NLDS Game 2 Recap: Cubs 3, Dodgers 10
Booted
W - Billingsley (1-0)
L - Zambrano (0-1)
Things to Take from This Game
1. Alex Gonzalez Redux
Second inning with Ethier on first, the dodgers put on a hit and run. Loney hits the ball to shortstop. But with Theriot covering the bag, he's out of position, can't make the barehand stop of the chopper. Ruled a hit. Correctly. Two batters later, DeWitt hits a potential inning-ending double-play ball right at DeRosa, but it pops out of his glove, and everyone's safe with a run scoring on the play. Lee makes an error on the next play, a chopper right at him hit by Blake, loading the bases. A Furcal bunt and a Martin bases-clearing double to the left-center Gap, and the Cubs found themselves down 5-0 going into the bottom of the second. A particular shame as Z had looked really focused, sharp, pitching quickly, with an awesome fastball, only to have his defense betray him and then give up a legit double.
- Ramirez also made a lame error a couple innings later. No damage was done, save to our pride.
- And Theriot gives the Cubs infield the Defensive Anti-Cycle, an error by each infielder, when he throws one away in the ninth.
2. Manny Ramirez Redux
Manny hit a gargantuan home run. He's good.
3. Ah, screwit.
Cotts and Marmol struggled, the Cubs got through 2/9ths of a 9-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth, other things probably happened to.
The "we have not yet begun to fight!" "No, really... we haven't yet begun to fight...." details, below.
Game Recap
Pregame
- Stockton still going on about crowd enthusiasm. Gyeh.
- Another cool night, wind blowing in
Inning 1 - Top
- Fastball low for ball one to start the game. Fastball at 91 on the outside for a strike, and then another, 1-2 count. Z pitching very, very quickly to start
- Swinging bunt, Z with a nice bare-handed play to get him at first
- 94 fastball fouled off behind the plate to start martin.
- Martin pop flies out to Fukudome in shallow right
- Gun reads 97 on first pitch to Manny. Foul
- 93 on the inside corner, Manny not happy with it. Crowd roaring. They booed Manny when he came up to the plate.
- Z blows a 95 mph fastball, up and outside, past Manny. Who knows what happens in ten minutes, even, but can't overstate that Z looks poised and focused so far.
Inning 1 - Bottom
- Soriano lines a slider over the middle of the plate for a single into left.
- Low fastball to Theriot, just barely short-hops martin. Tries for the backhand, and it skips away just a bit. Soriano takes second.
- Theriot swings through a high fastball that missed its spot by about two feet, 1-2 count.
- Theriot flails at a slider, strike three. Ball gets away, no advance from Soriano.
- Nice breaking pitch from Billingsly to start Lee with a called strike
- 0-2 swinging at a low outside fastball.
- News Flash: Billingsly has really good stuff.
- The TBS broadcast crew declares this a Key Moment In The Game.
- No, it's not.
- Martin sets up in on a 2-2 count, ball misses over the plate, confusing the ump who calls it a ball.
- Lee waves at a sharp slider, K's.
- Ramirez swings through a fastball outside, strike one.
- Martin with a nice stop on a slider in the dirt
- Works the count to 3-2.
- Crowd on its feet.
- Ramirez flies to medium-deep center. Nuts.
Inning 2 - Top
- 0-2 to start Ethier.
- Z is throwing his next pitch right at every 9-10 seconds after receiving the ball from Soto
- Ethier lines a 2-2 into right for a single.
- Ethier runs, Loney chops one right to where Theriot was before going over to cover. Theriot turns back for it, tries for the barehand, it slips away. Runners at 1 and 3. Z jumps and twists in some frustration at the misfortune
- Z throwing a lot of strikes, Kemp swings and fouls off first pitch. Strike fastball on inside corner, 0-2.
- Crowd to its feet
- supposed to be fastball outside, it sails up and in on kemp, just misses his jersey.
- FAstball just a bit too low and outside, 2-2 count. Would have been nice to have.
