Double your pleasure

It was double day, I suppose. Not just at bat. Walker had a couple of doubles. Jones had a big two run double. Presley had one. But Malholm also induced one double play in each of the first four innings, and one that they failed to turn. After the fourth Malholm really got into a groove and got more strike outs to end the day with 8 in the 8th. Resop and Veras finished it off.

It is the All Star break and the Pirates are 4 game over .500 and 1 out of first although two teams are tied for first. The Brewers have a run differential of -1, so they might be coming back a little in the second half. Let's hope.

The Cubs are the real mystery to me. That team is loaded with hitting. Ramirez and Soriano are actually hitting this year. Byrd is hitting, Castro is hitting and their All Star. They got a couple of new guys that are hitting near .300. Fukadome is not awful. Why is this team so bad?

I guess it is the pitching. Ramon Ortiz is a joke and pitched like one today. But still they have Zambrano and Dempster, so they should not be this awful. I really believe they should have hired Sandburg. The real bad thing for the Cubs fans is that this team is going to get worse before it gets better. Don't expect Byrd and Castro to be the beginning of something for the Cubs. They are still hamstrung by Soriano, and they have not yet begun to tear down this mess.

Tomorrow we will look at the draft again and some Latin American signings!