Game 46 Recap: Cubs 8, Dodgers 9
Elegia
Game Center, Play by Play, Photos, Box Score
W -Seanez (2-0), Fate
L - Ohman (0-2), faith in a benevolent creator
S - Saito (15)
Things to take from this game:
1. The Magnificent Seventh
It isn't just that we came back from a 5-1 deficit with a seven run outburst. It's how we did it. Seemingly every hit this inning was opposite-field on controlled swings and purposefull at-bats. It was easily the most enjoyable half inning of Cubs offense all year.
2. The Execrable Eighth.
It was followed by the most frustrating inning all year. Wuertz got pulled after a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, for Howry. Howry gave up three straight line drives, and looked pretty frustrated with himself upon exiting for Ohman. Ohman faced one batter, gave up a hit, and in came Guzman who gave up the lead. Five straight hits, total, to start the inning.
3. Take Jeff Kent. Please.
Kent had four RBIs off of Lilly, and also arguably the hardest hit ball, all night, which wound up being just a fly out to the center field wall in the heavy LA night. At least he flubbed an easy double play attempt.
4. Picked.
It's sort of a small thing to focus on, but Derrek Lee got picked off of second, the play after doubling in the tying run in the seventh. Without that, we would have had one more run, and, conceivably, a tie game after nine
5. Soriano feeling better?
He misplayed a ball in the outfield, but at least Soriano looked like an offensive force, today. He took third on the throw after an RBI double, and seemed to look good doing it. Three hits, two RBI and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot.
The details, in all their triumph and tragedy, follow.
- Derrek Lee's wrist survived Furcal's first AB, but the second Dodger batter of the game, Pierre, hits a swinging bunt right down the first base line. Lilly does a shovel-pass from his glove to Lee's, but the toss is low, into the baseline, with Pierre charging. Lee caught it, and got his glove hand out of the way with almost inhuman speed. No broken wrists, yet.
- Next batter, Soriano gets caught betwen playing the ball and playing the first hop on a hit down the left field line, and the ball escapes him to roll around the corner. Called a double, then a single and an error, then reverses the call back to a double.
- Martin lines a loopy slow curve back up the middle, a pitch after watching one of these Lillyhammers drop in for a strike. Garciaparra comes around to score, and Jones, after double-pumping, "throws" the ball in, way off target. At least no one advanced on the throw. 1-0 end of the 1st.
- With the game on WGN for me, this is a nice excuse to listen to Vin Scully through mlb.audio. I only really heard Vin Scully for the first time, as an active listening fan, last year. He's every bit as good as everyone says he is. I'd listen to him read the phone book.
- Scully reports that he hears that Lou is very mad with the whole Cubs situation, that he wouldn't have joined the team had he known it'd be like this.
- Damnit, now Scully is also telling me that the Cubs claim it's not a 1005-1005 organizational tie, thatit's 1005-1004 cubs. Scully with TMI
- Blargh. Kent crushes a two-out pitch into the left field bleachers. At least we picked off Pierre, earlier in the inning, making it only a 2-run HR.
- Cubs half of the fifth, one on, and Jones hits an easy 4-6-3 ball to Kent, who flubs the glove-to-hand exchange as he's fielding it. Everybody safe.
- Kent with a two-run double in the fifth. He's killing us. Marmol in, weneed four innings of relief from the pen.
- A Soriano single, steal, and Lee double, and we have a run. Lowe seems to be unsettled or uncomfortable on the mound right now, shuffling around, quibbling with the ump, and just generally out-Loweing himself, right now..
- Jacques Jones steals in the seventh, down 5-1. Surprising, but got a good jump and made it.
- And now, Murton walks. 5-1 game and wee're into the bullpen, really need to get back into the game before Saito comes in.
- I haven't had a chance to watch as closely as I'd like, but there have been a bunch of parachat complaints, and at least a few actual-player-complaints, about the strike zone tonight.
- How about that. Soriano drives in some runs, with a double into the left field corner off of Brazoban.. The second run, Murton, scores easily, with Soriano taking third on the floor. Some aggressive baserunning from him, even! 5-3 in the seventh.
- And a very nice piece of hitting by DeRosa, serving a pitch into right-center for a double, scoring Soriano. 5-4. Way to score before getting to Broxton and Saito.
- Broxton in, but Lee doubles off of him. Classic Lee swing, smoking an inside fastball wtih a nice compact swing. Very good to see. 5-5.
- And before another pitch, Lee is picked off of second. That really hurts, losing the go-ahead run from second base, with one out, now two. Ramirez up.
