Oakland Athletics vs Chicago Cubs Live Streaming

Oakland Athletics vs Chicago Cubs Live | Oakland Athletics vs Chicago Cubs | Oakland Athletics vs Chicago Cubs Streaming | Oakland vs Chi Cubs MLB Live Stream | Oakland Athletics vs Chicago Cubs Live Webcast

8:05 pm EDT Wed Jun 16, 2010

The losses are mounting for the Chicago Cubs and manager Lou Piniella seems to be losing faith. The sputtering Cubs look to avoid losing for the 11th time in 15 games Wednesday night when they continue a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics at Wrigley Field. Piniella has made several adjustments since the start of the year to give Chicago an edge - shuffling his batting order around and moving staff ace Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen and back to the rotation - but nothing seems to be working. In Tuesday’s 9-5 series-opening loss to the A’s, sloppy defense led to the Cubs’ demise, as the team committed a season-high four errors. Three-time Gold Glove first baseman Derrek Lee was responsible for back-to-back errors in a four-run fourth and rookie right fielder Tyler Colvin added two more in a three-run seventh. Piniella didn’t speak with his normal enthusiasm in the press conference after Tuesday’s embarrassing performance, and seemed to be at a loss for words.

The Cubs are in danger of falling nine games below .500 for the first time since they were 22-31 on June 2, 2007. Despite that disappointing record, Chicago managed to rally and win the NL Central. The Cubs are 7 1/2 games out of first this year, and need to quickly get things turned around to have any chance of making the playoffs.The A’s are also in the midst of a little funk, but they’re still in the thick of the race in the AL West, sitting four games back of first-place Texas. Oakland, 5-9 this month, hasn’t won consecutive games since reeling off four in a row May 26-29. Rajai Davis and Kevin Kouzmanoff each had three hits Tuesday for the A’s, who totaled eight runs while getting swept in a three-games series in San Francisco over the weekend. Kouzmanoff, batting .458 with three homers and 11 RBIs during a career-high 15-game hitting streak, looks to extend his run against scheduled starter Ryan Dempster. Dempster allowed three runs, five hits and five walks in 5 1-3 innings of Thursday’s 5-4, 10-inning loss in Milwaukee. The Cubs dropped to 2-7 with Dempster on the mound since April 28, but it hasn’t entirely been the right-hander’s fault, as the offense has backed him with three runs or fewer seven times.

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Colorado Rockies vs Minnesota Twins Live Streaming

Colorado Rockies vs Minnesota Twins Live | Colorado Rockies vs Minnesota Twins | Colorado Rockies vs Minnesota Twins Streaming | Colorado vs Minnesota MLB Live Stream | Colorado Rockies vs Minnesota Twins Live Webcast

8:10 pm EDT Wed Jun 16, 2010

The Minnesota Twins struggled to hit the ball over the weekend, but fared much better in their last game. Minnesota looks to win its second straight over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday when this interleague series continues at Target Field. After totaling five runs and 11 hits in a pair of losses against Atlanta, the AL Central-leading Twins rebounded Tuesday with a 9-3 win over the Rockies. Minnesota’s bottom third of the order, Delmon Young, Danny Valencia and Nick Punto, went 7 for 10 with three runs and three RBIs to comprise half of the Twins’ 14 hits. The outburst came despite the fact that Minnesota’s best two hitters, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, went a combined 1 for 9. Morneau, hitting a team-high .344, is 0 for 11 in his last three games. Young has been helping out a lot lately. He had three hits Tuesday and is batting .410 with three homers and 14 RBIs during an 11-game hitting streak.

The Twins, tied with Detroit for the best interleague record in the majors since the beginning of 2006, give the ball to Scott Baker, who will look to bounce back from a poor outing in Thursday’s 9-8 loss to Kansas City. The right-hander went five innings, allowing five runs and eight hits, including a pair of homers when he was ahead in the count. Five of the 11 home runs allowed by Baker this season have come with two strikes. Baker has never faced Colorado. The Rockies counter with rookie Jhoulys Chacin, who has lost three consecutive starts and is 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA in his last six outings after a promising start to the season. The 22-year-old right-hander struck out eight in Thursday’s 5-4 loss to Houston, but surrendered five runs over six innings. After missing the Rockies’ previous two games with a strained right groin muscle, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki hit a solo homer in his first at-bat Tuesday. He is batting .333 with three solo shots in five interleague games this season.

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