Wood Not Good

Well, this was supposed to be the start for Kerry Wood. All the kinks were out, all the rust was off, and he was facing a team that he's dominated throughout his career, in a park where he'd never lost a game. His offense even showed up, staking him to a 4-0 first inning lead. So what happened? Do you even need to ask? Wood got nickeled and dimed for a couple of runs and then Cincinnati blew it open in the 6th inning and tied the game at 5-5. Glendon Rusch breezed through the 7th, but for some reason Dusty Baker chose to start the 8th with Jon Leicester, who loaded the bases on 2 walks and hit batsman, then induced a 5-2 double play, then gave up a towering double to Jason LaRue to make it 7-5. Another good question for Baker might be why he did not walk LaRue with two out and runners on 2nd and 3rd. A walk would have brought up the 9th spot in the order, and Cincy had only one pinch hitter left on their bench. One could also question why Baker decided to go with Leicester in this spot at all, since he hadn't pitched in over a week.

But as much as I want to question Baker's moves, the real blame here falls to Wood. He simply could not maintain focus with the lead, and while his control was better, the pitches that he left up were hit hard. Wood is coming to a crossroads in his career; he's too old to still be a wild, young phenom, and with the trade of Sosa, he has become the face of the team. Unfortunately, when things are going bad for the team, it's players like Wood who come under the heaviest scrutiny from the fans (as Sammy learned last year). Carlos Zambrano blew a lead on Friday, but nobody was suggesting that he was injured, washed up, or trade bait the next day; and you can bet you'll hear those things about Wood on Tuesday.