Game 151 Recap: Cubs 7, Reds 6
Game of the Year?
Box Score, Play by Play, Photos
W- Ohman (2-4), five-person infields, on-field celebrations, not backing in to a playoff spot, staying until the end L- Weathers (2-6), Protests, bad calls, leaving early Magic Number - 12 Things to Take from This Game 1. An Incredible Finish. If the Cubs don't make the playoffs, no one will remember this game. If the Cubs do, this will be one of those games people point to as proof of a "magical" season. Having squandered a few opportunities, suffering through bad calls and a mammoth HR that died instead at the top of the ivy, the Cubs rallied for three in the ninth off of Weathers, to win 7-6. Highlights were a Theriot leadoff walk, a Lee single, a Ramirez triple nearly robbed by a diving Hopper, and a Derosa infield single to win it. The dugout emptied onto the field, and the fans screamed along to Go, Cubs, Go!. 2. Another 5-hit game for Derosa. And two of the hits were huge - a home run to follow Floyd's two-run HR in the third, and then the game-winning single in the 9th. 3. Umps calls hurt Cubs. Reds Protest. The umps missed at least three calls that got under the Cubs skin - an unbelievably generous "neighborhood" call at 2nd base on a GIDP attempt where Phillips wasn't within three feet of the bag, a check swing strike on Soriano, and a safe call at first for Dunn, who was out by 4 inches or so. Yet it's the Reds who played the game under protest, on the grounds that Piniella first brought Soto and Eyre into the game, then (and we're talking a matter of a few seconds, here) informed the umpires that it was a double switch. A very strict interpretation of the rules might indicate that this didn't constitute "Immediate" notification, and that when Soto then came to bat, he was batting out of order. Can't imagine that this is anything even remotely worth worrying about. 4. Hill and Co. Hill looked really good early on. He was getting a ton of swinging strike threes on an unusually crisp fastball tonight. Ran into a bit of trouble, seemed to have a brief tweak of the leg, and couldn't get out of the fifth inning. But he struck out 7 and walked 1. Eyre, Hart and Ohman pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless ball - much like the B-team position players giving us a lift yesterday, the B-team relievers gave a huge assist, today. The thrilling, still-in-sole-possesion-of-first-place details, below. (And a recap of a parachat that might be one for the time capsule. Or the incinerator, I suppose.) Game Recap Inning 1Ryan Theriot with a nice catch to his left on a line drive fromNorris Hopper to start the game.Jeff Keppinger smokes a stand-up triple into the right-field corner, first pitch.Ken Griffey Jr. K's on a high fastball, 2nd out. Big strikeout for Hill.Rich Hill 's fastball has a lot of life, really crackling. After sitting at 92, K'sBrandon Phillips , swinging, with the gun reading 94. No runs score.
Alfonso Soriano hits one to right-center, and it scoots away from Griffey, with Soriano taking second.- Theriot advances Soriano to third on a 4-3 ground out. Nice job reaching for a breaking ball well off the plate, punching it to the right side.
Bronson Arroyo hitsDerrek Lee with a fastball to the left tricep.Aramis Ramirez K's looking on a fastball on the outer third of the pitch. Tough to go down looking with a runner on third, there.Cliff Floyd flies out to center. Piniella was jawing at the ump on the first called strike in the Floyd AB. Runner stranded at third.
- Hill K's
Adam Dunn , thenEdwin Encarnacion on another blazing 94 MPH rising fastball. Very, very impressive. First pitch toJorge Cantu is behind him. Heh. Response to Lee's plunking? - Cantu flies out, an easy inning for Hill
Mark Derosa with a single to right-center.Jacque Jones up, K's.Jason Kendall then singles to center, runners on 1 and 2.- Hill pops a bunt towards third, Encarnacion dives for it, but it pops out of the glove. The runners had to wait to see if it would be caught, and while Kendall makes it to third, Derosa is out at second. Hill replaces Derosa at first. So it sort of worked, sort of not.
- Soriano then K's. Arroyo escapes, again.
