an extra round further than expected. Piedra can play first and third and having already reached 55 overall with contact ratings in the 70s Piedra might not hit 50

4(9) George Kay, 2B, 19, 58(77)
- Extremely durable and great defender, though he may struggle with the stick early on in his career he has the ceiling of an every day 2nd baseman and a floor of a utility player.

5(9) Steven Benitez, SS, 19, 69(71)
- Benitez has a huge bat for a 19 year old, has the ability to hit in the upper .200s and possibly break .300. Won't hit many dingers but has the potential to swipe upwards of 20 bags a season and should stay healthy.The only knock is that he may have seen his best playing days already as you can see his current overall is nearly the same as his potential.

6(9) Mitch Beltre, RP, 19, 59(65)
- Beltre has a ceiling of a middle relief pitcher as he just doesn't seem to have the stuff that is going to fool anyone but has the potential to be a quality Loogy.

7(9) Ian McDowell, RP, 20, 50(62)
-McDowell is an interesting pick with a fastball that is through the roof (Rated as 99 velocity) and ungodly breaking stuff (75) he might just work out as a potential closer or set up an if he can cut down on the walks and hits/homers he allows.

All in all, the Cubs did what Theo Epstien typically does, went out and grabbed the guys that look to translate into the best quality pro players without potential for hiccups.
Santana and Piedra should progress quickly through the ranks while all four late picks have extremely high floors and could contribute as soon as this fall to the minor league teams and sometime next summer for the big league squad if needed.

[Getty51]

Chicago (AP)-

Fresh off of a sweep of the first place Marlins, the Cubs continue their road trip on the east coast and go to the Nations capital to face the Nationals.

The Cubs dropped two of three to the Nats in Chicago and are looking to take at least two if not three of the four games from the Nationals in D.C.

The Cubs enter at a hard fought 27-27 while the Nats enter at 30-23.

Game 1
Kyle Hendricks (3-3,4.97,37k) @ Gio Gonzalez (6-0,1.78,76k)

Oh boy, this isn't a great matchup.

Game 2
Jon Lester (6-1, 2.14,72k) @ Doug Fister (2-3, 4.98, 16k)

At least Fister is having a down year, 16k's makes me happy.

Game 3
Jake Arrieta (4-4,3.30,71k) @ Max Scherzer (3-4, 2.95, 80k)

This is the best pitching matchup of the series. Could be big.

Game 4
Tsuyoshi Wada (2-1,3.60,10k) @ Stephen Strasburg (2-4, 3.18, 89k)

This doesn't bode well for a team striking out a lot( that team being the Cubs)

[Getty51]

Chicago (AP)-

A game that featured the Cubs 5th starter against the Nationals Ace, well one of them, turned into an unbelievable pitchers duel. Kyle Hendricks and Gio Gonzalez went pitch for pitch the first five innings of the game, with neither team being able to do anything offensively.

That changed in the 6th inning when Anthony Rizzo stepped to the plate with two outs, two strikes later, Gio left a ball too far over the plate for the hard swinging Rizzo and he was able to clobber it into the right field bleachers for a 1-0 lead for the Cubbies.

Gonzalez would be pinch hit for after the inning but Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks would stay in, and pitch strongly for 8 solid innings of 3 hit baseball, striking out a season high 8 batters over 8 innings. Hendricks would be pulled in favor of Hector Rondon in the 9th. Rondon would give up a single to pinch hitter Den Dekker but the next batter, Ian Desmond would ground the very next pitch into a double play ball that would give the Cubs the two outs they needed. The next batter would pop up to right field.

"Hendricks was impressively strong in the game. One hit was in the 2nd inning and turned into a double play, one hit was in the 8th with two outs and the third hit was I believe in the 5th inning. His change up was very effective getting a bunch of swings and misses from star players such as Harper and Zimmerman who just couldn't seem to slow their hands down in time to hit the ball."

Hendricks will look to build on that impressive start in his next, a week from today against the AL Detroit Tigers in Detroit.

The Cubs push their winning streak to 4 games, winning all four games so far this month after a horrendous month of May. The Cubs are back over .500 since late in May.

Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals
Jun 4, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (27-27)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	1
Washington (30-23)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
W: Hendricks (4-3) L: Gonzalez (6-1) S: Rondon (12)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	WAS
CHC	6	Rizzo homers	1	0

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fowler	4	0	0	0	0	0		.285
Rizzo	4	1	1	1	0	1		.308
Bryant	4	0	0	0	0	2		.265
Montero	3	0	2	0	0	0		.306
Castro	3	0	0	0	0	0		.276
Coghlan	3	0	0	0	0	2		.271
Lake	3	0	0	0	0	1		.224
Hendricks	3	0	0	0	0	2		.130
Russell	3	0	0	0	0	1		.183
BATTING: 2B: Montero (14) HR: Rizzo (7) RBI: Rizzo (26)
FIELDING: E: Castro (4)

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Desmond	4	0	0	0	0	1		.288
Escobar	4	0	2	0	0	1		.203
Zimmerman	3	0	0	0	0	2		.259
Harper	3	0	0	0	0	1		.329
Ramos	3	0	1	0	0	0		.257
Moore	3	0	0	0	0	2		.283
Taylor	3	0	0	0	0	1		.251
Johnson	3	0	0	0	0	0		.274
Gonzalez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.148
Robinson (In 6th for Gonzalez)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.203
Den Dekker (In 9th for Meek)	1	0	1	0	0	0		.212
BATTING: GIDP: Taylor, Desmond

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hendricks (W, 4-3)	8.0	3	0	0	0	8		4.33
Rondon (S, 12)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0		3.68

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Gonzalez (L, 6-1)	6.0	3	1	1	0	7		1.76
Cedeno	1.0	0	0	0	0	0		4.84
Meek	2.0	0	0	0	0	2		2.25

[Getty51]

MO(O)RE HOMERS!

Chicago (AP)-

Tyler Moore. Never heard of him? That is ok, prior to the Cubs first series with the Nationals most of the world had not. Now after two games into the second series of the Cubs and Nationals Tyler Moore is going to be a household name. Getting a spot start for Bryce Harper, and because Denard Span is on the DL, Moore started in right field today.

Moore is a 28 year old in his third major league season, he was a 16th round pick by the Nationals back in 2008 out of Mississippi State. Moore has been on a tear coming into the game hitting well over .300 in his last ten games and he continued that impressive streak today.

Moore hit not 1, not 2 but 3 home runs in the game. There was only one at bat that he came to the plate and didn't homer.

"Typically you see that a guy like (Bryce) Harper isn't in the lineup and you think, well at least we don't have to worry about that guy today. Clearly we need to get more scouting done on Moore because he has hit well all year against us but specifically so today. I can honestly say I have not often seen a player go deep three times in one game. That is video game numbers man."

The Cubs were no match for Moore who backed Doug Fister for his 3rd win of the season while tallying just the second loss for Jon Lester on the season.

Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals
Jun 5, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (28-27)	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	3	12	1
Washington (30-24)	0	0	0	1	0	5	2	0	0	8	13	0
W: Fister (3-3) L: Lester (6-2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	WAS
CHC	4	Fowler singles, Coghlan scores, Lester to third	1	0
WAS	4	Moore homers	1	1
WAS	6	Ramos doubles, Zimmerman scores	1	2
WAS	6	Moore homers, Ramos scores	1	4
WAS	6	Taylor Homers	1	5
WAS	6	Wild Pitch, Espinosa scores, Johnson to third	1	6
CHC	7	Bryant doubles, Rizzo and Fowler score	3	6
WAS	7	Moore homers, Ramos scores	3	8

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fowler	5	1	3	1	0	0		.293
Rizzo	5	1	3	0	0	1		.314
Bryant	5	0	2	2	0	2		.269
Montero	5	0	1	0	0	2		.303
Castro	3	0	2	0	1	0		.282
Coghlan	2	1	0	0	1	1		.268
Szczur (In 7th for Coghlan)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.277
Lake	4	0	0	0	0	2		.211
Lester	3	0	1	0	0	1		.167
Ross (in 8th for Jackson)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.233
Russell	4	0	0	0	0	2
BATTING: 2B: Castro (12), Rizzo (12), Bryant (4) RBI: Fowler (24), Bryant 2 (20) RBI: Rizzo (26)
BASERUNNING: CS: Castro (2)
FIELDING: E: Lake (2)