- Strike three called on Kemp. Huge strikeout. looks like a slider One out
- DeWitt hits a sharp grounder right at DeRosa. DeRosa goes to one knee, the ball goes into his glove and pops back out. He lunges for it, does a backhand shovel to Theriot, but the pass is wide of the bag. Everybody safe, run scores, runners at 1 and 2. From an inning-ending DP to a chance to at least get the force at second to absolutely nothing. 1-0 dodgers
- And now Blake bounces one to Lee, and the ball bounces up on lee a bit, and the ball bounces off him. A second consecutive error. Bases loaded. Z trying to stay composed. Rothschild comes out to calm Z down. Crowd booing the defense at first, now standing up to cheer on Z.
- 0-2 on Billingsly Strike three swinging on a 95 fastball. two outs. Crowd chanting "Z Z Z!"
- Furcal pushes a bunt to shallow second base. DeRosa runs in for the bare-hand play, but it's too late. Safe at first. Run scores. perfect positioning by Furcal. 2-0 dodgers
- 2-0 on Martin. Now to 3-1. Martin lines one that splits the left-center gap. All three runs score. Double. 5-0 Dodgers
- Z now overthrowing a bit. 97 high and outside to Manny. 96 mph blown past him, swinging. 1-2 count.
- Called three on the outside corner. Inning over.
Inning 2 - Bottom
- DeRosa bounces out to Blake.
- Edmonds with a slow roller to short. Blake cuts it off and throws him out
- Credit to parachatters for pointing it out, Billingsly is pitching away, away, away to the Cubs righties. Soto K's swinging at an outside fastball.
- That was quick.
Inning 3 - Top
- Ethier pops to DeRosa, right next to second base bag
- 3-0 on Loney. 3-1. Lines a shot to center, carries more than Edmonds thinks, but adjusts to make the stretching catch.
- Kemp Ks swinging through a fastball. Nice to see a good bounce-back from Z
Inning 3 - Bottom
- ferocious slider by billingsly, Fukudome swings and misses for 1-2. And another swing and miss for strike three. Crowd not happy.
- Z walks! Go offense.
- And 2-0 to Soriano. Honeycutt to the mound.
- and winds up flying out to right.
- Theriot with a sharp grounder right to Furcal, goes for the force at second. Inning over
Inning 4 - Top
- DeWitt flies to Edmonds
- and Blake grounds to Ramirez. Poor Z. He really has had it going, other than the Martin double...
- a quick 0-2 on Billingsly. Credit to the fans, they're still cheering on Z.
- Wow. Billingsly bounces one to Ramirez, who backs up on it. You know what happens when Ramirez backs up on a bouncer.
- Furcal with a liner just in front of Soriano, runners at 1 and 2
- Crowd chanting "let's go Z! let's go Z!"
- On a strike call to Martin, Soto's throw back to Martin slips out of his hand, and bounces out to Z who fields it, makes sure the runners don't go anywhere. Soto goes to get the Resin bag.
- Martin swings through a fastball ending the inning. Z still looks great
Inning 4 - Bottom
- Lee with a sharp liner in front of Manny for a single.
- Ramirez rolls out to Furcal, who starts the 6-4-3 with the force at second. Lee sticks his right hand way up in the air, as DeWitt sidearms the throw to keep Lee's slide low. The throw goes right into Lee's outstretched fingers. Ramirez safe at first, no interference called. Never seen that before. Lee seems to be fine.
- DeRosa with a bouncer to Furcal, this time a very easy 6-4-3. Inning over.
Inning 5 - Top
- Dear God. Manny hits a moon shot to center off of Zambrano. It lands on the roofing above the green area in straight-away center, with a thunk. Fastball that catches the inner third of the plate.
- Ethier walks.
- 2-0 on Loney. Pops out to Ramirez
- Kemp rolls into a nicely turned 4-6-3
Inning 5 - Bottom
- Edmonds flies to the warning track in left-center. Manny catches it right at the ivy.
- Soto grounds out to third.
- 3-2 on Fukudome, watches a called fastball strike on the outside corner. Inning over.
Inning 6 - Top
- DeRosa makes a nice play on a DeWitt grounder. 4-3
- Ron Darling, I think it was, asked Lou if this was a chance to get the bench in the game. Wow.
- Fastball runs in on Blake, hitting him.
- Billingsly bunts, Z fields, bobbles, fires to second. Blake clearly is safe. I mean, clearly. He's called out.
