9-run 4th enough for the Cubs

Jason Marquis allowed a couple of 2-run home runs in the 1st and 4th innings and the Cubs trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the 4th. 9 runs later, they were up 10-1. There were a few things I noticed during this 4th inning that I wanted to point out. After Edmonds and Fontenot homered leading off the 4th innings making it a 4-3 ballgames, Soto grounded out, Theriot walked, which was followed with 4 singles. During these 4 singles, 3 of the 4 baserunners (Theriot, Marquis, Fukudome, and Patterson) went from 1st to 3rd on the single. Guessing which one of those 4 would be pretty easy, but here's a description of the singles. Marquis: Well placed bouncer bouncer into RF between 1B and 2B. Theriot didn't have to hold up for the ball to get past him. He was off when Marquis made contact. Fukudome: hard hit single to RF between 1B and 2B, Marquis had to hold up to allow the baseball to get past him. Patterson: Hard hit grounder to RF, Fukudome did not have to hold up for the ball to pass him. Lee: Liner to just right of CF. Take a look at the image below to see where each of those singles were hit: Pay particular attention to the 3 hit right at Dye. The runners on 1st during those single were, again, Theriot, Marquis, and Fukudome. The one player who failed to go from 1st to 3rd was not Marquis as you may have expected, but Ryan Theriot, the same guy so many Cubs fans wanted to lead off because he can steal bases and go from 1st to 3rd well. While Marquis' was the softest hit ball, it wasn't fielding too much closer to the infield than the others. Granted, Dye was probably playing in a bit since it was a pitcher, but he wasn't playing at normal depth for a pitcher since Marquis can hit. He was also probably shaded towards CF not expecting Marquis to pull the ball so I don't think the difference Dye had to go to get to the ball was at all any less than the other singles. Now keep in mind that Theriot got a clean break from 1st base while Marquis, a pitcher, had to hold up to let Fukudome's pass him. Take a look again at the image to see where those 2 were fielded. Fukudome's was hit hard and Marquis, stopping to let the ball get past him, reached 3rd base without a throw. Marquis' single was not hit hard, Theriot got a running start from 1st, and didn't have a chance to get to 3rd. I should add that Theriot isn't terrible at going from 1st to 3rd. He's done so successfully in 7 of 14 chances this year, which isn't bad at all. It's not great, but it's not bad. These singles just stuck out at me because the so-called "fastest" of the group was the only one who failed to take the extra base on the single. This should be a reminder to everyone that Theriot is not fast. He's not a good baserunner. He should not be stealing bases. He should not be hitting at the top of the order because "he is fast" which he is not. Theriot has average speed and is a below average baserunner by nearly any measure you can find. The other thing that stood out to me happened in the same inning, the 9-run 4th. The Cubs had already plated 5 runs to take a 6-4 lead and had runners at 1st and 3rd with only one out and Aramis Ramirez coming to the plate. Ramierz, as I mentioned in the game thread, was 5-11 off of Contreras with 3 home runs and he was already 1-2 in today's game with an RBI single. On a 1-2 pitch from Contreras, a 93 mph fastball, Ramirez laid off a pitch at his letters that he really wanted to swing at. It's the type of pitch Ramirez would have hacked at last year and fouled off. On the next pitch, Ramirez gets a slider right at his knees and hits it into the basket in left-center field to give the Cubs a 9-4 lead. In 2007 and previous years, there was a good chance Ramirez swings at the 1-2 pitch and either misses it completely or fouls it off leaving Contreras still in a pitcher's count. Contreras was taken out after that and Edmonds, batting for the 2nd time, hit his 2nd home run of the inning off Logan. Surprisingly, this was only the 3rd time in the history of the Cubs organization that someone had hit 2 home runs in the same inning (Sosa and Bellhorn). I believe Len also said that this was only the 3rd time the Cubs had ever hit 4 home runs in the same inning.