- and Ramirez with a nice line drive single the opposite way, it would have scored Lee. Lee certainly recognizes what his mistake has cost us, as they show him in the dugout.
- and Floyd ropes one into the right-center gap, but in a very good, and easily overlooked play, Ethier makes a running, sliding effort to keep the ball from getting to the wall, leaping to his feat, and keeping Ramirez at third. Seven of Eight runners have reached base so far in the inning.
- and another good piece of hitting, as Barrett also goes the other way, with a single to score Aramis. The Dodgers announcers describe it as "a wheelbarrow full of bad sliders this inning." What's really impressive, especially after the problems in San Diego, is how seemingly EVERYONE is avoiding the over-swing, and going opposite field on outside pitches.
- more opposite field hitting. Jones doubles inside the third base line, Floyd scores. Someone needs to look up how many of these hits were opposite field. It has to be a majority, at least. 7-5
- Wheels coming off. For the other team. Seanez in, Izturis grounds one to third. Tony Abreu double-clutches to avoid Jones, who has just sort of stopped running and jogged off to the side a step, in order to avoid being tagged. It screws Abreu up, who throws low to first. Error, Izzy safe, Barrett scores.
- Murton finally ends the inning. Seven runs score, and it's 8-5
- And Dodgers go very quickly in the bottom half of the seventh, Wuertz pitching.
- Howry on in the 8th, first two hitters reach, and tying run comes up in Tony Abreu.
- And he reaches. Bases loaded, no outs, go-ahead run at the plate.
- Ohman in, and we get Saenz as the pinch-hitter.
- Saenz hits one right back up the middle. Run in, bases still loaded, 8-6. Dodger stadium was absolutely dead after the seventh, most Dodger fans went home. Those that are left are trying to make some noise. Failing.
- Guzman in to face Andy LaRoche with the bases loaded, no outs in the eighth inning of a two-run game. Welcome to relief ace-dom, kid.
- Welcome to Cubs-dom, kid. First pitch is a wild pitch, scoring a run and moving the go-ahead run to second. Still no outs. (Barrett could have blocked it, arguably) Quickly followed by ball four.
- Furcal ties the game up again, with a single. 8-8
- Pierre hits one about as far as he can, to medium CF, for the go-ahead sac fly. End the disaster with a GIDP, after that. So much for our amazing comeback.
- Brenley: "Reminds me of a bad case of food poisioning."
Parachat Recap
Inning 1:
"Monster Pig," yuppie hillbillies, game predictions, Baseball Tonight. Jeff Kent is old. Vin Scully. X can throw better than Jones.
Inning 2:
Our free-swinging ways, no-name vs. name-brand managers, the McGriff effect. The Onion. Larry King. If your neighbor looked like Ted Lilly
Inning 3:
How best to threaten Dick's Sporting Goods over their obnoxious mlb.tv commercial. Sex-changing chickens and fish. What's in the in-laws cupboards? Bloody cockscombs. We really don't like Jeff Kent. Other games.
Inning 4:
What are we doing here, and what are we doing over the weekend? Fantasy misery. Step-fathers. Does Aramis look like a turtle? More fantasy ball.
Inning 5:
Beers. L.A. people. Zima. Mocking Kent. Zebra jokes. Impersonating parachatters. Pierre. Anti-science. Debating Jeff Kent's skills at sexual harassment. Cliff Bartosh autographed baseball hat as booby prize. More Kent hating. Funny-looking athletes and more booby prizes.
Inning 6:
Kangaroos on Noah's ark. Tourist attractions of Janesville, WI. Clowns and clownholes, and Juan Pierre. Bad umpires and Old Style. The Brewers. More Match Game efforts.
Inning 7:
Pat Sajak is a terrorist. Marmol as the smallest catcher ever. Heliocentric hotties hiding from me. Keith Richards as a pirate, and the longest ball ever hit by Izturis. Bob Dole's personal stash. The interest of all of the above, in Asian women. At this point, parachat descends to a new, undiscovered level of Dante's Hell. Daryle Ward has + 20 Lady Lumps. Pokemon. Is this baseball or water polo? Neologism: Leerections - arrousal inspired by Derrek Lee doing something good. Mia Hamm. God's sense of humor. Comeback ecstacy. What is Tommy Lasorda doing, during this comeback? Memories of children's bible-song records.
Inning 8:
Christian songs about donkeys. More on the umpire. Was Amy Grant hot? Checking your WGN. Yoda impersonations. Plot-spoilers to classic TV shows. Agony. Calling on the spirit of other bad Cubs relievers
Inning 9:
Finger-pointing.
Comments