- Furcal pops to Soriano
Inning 6 - Bottom
- Z chops one out to Blake, nice charging backhanded stop, 5-3.
- Soriano K's swinging
- Theriot grounds to DeWitt. Knocks it down, easy 4-3.
Inning 7 - Top
- Z still pitching, 0-2 on Martin. Martin K's looking
- Z vs Manny again. A walk, not much drama
- Lou comes out for Z. Nice ovation for Z as he leaves the game, Cotts in
- Z on the bench, holding his head in his hands, and with a towel draped over it.
- Cotts goes 3-0 on Ethier. Walks on five pitches
- and 2-0 on Loney, Rothschild visits.
- Loney rolls to DeRosa, can't quite turn the 4-6-3. Out at second, runners at 1 and 3, two outs.
- Kemp slices one inside the right field line, bouncing off the padding (with a nice if irrelevant play on it by Fukudome) for a double. Runner scores, 2nd and 3rd. 7-0 dodgers
- DeWitt pops to DeRosa, inning over. More booing.
Inning 7 - Bottom
- Lee flies out to deep right.
- Ramirez K's swinging. Billingsly cruising.
- DeRosa lines a double high off the right-field Ivy. First extra-base hit for the Cubs.
- Edmonds hits a high arcing double off the top of the left-center ivy. Kemp made a leap for it into the ivy, I thought he was going to make a spectacular catch. Lots of ivy come falling to the ground, as does the ball. Run scores, 7-1 dodgers
- Soto grounds a single through the left-side hole, Edmonds holds at third. first and third, two outs.
- Cory Wade in for Billingsly.
- Fukudome bounces to Furcal, gets the force at second base. Inning over.
Inning 8 - Top
- Marmol in for Cotts
- Blake rolls a single through the left-side hole.
- Bit of a nifty play as Angel Berroa pinch hits forWade, bunt rolls one out to Lee wide of first base. He shovels to first, where Marmol is racing to cover and DeRosa already is there. DeRosa grabs it, just beating Berroa. Blake to second
- Furcal singles to right, and uncharacteristically, Fukudome Jacque Joneses one to the plate. Blake slides around the tag. 8-1 dodgers.
- Martin K's looking
- Manny bloops one into shallow right-center. Edmonds makes a nice diving effort for it, comes up short, lands awkwardly on his right wrist and elbow. Stays in the game. Furcal scores, 9-1 dodgers
- Ethier K's swinging on a full count.
Inning 8 - Bottom
- Fontenot in to hit for Marmol
- and rolls to DeWitt
- Soriano with a one-hopper to Blake. 5-3.
- And Theriot with another pedestrian 5-3.
Inning 9 - Top
- Wood in
- Loney flies to Fukudome
- Kemp flies out just short of the warning track in center.
- Pierre hits for Wade. Hot smash to Theriot, Ball pops out of his glove. Picks it up, poor throw to first, hops away from Lee, for an error. Each infielder now has made an error. Pierre to second.
- Blake rolls a single up the middle, just left of the bag. Pierre scores. 10-1 dodgers
- Berroa with a single through the left side hole, Blake to second.
- Furcal pops to Fukudome, mercifully ending the Cubs defensive effort for the night.
Inning 9 - Bottom
- Saito in.
- Lee lines a one-hop double into the left-center ivy. Ground Rule Double.
- Ramirez lines one through the left-side hole. First and Third.
- DeRosa lines one that lands just a fraction of an inch foul of the left-field line. Announcers think it had to have caught at least a blade of foul-line white-colored grass. Nuts.
- Ramirez to second uncontested
- DeRosaLines one to right-center. Kemp misjudges it a bit, it gets over his head for a double. Two runs score. Ramirez almost runs past Lee on the way. 10-3 Cubs. DeRosa keeps going to right-center with good results.
- Pie hits for Edmonds. Have to assume that he's feeling the effects of that dive.
- Broxton in to face Pie. This just isn't fair.
- Well I'll be hornswaggled. Pie walks. Runners on 1 and 2
- Ball one to Soto. Still no one out. Still down 7, though.
