We've Seen This Before: Arizona Diamonbacks Take Down Chicago Cubs

This one felt like the ‘07 Division Series all over again. Cubs go to Arizona, Lilly pitches poorly—Cubs lose.

Walks can kill you. They did Monday night against Lilly. Having allowed just two free passes all season, his two walks in the fourth inning loaded the bases for the never dangerous Dan Haren.

Truly though, the pitcher’s two-run double is more of a bad break for Lilly than anything else. But give Haren credit—he put the bat on the ball and made his own break.

Soriano’s leadoff job is a big relief. You never know how well a player will respond after being plunked in the head. Let’s hope the bomb restored some confidence in Sori—assuming the beanball must have had some mental affect on him.

It appears Soto is taking his poor at-bats to the field and vice versa. Lou is sitting him for Tuesday’s game—couldn’t agree more with the manager’s decision.

Plus, it seems cliché, but I buy into the belief Soto is struggling from his decision to play in the World Baseball Classic.

The catcher didn’t see much playing time in the WBC and showed up out of shape to Spring Training. Now it seems to have caught up to him.

Three more errors for the Cubs. Those hurt even more when the lineup can’t score to begin with. Blame the multitude of Cub injuries, but you have to catch the baseball regardless.

Where are the opposition’s scouting reports for Soriano’s and Fukudome’s outfield arms? Teams ran wild on Fonsi last year despite the fact Alfonso continuously threw them out. Kosuke guns down a runner at the plate in the third Monday night. Why teams run on these guys I don’t know!

Bradley is back in the lineup Tuesday. Maybe he helps thrust the Cubs out of this offensive slump. But given his 1-for-24 start at the dish, you can’t count on it.

And that said, given the Cubs’ thin bench, putting Bradley on the DL days ago seems like a good idea now. Only time will tell.

• Notes: Cubs (9-9) are in fourth place.

• W: Haren (2-3) L: Lilly (2-2)
  

• The Cubs all time regular season record in Arizona is (14-28).

• Haren retired 20 of the last 21 batters he faced.
  

• Soriano’s leadoff home run is the 52nd of his career—one behind Crag Biggio’s (53).

• Alfonso has also hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games.
  

• Prior to Monday’s game the Cubs’ starting pitching had thrown six consecutive quality starts.