Cubs beat Rockies 6-2

The game last night was pretty spectacular. I ruined my voice screaming and shouting, just in time for a date today. (The date still went well, in case you're curious.) The Cubs seem to be getting a little more clutch - which, as we all know, is kind of a meaningless term, as it can be entirely replaced with "lucky". But it seems like we're producing more across the board, rather than in sporadic clumps throughout the lineup and throughout the game, and a more constant level of production will result in more runs. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Aramis Ramirez is getting it together.

Carlos Silva - improves to 5-0 after a combined 5-18 with the Mariners. This guy hammers the strike zone, and with the solid fielding that we showed behind him, he can get away with it. He pitched pretty predictably, inducing loads of groundouts and a couple double plays, with few strikeouts and only one walk.

Tyler Colvin - had a HUGE night, getting on base with THREE solid hits and being driven in twice. I was worried about him for a little while, especially because he doesn't seem terribly patient at the plate. He only has 7 walks on the season (which, honestly, is more than I was expecting when I looked up that number). But if he gets the bat on the ball that well, then I can't say I mind if he likes to take his hacks.

Starlin Castro - also had a pretty huge night. He made a great double play with Lee, and also (if I remember right - I don't have my scorecard in front of me) got on base quite a bit. I retain grudging respect for the kid.

Geovany Soto - had three walks. THREE! That puts him at 29 walks, with an OBP of .463, both of which lead the league. Could this season be a return to form for him? Well, maybe, but only if he swings the bat as well as he can lay off. He only has eight extra-base hits on the season, four of which are home runs.

Derrek Lee - had a nice double, but unfortunately struck out three times too, which is kind of unusual for him. Like I said before, not much to do but watch and wait.

Now for the relief pitchers:

Esmailin Caridad - Why do we still use this guy? He got up, threw four balls, and sat back down. His ERA is 11.25. Good lord. I hate seeing him warm in the pen. Send him back down to the minors for some more fine-tuning (or radical tuning, as the case may be) and bring up Casey Coleman or Jay Jackson.

James Russell - At first my hero in a shaky bullpen, Russell had a tough outing against the D-backs at the end of April. But since then, he has been solid, and last night, he was spectacular with two strikeouts (and one hard-fought at-bat against Todd Helton). I loved watching him celebrate as he left the mound. I think we need to give him more chances to shine.

Sean Marshall - <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Carlos Zambrano - How is this not "short relief"? I'm confused, Lou. But it was still good to see big Z gain back a little confidence.

In all, a good game. I still think we left a few too many on base - our team LOB was 9 - but at least we're getting hits more consistently.

On a side note, what happened after the game was pretty exciting for me. I went out to the players' parking lot to shill for autographs like I usually do - not realizing that they were all getting on a bus to head to the airport right behind me. Still, I saw a fair few players, and got several of them to wave at me. Nobody signed for me, but at least they were nice about it. I even had a verbal exchange with - you guessed it - Mike Fontenot! I also met a couple of really nice guys who are in it for the same reason I am - not to eBay the autographs or for the sake of having a piece of something famous, but because we love the Cubs players. These two had been collecting autographs a lot longer than I have, and they gave me a bunch of tips and tricks (thanks, David and Cody!). So we'll see how I do next time the Cubbies are in town! Leave any tips or tricks of your own in the comments. Go Cubs go!