04-27-05 -- Hypo's Take - Cubs 8, Reds 7

ESPN Boxscore

Today the Cubs beat the Reds to win the series 2-1. And what a game it was! It had its ups and its downs, but today the Cubs came out on top! I thought it was absolutely great yesterday when they came back from being down 5-1 to take the lead 8-6, but today they decided to do even better. After Ryan Dempster gave up a grand slam in the top of the 3rd inning (with two outs) to put the Reds up 6-1, it looked as though the Cubs might have been in for a whalloping today... but they had different ideas. The Cubs battled back to 6-4 and had the tying run on base in scoring position in the bottom of the 6th with one out, but it was not yet to be. In the next half-inning, Roberto Novoa -- the newest addition to the Cubs bullpen -- gave up another run to the Reds making it 7-4. But the highlight of this game had to be the bottom of the 7th inning. The Cubs again got the tying run to the plate in the form of Hairston, Jr at 3rd, Perez at 2nd, and Lee up to bat. Lee hit a ball out of the park for his second homerun of the game, tying the game at 7 apiece! Who knew the Cubs had so much fight in them? It has been awesome to watch the Cubs battle back from these defecits the last two days. The offense in general has been exciting to watch this whole series -- our beloved Cubbies scored 27 runs agains the Reds in this series, averaging 9 per game! This game ultimately ended with a walkoff homer by Corey Patterson in the bottom of the 9th.

--- Pointers from the game ---
** First and foremost:
Derrek Lee's stats... there isn't much I can say about his game, as the stats pretty much speak for themselves: 4/4 with 2 Runs, 6 RBIs, 2 HRs. Wow!

** Next and nextmost:
Most of the lineup hit pretty well today, notably Neifi Perez continuing with his hot bat in a 2/5 day (2 Runs) and Corey Patterson going the final distance to win the game. He was 3/5 today with a couple runs scored and 2 RBIs as well.

** Pitching:
Dempster pretty much didn't have a good day today, the grand slam being the largest evidence of that, but every starter is going to have a sub-par start once in while, just like Zambino did yesterday (notice I didn't rag on Zambrano once yesterday, as he is allowed a poor outing once in a while!). Ohman came in to relieve Dempster in the 6th and did much better than he did yesterday, getting the final two outs and walking one. The new guy (Novoa) could have had a much worse first day than he ended up having, so we'll let him off the hook for his one ER (he pitched the 7th inning). For Rusch it was business as usual in the 8th as he put the Reds down 1-2-3. Hawkins, Hawkins, Hawkins. I am pretty sure I have this guy figured out. He is a good pitcher with great stuff, but there is something wrong with his head when he has a lead to hold -- mostly only when it's a 1 run lead -- and he is pitching the 9th. For some reason he has no problem pitching the 8th inning with a lead or even the 9th inning when it's tied. That was the situation he was in today in the top of the 9th, and he also had a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. It goes back to what I said the other day about him not being able to bridge the mentality gap between being a setup guy and a closer. That's the bottom line. That being said, he is a great setup guy and had a solid performance today, so Latroy, I salute you.

** Final Sign-off:
Cubs win! Cubs win! Amazing offense today guys, picking up the tough win! Here's to tomorrow!!!