Game 114 Recap: Cubs 10, Rockies 2
Half-life
GameCenter, Box Score, Play by Play, Photos, Recap
W -Lilly (13-5), The Role-players Guild, Curveballs
L -Jimenez (1-2), Drama, late-night plans
Things to Take from This Game 1. Winning without the Big Three No Soriano, No Ramirez, and no hits from Lee. Ten runs later, and the Cubs offense showed that it could pick up some slack when it is needed the most. Everyone in the lineup, save Lee, could call it a good night. Jones in particular led the early offensive attack, with 4 hits and RBI, total. 2. Lilly goes Six It might not sound like much, but Lilly really labored through four innings. Completing even the fifth inning seemed like an accomplishment, and then Lilly also made it through the six with just two runs allowed on 127 pitches. Definitely earned his paycheck, tonight. 3. That Power Pen Wood, Marmol and Howry went three IP with no hits, not runs, five K's, and two Wood-walks. Could this be the sort of pen that works its way deep into the playoffs? 4. The better defensive team won. The usually sure-handed Rockies struggled a bit on D - in particular an error by Atkins, but also a fly ball just beyond Holliday's reach, and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt to start the game. All of the first four Cubs runs were unearned. The Cubs, by contrast, had a couple of stellar plays by Fontenot and Murton, and generally were solid all night. The half-game-out-of-first details, below.- Off to a good start with a Theriot single, a botched pickoff play at first leading Theriot to second base, and a Jones RBI single.
- God Bless Bob Brenley - he's making fun of people who wear camoflage when they're neither hunting nor serving in uniform.
- After walking Tulowitzki, Lilly goes 3-0 on Holliday in the first. He swings away, hits a foul pop up towards the LF stands. Fontenot must have sprinted 180 feet to make a sliding catch just in front of the stands.
- and now a walk to Atkins. Not a good first inning, but gets out of it with a 6-4.
- After looking like he could never hit a Jimenez fastball, Lilly winds up walking with two outs. Theriot up with runners on first and second, two outs, in the second inning.
- Well, we'll take it. Atkins totally whifs on a ground ball, scoring Kendall. 2-0 Cubs in the second, with runners on second and third, still two outs and Jones up, after the matador performance by Atkins.
- Jones comes through, again, with a double to left, just beyond the reach of Holliday. Holliday didn't take the best angle to it, and even though the ball really carried on him, another outfielder might have had it. 4-0 Cubs in the second, and Jones has 3 rbi in two innings.
- Lots of Cubs fans in attendance, it seems.
- Terrific play by Murton in the bottom of the second. Runs hard for a popup down the LF line, dives headfirst for it, and the impact knocks it out of his glove. Picks it up, throws from his knees, and gets Torrealba trying to stretch it into a double.
- and it saves us a run, as Baker hits a solo HR.
- Murton having a fine first third of the game, now with a solo HR to respond to Baker's.
- Derosa then fights off a pitch for a single, and Fontenot triples him in! Fun to see Fontenot Run the bases.
- and Kendall punches one just past a drawn in Atkins, to score Fontenot. 7-1 Cubs.
- we now have hit for the cycle in the third inning alone, as Pie gets a broken bat double down the RF line. Might have stretched it to a triple, but Kendal could only get to third.
- Taylor Buchholz in for Ubaldo Jimenez. If I didn't hate scrabble with the white-hot passion of a thousand burning suns, I might find this amusing.
- Theriot scores Kendall on a deep sac fly to center. Pie advances to third.
- Bob Brenley going bezerk about players missing signs.
- and Jones with a third RBI hit in his third at bat. A sharp single up the middle. 9-1 Cubs.
- Kendall triples to right in the fourth, bringing in Derosa. Kendall didn't look pretty trying to get to third, but we'll take it.
- Murton lays out for another fly ball, racing into shallow center on a Cory Sullivan popup. Overruns it a bit, ball hits him in the wrist. Rather impressed by the amount of ground he is covering in the OF, tonight.
- Lilly hasn't looked too good tonight, but gets Carroll with a nice slow curve, swinging, to end the fourth. 1 run through 4 laborious innings for Lilly.
- Theriot hobbling after fouling a ball off of his legs (plural) in the fifth. Singles, but doesn't look so hot running to first.
- Good Lord, this game is taking forever.
- Some sac fly in the fifth scored some guy. I don't know. It happened, but I was busy watching the paint try or something. God, what a slow game. 10-2 Cubs.
- Lilly with 113 pitches through 5 IP. 5 walks.
- Brenley observes that a LOT of the Cubs hits have been right back up the middle. These aren't bloopers, Cubs really are right on the ball tonight.
- Wow, Lilly back out for the sixth. Brenley claims he's been in a "really nice rhythm" all night. I'm not convinced.
- And now hitting for Ted Lilly in the seventh, with Pie on second (now third, after a wild pitch).... it's Carlos Zambrano?!?!? Why, exactly? Strikes out swinging. It got a rise out of all the Cubs fans, at least.
- wow, it's Kerry Wood. I'm gone three weeks, and Wood is in the majors? Freaky.
- Some things never change. A four pitch walk to the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh. Gets out of it.
- Jones with a 4 hit night. Should also be noted that Buchholz really saved the Colorado bullpen. In a way, so did Lilly, by being able to come out for the sixth inning with 113 pitches already thrown.
- Latroy Hawkins with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Don't get to type that everyday....
- In a 10-2 game, the last two Cubs pitchers to pitch are Marmol and Howry? Like Zambrano, this too is odd...
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