Game 147 Recap: Cubs 5, Cardinals 3
Nail, Meet Coffin.
GameCenter, Box Score, Play by Play, Photos
W- Zambrano(16-12), Industrial-size antacid bottles, sparing the life of a perfectly good wooden bat, quick games, clutch pinch-hits.
L- Wainwright (13-11), closers in non-save situations, defending your World Series title. S - Howry (8), Ward, Zambrano's "ace" reputation, the season? Things to Take from the Game 1. A quickie. Before Isringhausen and Dempster stumbled through the ninth, this game was on pace to finish in just over two hours. Zambrano and Wainwright just mowed 'em down, each walking just two and striking out just three. A very, very effective game by Z. 2. The biggest pinch-hit of the year? With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth in a 2-1 game, the Cubs took down Zambrano for pinch-hitter Daryle Ward. Ward cleared the bases with a double, and some insurance runs that we wound up needing, because.... 3. A Very Scary Finish Dempster gave up solo HRs to Edmonds and Ludwick, bringing the game to 5-3, then a single to Molina, and exited the game for Howry, who then loaded the bases with two more singles. Miles grounded out on a very softly hit, slow roller towards the second base bag, which Theriot fielded for the out at first. The Reds have just beaten the Brewers, putting the Cubs 1.5 up on Milwaukee, and 6 up on the cards, with just over two weeks left in the season. Your first-place details, below. Inning 1- Getting the Cardinals TV broadcast where I live, and game begins with one of them saying that he didn't like Wainwright's warmups and first few pitches to Soriano. That he didn't appear to look comfortable. And indeed, he walks Soriano to begin the game.
- Ankiel makes a nice running, shoe-string catch on a sinking line-drive by Theriot to right. Soriano scurries back to first.
- Molina gets Soriano dead to rights on a steal of second. Soriano looked in at the batter, but Lee didn't swing.
- Lee also walks. Again, Cards broadcaster (Hrabowsky?) states his worry that Wainwright didn't look comfortable while warming up.
- Ramirez singles softly to right. Not sure if Soriano would have been able to test Ankiel's arm on that one, had he not been thrown out at second already.
- 3-2 count, Floyd flies out to right. That's two walks and a single against a struggling pitcher in the 1st, and nothing to show for it.
- Miles grounds out, Ankiel strikes out, looking pretty weak, as Z. starts the first. Theriot bobbles a Pujols grounder, but recovers in time to get him, ending the 1st. 0-0.
- Wainwright with an easy top of the second.
- Z. walks Edmonds to start the bottom of the second. Two groundouts later, and he's on third. Molina bounces to second to end the inning.
- Cards broadcastesr with a rather vague update on Encarnacion - can't reveal much in part due to privacy laws, they say. Nothing too encouraging to report, sadly. Cubs go quietly in the third. Hope we don't regret not getting to Wainwright in the first.
- Wainwright hits a chopper back at Zambrano, who raises his glove above his head to catch it. It deflects high up in the air, landing behind the mound, and Wainwright beats it out to start the bottom of the third.. Z. comes back to get the next three, easily.
- Ramirez lofts one down the RF line, Ankiel dives head-first for it, pretty close to the side wall. Misses, bounces into the stands. If it had stayed in play it would have been a triple, perhaps even more. Floyd then bounces to Ryan at short, who thinks about trying to get Ramirez at third, but goes to first for the second out of the inning.
- Derosa with a little floater into right-field for a two-out RBI. 1-0 Cubs.
- Pujols with a high bouncer to Ramirez, which Ramirez totally butchers into the most generous "single" of the year. He sort of made an awkward one-leg slide while rotating away from the ball and trying to knock it down. In any case, Edmonds immediately GIDPs. No harm to the inning.
- Cubs go 1-2-3 in the fifth. Game just cruising along. Lots and lots of balls in play, not many walks or K's to go around. Taken about an hour flat to play half the game.
- Speizio walks, and otherwise, nothing doing in the bottom half.