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Desmond	5	0	1	0	0	1		.286
Escobar	5	0	0	0	0	0		.198
Zimmerman	4	1	2	0	0	0		.265
Ramos	4	2	3	1	0	1		.269
Moore	4	3	3	5	0	1		.293
Taylor	1	1	1	0	1	1		.251
Espinosa	3	1	2	0	0	0		.212
Johnson	4	0	1	0	0	0		.273
Fister	2	0	0	0	0	2		.000
Harper (In 8th for Thornton)	1	0	0	0	0	1		.327
BATTING: 2B: Zimmerman (8), Ramos (6), Espinosa (5) HR: Taylor (6), Moore 3 (8) RBI: Taylor (15), Ramos (22), Moore 5 (30) HBP: Espinosa SAC: Fister GIDP: Escobar
BASERUNNING: SB: Espinosa 2 (2)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Lester (L, 6-2)	5.0	8	5	5	0	4		2.54
Grimm	1.1	3	2	2	0	1		8.53
Jackson	0.2	1	1	1	0	1		2.93
Rosscup	1.0	1	0	0	0	1		3.44
PITCHING: WP: Grimm (2)

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Fister (W, 3-3)	6.1	11	3	3	1	9		4.87
Thornton (H, 5)	1.2	0	0	0	1	2		3.52
Stammen	1.0	1	0	0	0	0		5.09

[Getty51]

BRYANT BLASTS NATS!

Chicago (AP)-


The Cubs got another stellar pitching performance from Jake Arrieta who has now improved to 5-4 on the season. Arrieta only allowed four hits through 8 innings though he didn't have the strikeout pitch working with 4 strike outs in the game. The Cubs also were able to touch up another of the Nationals aces, this time the Cubs got to Max Scherzer and handed him his 5th loss of the season.

The Cubs were backed from not one but two two run home runs by rookie star Kris Bryant. Bryant was two for five on the day and was able to knock both of his hits over the ball, with one to right field and one to left field.

"It's a good thing we have that extra year of control of Kris, otherwise he might demand a trade to Washington, four home runs in 3 games. He might want to play here all the time."

The Cubs look to stay above .500 with game four tomorrow as they take on another Nationals Ace, Stephen Strasburg.


Post Game Roster Moves
The Cubs activated RF Chris Denorfia from the 15 day disabled list
Cubs option RF Matt Szczur to Triple A Iowa

Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals
Jun 5, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (28-28)	0	1	3	1	0	0	2	0	0	7	10	0
Washington (31-24)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	6	0
W: Arrieta (5-4) L: Scherzer (3-5)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	WAS
CHC	2	Ross doubles, Coghlan scores	1	0
CHC	3	Bryant homers, Rizzo and Fowler scores	4	0
CHC	4	Arrieta grounds out to short, Szczur scores (From 2nd)	5	0
CHC	7	Bryant Homers, Fowler scores	7	0
WAS	9	Harper singles, Den Dekker scores	7	1

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fowler	4	2	3	0	1	0		.301
Rizzo	3	1	0	0	2	1		.310
Bryant	5	2	2	5	0	2		.273
Coghlan	4	1	0	0	0	2		.262
Castro	3	0	0	0	1	1		.278
Szczur	4	1	2	0	0	0		.294
Ross	3	0	2	1	1	1		.261
Arrieta	4	0	1	1	0	2		.115
Russell	3	0	0	0	1	3		.173
BATTING: 2B: Fowler (15), Szczur (2), Ross (3) HR: Bryant 2 (6) RBI: Arrieta (1), Ross (4), Bryant 5 (25) HBP: Coghlan GIDP: Rizzo, Szczur, Bryant

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Desmond	4	0	0	0	0	1		.281
Den Dekker	4	1	2	0	0	1		.218
Zimmerman	4	0	1	0	0	0		.265
Harper	4	0	2	1	0	0		.331
Ramos	4	0	1	0	0	0		.268
Moore	3	0	0	0	0	0		.288
Escobar	3	0	0	0	0	0		.194
Taylor	3	0	0	0	0	1		.247
Scherzer	1	0	0	0	0	0		.056
Robinson (In 5th for Roark)	1	0	0	0	0	1		.200
Lobaton (In 8th for Meek)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.317
BATTING: 2B: Ramos (7), Den Dekker 2 (8) RBI: Harper (26) GIDP: Ramos

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Arrieta (W, 5-4)	8.0	4	0	0	0	4		2.96
Motte	1.0	2	1	1	0	0		5.93

