The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good

Carlos Lee

The Marlins 1st baseman and long time Cub killer got them again going 2-4 in Tuesday’s 9-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Lee had a single, a grandslam, 2 runs scored, and 4 RBIs on the night, and is now batting .287 with 6 homers on the season. Lee now has a 5 game hitting streak in which he has gone 7-18 improving his average 3 points during this short streak.

Anthony Rizzo

The young Cubs 1st baseman went 2-4 in Tuesday’s loss to the Marlins. Rizzo had 2 singles on the night and is now batting .359 on the season. Rizzo has 16 hits over his last 10 games and has improved his average by 63 points during that span. Since being called up from triple A Iowa, the Cubs are 11-5 with Rizzo in the lineup.

Jordany Valdespin

The New York 2nd baseman had one important at bat in the 4-5 loss against the Washington Nationals. Valdespin came into action as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning where he hit a 3 run homer with 1 out to, at the time, tie the game. Valdespin is batting .269 with 5 homers, and 18 RBIs on the season.

Buster Posey

The San Francisco Giants catcher, Buster Posey, went 3-5 in the Giants 9-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Posey had a single, 2 doubles, and 5 RBIs on the night. Posey is now batting .302 with 82 hits, 18 hits, 11 homers, and 52 RBIs on the season

Johnny Cueto

The Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher, Johnny Cueto, got his 11th victory of the season in a 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cueto went 6 innings giving up 0 runs off just 4 hits while striking out 3 and walking 4. Cueto got his second win in a row and is now 3rd in wins in the NL.

David Freese

The St.Louis Cardinals 3rd baseman, David Freese had 3 hits in the Cardinals 2-3 loss to the Brewers. Freese went 3-4 with 2 singles ad a double on the night. Freese is now batting .298 on the season.

Andrew McCutchen

The Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder, Andrew McCutchen, had 2 hits in the Pirates 6-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. McCutchen went 2-4 with a single, a homer, 2 runs scored, and a RBI. McCutchen continued his hot streak increasing his hit streak to 8 games. McCutchen has 18 hits over this span and is now leading the NL in average batting .374 on the season. McCutchen is in the run for the triple crown as he leads in average, 2nd in homers(22) just 4 behind 1st place, and 2nd in RBI(65) just 1 behind 1st place.

Yonder Alonso

The San Diego Padres 1st baseman, Yonder Alonso, had 2 hits in the Padres 8-2 victory over the Houston Astros. Alonso went 2-3 with a double, homer, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, and a walk on the night. Alonso is now batting .266 on the season with 4 homers, and 27 RBIs.

The Bad

Christian Friedrich

The Colorado Rockies starting pitcher, Christian Friedrich, got his 7th loss of the season in a 8-2 loss Tuesday. Friedrich could only manage 4.2 innings giving up 5 runs off 6 hits while walking 3. Friedrich is now 5-7 on the season with a 5.85 ERA and has lost 6 of his last 8 starts.

Trevor Bauer

The Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher, Trevor Bauer, got his 2nd loss of the season Tuesday night. Bauer could only manage 3 innings giving up 4 runs off just 1 hit while walking 5. Control was a major problem with Bauer as he threw 79 pitches in just the 3 innings.

Jair Jurrjens

The Atlanta Braves starting pitcher, Jair Jurrjens, got his 3rd loss of the season Tuesday night. Jurrjens went 3.1 innings giving up 8 runs off 8 hits while walking 3. Jurrjens is now 3-3 on the season with a 6.20 ERA.

Tyler Clippard

The Washington Nationals relief pitcher, Tyler Clippard, had a rough outing Tuesday night. Clippard came in for 1 inning and gave up 3 runs off 3 hits bringing his ERA to 2.45 on the season. Clippard’s ERA was down to 1.88 before this outing.

Travis Wood

The Chicago Cubs starting pitcher, Travis Wood, broke the Cubs 4 game winning streak in the Cubs loss Tuesday night. Wood went 4l2 innings giving up 8 runs off 8 hits and walking 2. This was Wood’s first loss in 5 starts and is now 4-4 on the season with a 3.92 ERA.

The Ugly

New York Mets

The New York Mets have loss 5 in a row and are now 7 games out of 1st place with a 46-44 record on the season. This lossing streak has much to do with the Mets pitching.

Look At Me Now!

Meet Travis Wood, the winner of four consecutive starts for the Chicago Cubs. The 25-year-old lefty joined the Cubs when traded from the Cincinnati Reds for 29-year-old lefty reliever Sean Marshall.

Wood debuted with the Cubs on May 6, replacing the bag of baseball Carlos Zambrano commanded on the trade market known as Chris Volstad. Wood arrived with a 4.57 ERA and 3-3 record over 7 AAA starts. The boost in competition accompanied a boost in performance, as Wood now stands at 4-3 with 3.05 ERA over 10 starts in the bigs.

The 60th overall pick of the 2005 draft broke into the bigs in 2010 with Cincinnati, the team that drafted him. Over 17 starts, Wood went 5-4 with a 3.51 ERA and an impressive 1.08 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched). Wood followed an impressive rookie campaign with a rocky sophomore season. In 22 appearances, Wood went 6-6 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. This season Wood has his WHIP down to 1.13.

Opening the season in the minors appears to have paid off for Wood. In his last four starts he has allowed 3 ER over 26.2 IP. Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein raised a few eyebrows when he traded Marshall, one of the best relief pitchers in the game, to a division foe for Wood; however, if the starter can continue to perform around his current level, the trade will go down as a win for both teams. Cincinnati has only used five starting pitchers all season and Marshall sports  a 2.91 ERA. The Cubs, with eyes set for competition down the road, could very well have a solid #3 starter in the midst.

Wood takes the bump for the Cubs today at 7:05 CST against the traveling Miami Marlins. A win would be the fifth straight for both Wood and Chicago as a team.

The Big Guy