David Ross doubles just inside the third-base bag. Arroyo gets the bunt down.- After Kendall comes out to visit, then Rothschild and Piniella come to check in on Hill. Injury Concern? Hill trying to shoo everyone away. BJB things he was flexing his left leg a bit. Yeah, he was being a bit gimpy after a pitch
- Ross seems to have thought the swing was on, and Hopper swings away. This inadvertent hit-and-run leads to a bouncer, 6-3, run scores. 1-0.
- Walk to Keppinger. Hill suddenly struggling a bunch, but K's Griffey swinging for a second time, to get out of it.
- Theriot flies out, Lee strikes out swinging to begin the bottom of the third. Ramirez walks. Floyd fouls one off his left instep, is hobbling even more than usual, now.
- Floyd lines one out to the seats in the right field well. Hobbles around for his 2-run HR. Just smoked a "flat slider" as BJB calls it.
- and Derosa makes it back to back, crushing one to the back of the left-center bleachers. Looked like another hanging slider. Crowd totally into it.
- Inning ends on Jones ground-out 4-3. 3-1 Cubs!
- Phillips singles to center to start the 4th.
- Dunn K's swingning on yet ANOTHER high fastball from Hill.
- Encarnacion drilled in the butt by Hill. Runners on 1 and 2.
- Cantu K's swinging on a low fastball away. 7 K's already. Ross flies out to end the threat.
- Kendall leads off the Cubs half with a single to right.
- Hill chops one to shortstop, and on the throw to Phillips at second, Brandon is a good three feet, a full stride to the 3B side of the bag. He's wide enough that Kendall slides in between him and the bag, without coming close to him. Still gets the "neighborhood" call, with Hill out at first. Bah. Cubs don't really protest
- Now Soriano with a checked swing on a pitch he's backing away from, gets called strike three. Most likely he did in fact check his swing. Fans a bit chippy, now. Theriot K's swinging to end the inning.
- Arroyo singles to start the fifth. Three straight leadoffmen have reached for Reds.
- Hopper bunts to the right side, Derosa gets it while Lee retreats to the bag, makes the flip, which gets away from Lee. Arroyo goes to third, Hopper credited with a single. Difficult play all around, the flip to lee was going into the runner's path.
- Keppinger hits one off the ivy in left-center, Arroyo scores, but it's just a single for Kepp. Odd inning. 1st and 2nd, no outs. 3-2.
- Griffey flies out, deep, to Soriano.
- Phillips singles in the hole past Theriot, Soriano fires home, high and offline, unable to get Hopper. Keppinger advances to third on the throw, lucky Phillips stayed at first. 3-3 game.
- Dunn grounds to Theriot, who tries to turn the 4-6-3 to get out of the inning. Dunn called safe at first, Lee is pissed. Sort of goes all Moises-Alou-after-Bartman-Incident, and Lou comes out to argue. Replay shows Dunn was probably out by about 4 inches. But nope, safe, and the run scores from third, 4-3 Reds. Tough, tough luck on the calls tonight, for the Cubs.
- Hill out,
Wuertz in. Hill deserved much better. - Encarnacion immediately singles. Cantu K's swinging on a slider to end the inning.
- Lee walks to start the bottom of the fifth
- Ramirez hits a ball that everyone in the ballpark thinks is a huge HR to dead-center, but Hopper makes a leaping catch into the top of the ivy. No one can quite believe that ball stayed in the park, let alone got caught. Len claims there is "visible frustration" on the Cubs after this out, and the tough calls tonight.
- Floyd pops out to second
- Derosa singles through the hole, runners on 1 and 2, two outs for Jones.
- Jones singles through the right-side hole. Griffey can't quite decide where to throw, finally goes to third. Derosa sort of held up within ten feet of third, BJB thinks he was trying to deke Encarnacion at third, somehow, (or Griffey, on the throw?) and the throw winds up hitting him in the leg. Safe at third. Tie game, 4-4.
- Kendall pops out, ending inning.
