We all know Mike Minor has had haters since the day he was drafted with the 7th pick in the 2009 draft. I'd like to find out where the haters are now.
Mike was absolutely filthy on Sunday, and dominated the Cubs hitters with the exception of a few at-bats. Minor went 6 innings in a 104 pitch effort, and allowed three runs on six hits and one walk. All three of his pitches were dominant today, and the hitters couldn't touch his change-up the entire afternoon. Mike's fastball was moving and alive the entire day and he touched 94 on multiple occasions. His sweeping curveball stayed down in the zone all day, and got three Cubs batters to swing at it in the dirt for strikeouts. All-in-all, it was a great day to watch our young lefty tear the Cubs lineup apart.
The entire offense looked great on Sunday, but Omar Infante and Jason Heyward stood out and were incredible. Combined, they were 8-for-10, with two walks, 4HRs, and 8RBI. Heyward didn't make an out on Sunday, and is now hitting .265. Derrek Lee continued to look uncomfortable at the plate, but broke the game wide open with a 3-run double in the 8th. Martin Prado continued to rake with two hits, and Rick Ankiel continued to remind us of Jeff Francoeur with every at-bat.
After Mike Minor departed, Jonny Venters came in and made quick work of the Cubs hitters in the 7th inning. He allowed a hit, but the Chicago hitters looked confused for the entire inning. Peter Moylan oddly came in to pitch the 8th inning, and allowed two runs on three hits. You can't really fault Moylan though, as he probably had no idea he'd be pitching with an 11 run lead on a getaway day. Cristhian Martinez did his thing in the 9th inning to close out the game.
Whew! What a day on Lou Pinella's final game as the Cubs manager.
The Braves will hop on a plane tonight and get into beautiful Colorado to kick off a 3-game series tomorrow night against the Rockies. It's an 8:40 start, so make a hot pot of coffee (or cold 12-pack of beer) and enjoy the game. The Rockies are on life support right now, and we know they'll give the Braves a fight at Coors Field. It'll be Tim Hudson against Jason Hammel.