Game Preview">Items of Note From the MLB.com Game Preview
First, it appears Shawn Estes will make his start on Friday, despite the back problems he’s experienced lately. That affects how Dusty Baker can use his bullpen. He needs Alan Benes available in long relief on Friday in case Estes stinks again, so he’s going to try to avoid using Estes against the Giants.
Second, Mark Bellhorn is, unfortunately, sitting for the third straight game. Lenny Harris is getting the start at third.
UPDATE (10:05pm): Bellhorn isn’t going to play tomorrow, either. Baker isn’t going to put him back in the lineup until Friday. “I just want to get him four or five days off and get his head straight, get his thoughts collected and get his positive thoughts together,” Baker said. “Sometimes when you start struggling you start thinking negative and what bad can happen next instead of what good can happen. He’ll be back in there.”
I want to believe Baker knows what he’s doing. I really do. It’s just so easy to second guess. Perhaps this will be good for Bellhorn.
UPDATE II (11:15pm): Bellhorn pinch hit tonight and singled to right. Maybe Baker will ride his “hot streak” into tomorrow, giving him the start. (I should just rename this blog The Bellhorn Blog. A good portion of the interesting stories involving the Cubs so far this year revolve around Bellhorn’s usage. That, and Jane Seymour’s strange fascination with singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” And birds.)
UPDATE III (11:30pm): Barry Bonds played like Barry Bonds and Jason Schmidt shut out the Cubs as the Giants won 5-0. The latter was just the case of good pitching beating bad hitting. It happens. Remember, you can only get that kind of in-depth analysis right here at The Clark & Addison Chronicle. (Some day I’m going to write up a post saying how silly it is to say “good pitching beats good hitting.” If the pitching shuts down the hitting, then the hitting wasn’t very good on that particular day, now was it? And if good hitting were ever to beat good pitching, nobody would call it good pitching. It thus becomes impossible for anyone to try to refute the notion that good pitching beats good hitting.)