- Soto rips one to the second baseman, but Berroa makes a nice leap for it (Berroa stayed in on a double-switch, forgot to mention that) for the out. Runners scamper back to the bags.
- Fukudome K's looking, third K tonight, crowd boos.
- Ward pinch-hits for Wood
- 3-1 on Ward. Crowd standing, but also sort of quiet.
- 3-2 on Ward, a fastball low and inside gets called strike three to end the gme. Ward was pretty surprised and upset. Rightfully so.
Parachat Recap
Pregame
- Following the debate
- Gravity is a gay jewish conspiracy
- VPILFS
- Snow on mars
Inning 1
- Who are you praying to?
- Cozad the Goat King
- Siva
- Me
- Excited about Z's start
- ok, time to switch over to the debate during the commercials
- More debate/cubs attention division. Fun night of chatter with so much good stuff going on.
- Following the game, complaining about TBS announcers. Commercial! Over to the debate
- NUCULAR!!!!!
Inning 2
- Pretty intensely following the game. Parachat gets serious for the post-season? egads.
- People who could field better than our second inning defense
- Parachat has an aneurysm.
- Despair.
- Booze-smuggling mules.
- Worst post-season: this one or last one?
- wow, tough question
- Continuing our VP Debate Drinking Game
Inning 3
- Regaining our sensibilities
- Feeling bad for Z
- Debating the egregiousness of the different defensive mistakes
- Palin's "diversity."
- Playoff history
- Nukular Mavericks
- More and more Palin talk.
- Crazy Martha
- Abstinence
Inning 4
- More Palin
- and more Nukular.
- AND MORE BOBOS!!!!!
- Nukular attacks against the Mexican Moose
- more bemoaning of the Cubs' "defense"
- welcoming new parachatters. Always glad to have people join us!
- "Cubs are pretty Uggla tonight" - Nohit
- BOBOS!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Should the Cubs try a human sacrifice to get back into the series?
- yes.
- The weird Lee play at second.
- The Morneau Contract
Inning 5
- something involving a circle jerk website and Chad. I really don't want to know, and if I'd read parachat any more closely at this point, my eyes would have bled.
- If Scrooge McDuck owned the cubs.
- Comparing Manny to Cholera.
- Cubs ask for a bailout from Paulson.
- Admiring my awesome Manny/Cholera comparison. Damn, I'm smooth
- Donuts. We are informed that this is some sort of pornographic term, but either no one knows exactly what for, or is willing to say.
- "Tony Gwynn makes Steve Urkel look like Gary Sheffield" - Logan
Inning 6
- Q: What did Sarah Palin say when she opened a box of Cheerios? A: "Look! Donut seeds." - Ryno
- The donut discussion gets graphic, and weird, and graphically weird
- The horridly inaccurate but pro-cub call at second base.
- Volcano Tacos
- Chad's suicide watch
- Oh wow.
- What counts as sex?
- Which would you rather have: Your preferred presidential candidate win, or the Cubs win the WS?
Inning 7
- James Fenimore Cooper rules parachat.
- Comparing the Cubs to late-80s Michael Jackson.
- and with Johann's mom.
- Cruel Santo death jokes
- Showbiz Pizza
- Molestation. Also not funny.
- Skeeball
- again, nice to see so many long-lost faces in parachat
- Just what we need to complete a long and painful night: an esoteric music discussion!
- Viagra.
- Parachat rules of discussion
- Rectal Prolapse
- Shrinkage
- Pinch-hit for Fukudome here?
- yes
Inning 8
- Kellie Pickler vs. Sarah Palin
- Things we wish would befall the Dodgers
- Fukudome vs. Jacque Jones
- Self-Mutilation
- I prefer Other-Mutilation, personally.
- Fukudome's dreadlocks
- Read Tomorrow's BCB Headlines, Tonight: "Don't Panic."
Inning 9
- No one feels as if they've been slapped in the face by a giant penis
- Boxing Mr. T.
- Dissecting Fukudome
- Cholera.
- "They could cut off my balls right now and I wouldn't feel it" - RobG
- Wood's future in a Cubs uniform.
- What we'll do if the Cubs score 9 or more in the bottom of the ninth.
- A Bartman lookalike?
- Racist Carlos returns.
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