mulder maddux
15-7, 3.51 12-12, 4.22
i'm fresh off a plane and directly back into homefront chaos, of which less the better -- of necessity i'll make this quick. i haven't had a chance to look at yesterday's game but from what i can glean from the play-by-play, the cubs just waited morris out. 19 pitches in the 1st to just four batters; 15 in the 2d; 17 pitches to just three batters in the 3d. he got to two-strike counts on 7 of the first 10 batters he faced, and -- in contrast to his previous two starts -- retired six of them. but the cubs made him labor. henry blanco battled him for 8 pitches in the fourth inning; glendon rusch stayed alive for six pitches in his 3d-inning at-bat and seven pitches in the 5th, and he reached base both times. that's 21 pitches in three at-bats against the #8 and #9 hitters -- guys morris should be blowing away with contempt. this was not a disastrous start, and the cardinals still could have won the game . . . . but i see more grit in marquis, more fire, more determination. even in his last start, which i attended and in which he did not pitch well, jason stayed aggressive -- didn't walk a man and only had one or two three-ball counts in six innings.
la russa professes that he remains committed to morris; i want to watch the game and see how he looked. but for now put me down for marquis as the 4th guy -- and it pains me to say that . . . . . .
mulder in daylight -- we may yet have to wait for that clincher. then again, mark's lone good daytime start came on saturday afternoon against a 300-game winner . . . . .