- Upon further review, I think Derosa was just trying to figure out how to get around Encarnacion to get to third base.
- My mlb.tv feed keeps cutting out, at this point. Somehow, Arroyo gets to second with two outs. Keppinger hits one to Jones, who tries for a shoestring catch, can't make it, and Arroyo beats the throw home, with Keppinger taking second. 5-4 reds. 2 outs, runner on second.
Scott Eyre andGeovany Soto both come in, to try to close out the inning.- Griffey hits through the shift, singling to Floyd. Run scores, 6-4.
- Phillips hits one off of Ramirez's glove. Aramis has really been struggling on bouncers hit to his glove-hand side, it seems.
- Dunn grounds out to Theriot, playing on the 1B side of 2B, to end the inning. Mercifully.
- Soto grounds to third.
- Reds are playing the game under protest, on the grounds that when LouPa went to bring in Eyre and Soto as a double switch, he only alerted the umpire that it was a switch of the lineup after having motioned to bring in both players. Reds claiming that he needed to alert the umpire, before making those moves, and therefore, Soto was batting out of order. BJB and Len trying to find the relevant line in the rule book.
- Soriano doubles to right.
- Ok, BJB finds rule saying that notification of a double-switch must be "immediate". Reds saying notifying ump while halfway to mound doesn't count.
Gary Majewski in.- Soriano runs towards third on a Theriot ground ball to shortstop. Keppinger goes to third, and Soriano is out, easily.
- Kevin Hart in.
- Encarnacion pops to shallow left. Theriot backpedals for it, as the wind pushes it further out to left. Soriano never calls Theriot off, and doesn't come in for it, and Theriot can't handle it in the wind. Drops in for a hit.
Joey Votto hits for Cantu.- GIDP to end the inning. My feed is kind of sketchy here, sorry.
- After a Ramirez single,
Mike Stanton comes in to face Floyd, who represents the tying run. Craig Monroe in to PH for Floyd.- My feed cuts out just before a GIDP. My feed must be trying to protect me, but it's getting annoying. Derosa singles, Jones grounds out to Keppinger, who makes a nice backhanded play, to get the force at second, ending the 7th.
Buck Coats in to PH for Stanton. Bounces out to Soto, 2-3. Hopper bounces out to Lee, unassisted.- Monroe slides feet-first into the right field wall, by the bullpen mound, going after a foul ball. No dice.
- Keppinger bounces to Theriot, who throws wide of Lee. Lee dives and sprawls to his right, manages to hold on to the throw and get the out to end the inning.
Mike Fontenot in to hit forKevin Hart ,Jared Burton (WHO!?!?!?!) in to pitch. Grounds to first. Soto flies to Hopper. Soriano flies to left, a very quiet inning
- It's always a bad sign with Len and Bob start discussing William Taft stuck in the bathtub.
Will Ohman in. Len and Bob talking about 1910s fashion.- Ohman with an easy ninth. K's dunn to end it.
David Weathers in,Jason Ellison (WHO!?!?) in left.- Theriot walks on a full count, to lead off the inning. Nice work.
- Lee, 1-19 career against weathers, singles to right field. 2-20. 1st and 2nd, no outs. Fans into it.
- Lee, on replay, seems to have been very upset that Theriot didn't get to third on his single.
- Ramirez lines one to right-center. Hopper, playing towards left-center, dives for it, seems to have misjudged the dive just a bit, and it gets passed him. Crowd goes berzerk, as both runners score, and Ramirez goes to third.
Sam Fuld in to pinch run for Ramirez, as the winning run, at thirdDaryle Ward in to pinch hit, intentionally walked.- Norris Hopper being called in to play infield, as fifth infielder
Felix Pie to run for Ward.- Derosa hits one off Weathers glove, off of Phillips, finally dying in the grass just in front of Second Base. Fuld scores the winning run, and Wrigley Field goes absolutely bat-shit crazy bonkers. All the Cubs come on the field to celebrate an improbable victory. (assuming the Reds' protest fails.)
Comments