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Games till the blessed, merciful end of the season: 1
The last game of the year, and about all we have left to be decided is whether we end the year on 69 wins or 70. There's precious little else as far as milestones go, whether it's collective or individual - the brave hopes of Reynolds making the 50 homer club have evaporated in a wretched September. But if Davis takes the loss, he'll become only the fourth pitcher since 1987 to go 8-15 or worse, with an above average ERA+ [Anthony Young, '93 Mets; Matt Cain, '07 Giants; and Brandon Webb, '04 D-backs]. So that's something...
Davis hasn't been good of late; his last four outings, covering only 20.1 innings, have resulted in 17 earned runs, and his season ERA has gone up the last six starts, to the point where it now isn't all that much better than average. It may be his final start in an Arizona jersey, with free-agency looming. I would like to think he'd be amenable to returning to us, but it seems unlikely we're going to get much of a home-town discount. We'll likely see what other options may present themselves, in both the free-agent and trade market.
The Cubs may have had a disappointing 2009, but their pitching rotation hasn't been the reason. This will be their 153rd game of the year started by someone who has a season ERA+ of 100 or better: not that you'd know it by looing at their W-L records, where no-one has more than a dozen wins. Ted Lilly and Randy Wells have been among the best in the NL, and Dempster is a very solid #3, who should hit 200 innings today, and would be an ace on many NL staffs. [Five teams don't have any qualifying pitchers with an ERA+ as good as Dempster's 125]
Line-up
- This is a pre-scheduled post, so no line-up available. At the time of its appearance, I will be tucked up in bed, watching television. I trust someone will fill in the blanks nearer the time.
If anyone shows up for the game, that is. Even today's recapper, soco, was caught flirting with the Coyotes SB Nation site last night. I'm so disappointed. I mean, we've tried to make things work out, but he has this wandering eye, and I think he just got tempted by a nubile sports season, in a moment of weakness... How can we compete with a 0-0 record? :-) At least this one starts at a semi-decent hour - 11:20, Arizona time - so I may make an effort to untangle myself from the blankets for that.