- Edmonds with a nice running, diving catch to his right, into left-field, on Theriot. Not full stretch-out, but more of a just-stooped-over-far-enough-where-i-need-to. That's two fine running catches on Theriot line-drives, tonight.
- Ramirez lines out to deep right field, with Ankiel making an awkward, twisting catch after slightly misreading the ball. 1-2-3, again.
- With the game just sailing along and two outs in the sixth, Pujols hits one out just to the right of dead-center field. Game tied at 1. Edmonds grounds out to end the inning on the next pitch. Looks like it was a fastball out over the plate to Pujols.
- F loyd leads off the top of the seventh with a big HR to RF. Fastball that drifted out over the plate again, and a few inches up above the belt. Into the Cards bullpen. 2-1 lead, Cubs.
- Kendall singles to left, and Schumaker sort of soft-tosses the throw in, which long-hops Miles, going straight through his legs. Kendall is hustling and makes second base. Very nice. 2 outs with Z. up.
- Z strikes out, but the most interesting moment comes after the at bat, when a clearly frustrated Z. takes the bat above his head, appearing ready to bring it down over his thigh and break it in half. He slows down, thinks better of it, and casually brings his arms back down, again. Bat lives to fight another day. Still 2-1 Cubs.
- Schumaker leads off bottom of the 7th, hits the ball off the first base bag. Lee gloves it, tosses to Z who gets to the bag almost the same moment as Schumaker's head-first slide. Slo-mo replay shows that Z had to stutter-step to the bag, and as a result Schumaker beat the play. Called out, however. Shouldn't have slid. Side retired in order.
- Wainwright out, Franklin in. Yet another 1-2-3 inning.
- Pie in, Jones to Right, Floyd out. Z. with only 89 pitches thrown at the start of the 8th.
- Two outs in the 8th, and Miles slaps a base hit to left. Z's been cruising, hopefully this is not the end to it. Ankiel up. Flies out to not-quite-warning-track right-center, end of the 8th.
- Isringhausen in. Ludwick in at left, Schumaker over to right with Ankiel out.
- Pie throws a bat into the stands on a swing and miss. Eventually rips one off of the right-field wall. Ball hits hard off the wall, caroms to Schumaker, who makes a strong throw in. Pie has to really hustle to get into second. Would be great to get an insurance run, with Pujols leading off the bottom of the inning.
- Theriot advances Pie to third on a bouncer to SS. 2 outs. Jones intentionally walked, so Isringhausen faces Kendall.
- Molina blocks a 55 foot bouncer from Isringhausen, saving a run. Pace of game suddenly crawling along, after having been almost on a 2-hour flat pace. Kendall walks.
- Z. taken down for a pinch hitter. Ward up with the bases loaded, two outs, 2-1 game.
- Daryle Ward effectively ends the Cardinals' season with a bases-clearing double, just beyond Edmonds' reach in left-center field, landing a few feet before the warning track. Ward with a big smile on his face. After Soriano strikes out to end inning, can hear Cards fans booing - not sure the last time I've heard that....
- Dempster in. Non-save situation, suddenly, as it's 5-1. Pujols grounds out to short.
- Busch stadium is almost completely silent. Could hear the Sprint pin from the 1980s commercials drop.
- And of course as I say that, Edmonds hits a bomb to right. 5-2. Fans still seem pretty uninspired. Schumaker flies to Soriano for the second out.
- Ludwick drives one out to dead-center. 5-3. Fans, Cardinals dugout, suddenly back into the game.
- Molina singles through the hole to left. Dempster out, Howry in, tying run at bat. Now, it's the Cubs fans you can hear booing THEIR closer!
- Cairo up, Howry in. Branyan pinch-hitting for Cairo. Branyan lines it to right, 1st and 2nd, So Taguchi now up
- Taguchi singles to center. Bases loaded. Still 5-3, two outs.
- Miles hits a little bleeder that dies in front of the second base bag. Theriot fields, throws to first for the final out. Thank god.
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