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Scherzer (L, 3-5)	4.0	4	5	5	3	6		3.38
Roark	1.0	1	0	0	0	2		4.87
Barrett	1.0	2	0	0	0	1		3.86
Cedeno	1.0	2	2	2	0	2		5.40
Meek	1.0	1	0	0	2	1		2.12
Thornton	1.0	0	0	0	1	0		3.31
PITCHING: WP: Roark (1)

[Getty51]

Chicago (AP)-

In game four of the series the Cubs and Tsuyoshi Wada got the better of Stephen Strasburg. The problem for the Cubs was that their bullpen could not get the better of the Washington Nationals. The Cubs were got a huge boost offensively when Wada was able to double home a run to take the lead. After surrendering the lead after an error, Wada was able to get more help in the form of journeyman outfielder Mike Baxter who lead the inning off with his first double of the season, batting for Wada. And was driven in by Chris Coghlan.

The Cubs then handed the game over to the bullpen. Jason Motte shut down the Nats and so did Pedro Strop. Hector Rondon would come in and with two outs in the 9th give up a single to Bryce Harper, the lone player in the Nationals lineup that had been hitting the ball hard all series. He followed this giving up another base hit to Yunel Escobar that moved Harper to 3rd and Escobar would make it to second on the throw. The hard throwing closer then surrendered a game winning hit to Ian Desmond with two outs to center field. Junior Lake's throw was no where close to getting Escobar at the plate and just like that the Cubs dropped the game and are back to .500


The Cubs have an off day for many of the players that need it coming up tomorrow and then will travel to Detroit for their first turn at the DH this season in a two game series.

Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals
Jun 6, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (29-28)	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	9	2
Washington (31-25)	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	4	8	0
W: Cedeno (4-3) L: Rondon (0-2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	WAS
CHC	1	Montero singles, Rizzo scores	1	0
WAS	2	Lobaton singles, Harper scores	1	1
CHC	4	Wada doubles, Lake scores	2	1
WAS	5	Desmond doubles, Espinosa scores	2	2
CHC	7	Coghlan singles, Baxter scores	3	2
WAS	9	Espinosa singles, Harper and Escobar score	3	4

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Coghlan	5	0	1	1	0	1		.261
Rizzo	3	1	0	0	2	0		.306
Bryant	4	0	0	0	0	3		.266
Montero	4	0	2	1	0	1		.307
Castro	4	0	0	0	0	1		.273
Denorfia	4	0	2	0	0	0		.296
Lake	4	1	1	0	0	0		.213
Wada	1	0	1	1	1	0		.222
Baxter (In 7th for Wada)	1	1	1	0	0	0		.187
Fowler (In 9th for Strop)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.300
Herrera	4	0	1	0	0	1		.233
BATTING: 2B: Wada (1), Montero (15), Baxter (1), Herrera (1) RBI: Wada (1), Montero (27), Coghlan (23) GIDP: Castro
FIELDING: E: Wada (1), Lake (3)

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Desmond	4	0	1	1	0	0		.281
Den Dekker	4	0	1	0	0	1		.219
Zimmerman	4	0	0	0	0	0		.259
Harper	4	2	1	0	0	1		.329
Escobar	4	1	1	0	0	0		.196
Lobaton	4	0	1	1	0	1		.313
Espinosa	4	1	2	2	0	0		.225
Johnson	3	0	1	0	0	0		.275
Strasburg	1	0	0	0	0	0		.159
Ramos (In 5th for Strasburg)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.267
Moore (In 8th for Barrett)	1	0	0	0	0	0		.286
BATTING: 2B: Desmond (6) RBI: Desmond (24), Lobaton (5), Espinosa 2 (9) GIDP: Ramos
BASERUNNING: SB: Harper (2)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wada	6.0	5	2	1	0	2		3.12
Motte (H, 5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0		5.52
Strop (H, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1		1.10
Rondon (L, 0-2)	0.2	3	2	2	0	0		4.70

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Strasburg	5.0	4	2	2	2	3		3.21
Roark	1.2	2	1	1	1	2		4.89
Barrett	1.1	2	0	0	0	1		3.68
Meek	0.1	1	0	0	0	0		2.08
Cedeno (W, 4-3)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1		5.25
PITCHING: WP: Strasburg (2)

[Getty51]

Chicago (AP)-

The Cubs, on their off day worked out former closer Rafael Soriano and have signed him to a minor league contract.

Soriano could bolster a struggling bullpen and potentially help out down the stretch. He last pitched for the Nationals and will need some time to get stretched back out. The likely timetable for him to come back to the bigs would be sometime around the All Star break.


