Homers in the Gloaming

The fan was taken to the hospital after being hit by a ball thrown by Peoria (Cubs) pitcher Julio Castillo, who was throwing at the Dayton (Reds) dugout but missed during the first-inning melee between Midwest League teams.  –AP

Springfield News-Sun

O.K., this dude Castillo is, uh, not the brightest.  But he is only in single-A, so I guess you can’t blame him too much for missing the entire dugout with a thrown ball.  Oh man, dude is a pitcher.

So anyway, the Peoria Chiefs (Cubs single-A affiliate) and the Dayton Dragons (Reds) had something of an ugly game today.  During actual game play, and in an ensuing benches-clearing brawl, Peoria’s second baseman broke his leg (apparently tripping over Castillo!), the Dayton shortstop was hit in the head (by Castillo!) and left the game, and that poor fan was taken to the hospital (thanks Castillo!).

Nearly as ridiculously, 15 players and the two managers were ejected, but were unejected when the Cubs and Reds big-clubs objected, as they did not want pitchers playing in the outfield, etc.  The ejected players returned, and finished the game (and the Chiefs lost, 5-6).

Ryne Sandberg wasn’t managing Peoria, but rather interim manager Carmelo Martinez.  For those at home, here is some scouting video of Castillo’s 4-seam fastball:

Update: “It took several minutes for Dayton police to calm the melee.  Castillo was arrested and booked into the Montgomery County Jail.  He faces a felonious assault charge.”  –WDTN Dayton

Castillo is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Update 2: Castillo surrendered his passport, and is being held on $50,000 bond, according to the Associated Press, and if convicted faces a maximum of 8 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.  It seems impossible that he’ll do anything close to that though.  Castillo is from the Dominican Republic, and has been in the U.S. for a month.  The fan was treated and released from the hospital.  Castillo’s court date is Aug. 1.  What an absolute nightmare.

AP Photo/Jerry Lai

Ford’s in his flivver.  All’s well with the world.  –Brave New World

Box score.  The Cubs return to Wrigley, 41,482 in attendance, and all cylinders are firing.  The Cubs start a fresh winning streak, which has that wonderful new-car smell.  Doubles from Johnson, Ramirez, Big Z, and Soriano; homers from Cedeno and Blanco; 8 hits and 4 walks as a team; and an excellent outing on the mound for Big Z, going 7 strong innings, giving up 6 hits, no walks, and 2 ER, and striking out 6.  DeRosa also had a nice diving catch in right, with the bases loaded and 1 out in the top of the 8th, to likely save at least a couple runs in the inning.

Soto and Fukudome got the night off, which is odd, given Fukudome looked pretty good in last night’s game, and has incredible numbers at Wrigley.  Nevertheless.

The Marlins first two runs came off a Hanley Ramirez homer in the 3rd, and the other off a Gonzalez sac fly in the 8th.

The Brewers came back to nip the Cards today, 4-3.  That means the Brewers remain one back, and Cards drop to 4 back.  Back to day baseball tomorrow, with a 1:20 CT start (TV: WGN).

Home again home again, jiggety-jig.  –Mother Goose

Indeed.  It’s four against the Marlins (Actual W-L: 53-47, Pythagorean W-L: 48-52) at Wrigley, starting tomorrow.  7:05, 1:20, 12:05, and 1:20 Central are the respective start times.  This is our first encounter with the Fish this year.  What’s good for the Goose is good for a gander at some match-ups:

• Thu. July 24th, Zambrano (2.98 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) vs. Olsen (3.84, 1.29)
• Fri. July 25th, Dempster (3.05, 1.16) vs. Johnson (3.86, 1.37, 11 2/3 IP)
• Sat. July 26th, Harden (2.12, 1.11) vs. Volstad (2.16, 1.14, 16 2/3 IP)
• Sun. July 27th, Marquis (4.44, 1.41) vs. VandenHurk (6.10, 1.94, 10 1/3 IP)

Speaking of Henricus “Rick” VandenHurk, he’s the only current major leaguer from the Netherlands (Eindhoven to be precise) and one of only seven Nederlanders ever in MLB.  Notable among those, possible future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who hails from Zeist.  VandenHurk is also quite high on the list of “most capital letters in a MLB player’s last name.”  But I digress.

Statistical summation:

    G   AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  SO   BA    OBP   SLG   SB
CHC 100 3482  520  968 201 13 111  491 393  736  .278  .355  .439  53
FLA 100 3432  480  870 174 16 141  463 310  838  .253  .320  .437  49

    G    ERA   W   L  SV  GS  GF   IP     H    R   ER   HR  BB   SO
CHC 100  3.87  58  42 29 100  99  898.3  836  418  386 102  337  739
FLA 100  4.58  53  47 20 100 100  895.3  895  505  456 107  393  678

The Cubs really should take 3 or 4 here.  After this series, we head to Milwaukee (one game back) for four games, in what will definitely be the most significant series thus far.  After that, it’s home for nine against other Central foes, including the Cards (three games back).

The Cubs have 61 (regular season) games remaining: 10 against the Brewers and 9 against the Cardinals, 32 home games and 29 away games, and the rest of our opponents have a collective .509 winning percentage.