The Cubs road woes continued in Arizona as they lost 2 of 3 and finished the trip 2-4, allowing their lead in the Central to shrink to 1 game. The bats stayed silent once again with the starting pitching bearing the brunt of no run support. They were able to bust out on getaway day and score 10 runs. Let’s reflect on the series in Phoenix with Triple Play:

1. Around The Horn and Out
Derrek Lee must be afraid of the number 7 because he is grounding into an inordinate amount of plays involving the fielding numbers 6, 5, 4, and 3. The double plays continue to pile up for the Cubs first baseman, with 1 on Monday, and 2 more on Tuesday. It seems like he’s poised to hang onto the top spot in the GIDP (Grounded Into Double Plays) category, now with 21 on the year. But, in all seriousness, it really is a mystery as to why DLee is hitting into so many twin killings. Lee did hit a solo homer in the first inning of Wednesday’s game (his first since June 20th), but needs to find a way to get his game together and hit with consistency because the Cubs cannot afford to have their best hitters slumping at a time when the Brewers and Cardinals are hot on their tail. This brings us to the second part of Triple Play.

2. The Domino Effect (negative)
Aramis Ramirez has also been in a prolonged slump, batting .173 in the month of July with just 3 home runs and 11 RBIs. Part of Derrek Lee’s poor hitting may be due to Ramirez’ lack of protection. This has allowed pitchers to come directly at Lee and he has not been able to be selective at the plate. Now part of Ramirez’ struggles may be attributed to no protection from the number 5 batter. During the Arizona series, Geovany Soto went 0-3 on Monday, Jim Edmonds 0-3 on Tuesday, and Soto 1-4 in Wednesday’s finale. Together, the Lee-Ramirez-Soto trio batted .108 (8-74) over the 6 game trip. Just as with Lee, when opposing pitchers don’t fear the player on-deck, they can attack the player at-bat. However, I am going to play the role of NostrARAMIS and say he will break out of the funk in the upcoming series against Florida because there were a few balls he nearly hit out of the park in Arizona that were caught at the warning track. Coming back to Wrigley will help push those balls into the seats if the wind is blowing out and get Ramirez back on track. Still though, he needs the guy behind him to start producing to help him out. Which leads us to the final part of Triple Play.

3. The Domino Effect (positive)
The return of Alfonso Soriano to the lineup on Wednesday paid immediate dividends as the Cubs scored 10 runs. Soriano went 1-5, with a double and an RBI groundout. It will take a few games for him to get his stroke down but his presence at the top of the batting order will stabilize the lineup in the same manner Zambrano’s return from the DL stabilized the rotation. Cubs skipper Lou Piniella need not worry about shuffling the lineup around anymore. Kosuke Fukudome can now slide back to the number 5 or 6 spot, Ryan Theriot will stay in the 2 hole, and everyone’s comfortable. With Soriano back, we should see a uniform improvement in the offense.

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