To make room on the 90 man roster the Cubs released minor leaguer Chris Valaika. Who along with Ryan Dent will be of the first two signed if a roster spot should open up.

[Getty51]

Cubs Offense explodes for 8.

Chicago (AP)-

In a game that featured Jason Hammel against Alfredo Simon, the Cubs and the Tigers got off to a slow start offensively. The first run of the game came off of back to back doubles by Tigers Ian Kinsler and Raji Davis.

The Cubs struck back with a double of their own from Starlin Castro driving in Anthony Rizzo. The Tigers took the lead again on a monumental occasion when Victor Martinez was able to hit his 200th career home run.

The Cubs offense then exploded, and when I say exploded, you better believe that it was big, for 7 runs in the 6th inning. The Cubs batted around and sent 14 batters to the plate in the 6th inning. Everyone was hitting the ball well in the inning. Alfredo Simon struggled in the inning and was pulled from the game in the 6th inning, the problem for the Tigers is that their relief pitcher Ian Krol was shelled by the Cubs to finish the inning. The Tigers and manager Brad Ausmus seemed compelled to leave Krol in to finish the inning.

The Cubs were unable to score off of Joba Chamberlin to extend the lead and the Tigers were unable to get anything going against Jason Hammel or reliever Justin Grimm, who had needed some work in a low leverage situation to get his confidence back up.

The Cubs and Tigers wrap up their two game series tomorrow as the Cubs have now moved into 2nd place in the NL Central 7 games behind the Brewers.

Chicago Cubs at Detroit Tigers
Jun 9, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago (29-29)	0	0	0	1	0	7	0	0	0	8	11	1
Detroit (25-33)	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	1
W: Hammel (3-2) L: Simon (2-7)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	DET
DET	3	Davis doubles, Kinsler scores	0	1
CHC	4	Castro doubles, Rizzo scores	1	1
DET	4	Martinez homers (200th career)	1	2
CHC	6	Rizzo singles, Fowler scores	2	2
CHC	6	Castro singles, Rizzo and Bryant score, Montero to third	4	2
CHC	6	Coghlan singles, Montero scores, Castro to 2nd.	5	2
CHC	6	Baxter grounds into double play, Castro scores, Coghlan to 3rd, Denorifa out at 2nd.	6	2
CHC	6	Russell singles, Coghlan scores	7	2
CHC	6	Fowler singles, Russell scores	8	2

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fowler	4	1	2	1	1	0		.304
Rizzo	4	2	2	1	1	0		.309
Bryant	4	1	0	0	1	2		.260
Montero	5	1	1	0	0	4		.304
Castro	5	1	2	3	0	0		.276
Coghlan	4	1	1	1	0	0		.260
Denorfia	4	0	1	0	0	1		.293
Baxter	4	0	1	0	0	0		.200
Russell	2	1	1	1	2	1		.178
BATTING: 2B: Castro (13), Baxter (2) 3B: Rizzo (1) RBI: Fowler (25), Castro 3 (28), Rizzo (27), Coghlan (24), Russell (8) GIDP: Baxter
BASERUNNING: SB: Fowler (16), Russell (11)
FIELDING: E: Bryant (10)

Detroit Tigers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Davis	4	0	2	1	0	0		.209
Iglesias	4	0	1	0	0	2		.213
Cabrera	4	0	0	0	0	0		.363
V. Martinez	4	1	2	1	0	1		.339
J. Martinez	4	0	1	0	0	2		.204
Cespedes	4	0	1	0	0	1		.306
Kinsler	4	1	1	0	0	0		.283
Castellanos	3	0	0	0	0	0		.217
Avila	3	0	1	0	0	0		.258
BATTING: 2B: Kinsler (14), Avila (5), Davis (12) HR: V. Martinez (11) RBI: V. Martinez (41), Davis (17) GIDP: Kinsler, Cabrera
FIELDING: E: Davis (2)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hammel (W, 3-2)	7.0	6	2	2	0	4		3.01
Grimm	2.0	3	0	0	0	2		7.36

Detroit Tigers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Simon (L, 2-7)	5.0	5	4	4	3	3		5.02
Krol	1.0	6	4	4	1	0		4.41
Chamberlain	3.0	0	0	0	1	5		3.71
PITCHING: WP: Simon (1)