Diary of a Chicago Sports Fan

Cartoon Courtesy of Lambert-King

Cubs and Sox win, Bulls do their thing and Hawks get ready for the playoffs

Saturday was a busy day in Chicago sports. In baseball, the news was good, in basketball and hockey, not so much. The Cubs bats woke up as they defeated the Milwaukee Brews by a final score of 11-6. Kris Bryant broke out of his slump with three hits and three RBIs. Albert Almora Jr. added three hits and two RBIs. All together, the Cubs had 17 hits. A lot of those balls weren't hard hit, but they still count.

Kyle Hendricks wasn't as sharp as usual, but picked up the win. Hendricks went 6 innings, giving up 4 runs. The Cubs played error free ball and Albert Almora Jr. made an exceptional catch on a pop fly to center field. Honestly, I'd like to see Albert in center pretty much every day. It looks like he can hit well enough, plus that glove won't slump.

Dare we dream of mediocrity?

The White Sox got another nicely pitched game. This time it was Miguel Gonzalez going 6 innings while giving up 2 runs and picking up the win. Zach Putnam when 2 scoreless innings and was followed by Dan Jennings who closed out the 9^th.

I thought you were dead.

Avisail Garcia, a guy I keep trying to bury, had three hits, including a homer, and drove in 3 runs. Geovany Soto continues his hot start, smacking his third homerun. Getting some production from the catcher's slot is a refreshing change for the Sox. If Soto can hit .260 with 15-20 homers, he will be a huge pickup fro the Sox.

Finally.

The Blackhawks closed out their regular season with a 3-2 overtime loss to the LA Kings. Toews and Panarin were the Hawks goal scorers. While I would have liked to see the Hawks win, they've basically been marking time for a while. On to the playoffs!

Or maybe not.

During their playoff drive, the Bulls have played the Knicks, 76ers and New Jersey Nets in their last three games. After losing 107-106 to the Nets last night, the Bulls won one of those three games. That is so Bulls. They blew another fourth quarter lead. That's also part of the Bulls m. o. Was again, Jimmy Butler led the Bulls in scoring with 33 points. Dwyane Wade made his return form an elbow injury and scored 14 points in 25 minutes.

Take your time, please.

I know Wade was rushing back to help the Bulls in their playoff run, but I'm really not sure he helps at this stage in his career. The Bulls were 7-4 while he was out.

Dusty rides again.

The Nationals lost to the Phillies 17-4, which is odd enough. The big news however, is that Jeremey Guthrie gave up 10 runs without getting out of the first inning. Jeremy was released afterward. I thinking by the time Guthrie was taken out of the game, he had to ask Dusty Baker, “What took you so long?”

More next time.