Sunday, June 5

7 wins in 8 games!!

In the WGN pre-game, one of the commentators (can’t remember if it was Bob or Len) said the Cubs shouldn’t have any trouble tearing up May. I optimistically nodded in agreement and the game began…

First inning: After a Hairston groundout, Neifi went deep for the seventh time this season. This was especially memorable because the ball went directly into Harry the Heckler’s mit. By the way, Harry, lose the Padres throw back. Last time I checked you’re not a celebrity or a hip hop star so there’s no excuse for that kind of gear. Anyway, Harry, being the rambunctious bastard he is, threw it back before Perez could get to second. Also, Ramirez got his first of three hits in the game which proves he’s bat is definitely back in action (as if anyone was still questioning whether or not he’s slumping).

I want to interrupt myself for a second and comment on the cubs overall hitting as of late. On the whole, our guys have been very patient. They’re getting into hitters’ counts and forcing pitchers to throw strikes. This is leading to loads of offense and is one of the key reasons we’re winning some many games.

The bottom half of the first was pretty ugly for the Cubbies. Maddux threw a wild pitch to advance Blum to advance to second and Burnitz botched a ground ball in the infield to let Blum score easily (Blum’s luck ran out in the 5th when he failed to track down a DuBois fly ball in shallow right) .

Fast forward to the fifth: This is where the Cubs blew it wide open. May got pulled and in came the middle relief. Double, single, single, double, intentional walk to start the 5th. At this point, it’s 6-1, nobody out with the bases juiced. Barrett delivers with a ground rule double to make it 8-1. Maddux even got in on the action with a single which brought in Patterson (9-1, still nobody out). Hairston was next, and what do you know, he drops one into left center. By the time the Cubs’ hit parade ended, the score was 11-1. So…fifth inning recap: Cubs go through the entire order and then some getting eight hits putting seven runs on the board. That’s the most they’ve put up in a single inning this season. Oh, and the Padres went 1-2-3.

The Padres chipped away at the Cubs’ lead with two in the sixth and two in the seventh, but in the end, the Cubs rolled to their seventh win in eight games. Let’s hope we can get out of San Diego taking three of the four. Overall, another great performance by the Cubs tonight. Maddux got his fourth win of the season and six Cubs hitters had multiple hits.

Finally, here are some other interesting things I picked up while watching the game tonight: the Padres are passing around an upper respiratory infection (hence Klesko’s absence tonight), Len (WGN announcer) LITERALLY got shit on by a pigeon today while walking around San Diego and the winning word in the 2005 national spelling bee was ‘appoggiatura’ (a melodic tone).

11 Comments:

At 1:38 AM, Blogger Hyposquasher said...

i love melodic tones...

nice post, i'd like to see other's comments on the game who got to see it, since we don't get WGN out here in PA.

things i noticed from the play-by-play: in that 7-run 5th inning derrek lee lead off with a double, scored, and brought in the 7th run of the inning with a single. 2 hits in one inning, not bad! however, i don't mean to overshadow the great offensive showcases of all the other Cubbies tonight, so we'll leave that at that.

one thing i've never seen in a play-by-play before:
"M Sweeney to second on fielder's indifference." this happened after bartosh had already given up the 2 runs he allowed in the 7th, so what the heck happened? anyone? not a stolen base, but fielder's indifference? what, did he just decide to walk over to second base and no one cared or noticed?

 
At 2:00 AM, Blogger Hyposquasher said...

hey, Hawk... I think others will notice this so i'll be a dick and the first to point it out... the cubs loss yesterday ended their 7-game win streak. so isn't the win today their 8th win in 9 games?

 
At 6:44 AM, Blogger DS said...

hypo...yeah, good catch on the 8 out of 9. My bad. But technically, saying they've won 7 out of the last 8 is a true statement.

 
At 8:01 AM, Blogger Jim Hendry said...

Hooray Hawk!


Good stuff my man, I remember sitting drinking (surprise) and watching those runs tumble in one after the other.... I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, and then I realized, that's just what Reading PA does to a man. (Joke)


Oh, and one more thing: it's no coincidence that Lee and MVP rhyme, or that Harry the Heckler is a hip-hop star. I've some stuff of his in my stacks, and it ain't half-bad.

(Note: I probably shouldn't write stuff at 8am on sunday mornings...)

 
At 8:03 AM, Blogger Jim Hendry said...

Oh, and Hypo: that fielder's indifference happens a lot in Cubs games, or at least it did last month. Macias had one of those in the 9th when the Cubs were down like 8 to somebody...

it's pretty much a stolen base where no-one bothers to try and throw them out, the catcher swallows the ball and doesn't think it worth his effort. It's definitely one of my favourite baseball terms.

 
At 9:57 AM, Blogger Jim said...

Whether or not the base is "stolen" is up to the official scorer. JT is right about this.

Patterson's "fielder's choice" in that inning, when the short stop tried to get the runner at third and the Padre's didn't get anyone out, is also a decision made by the official scorer. I think he should have gotten a hit because they could not have thrown Patterson out at first.

JT, what are you doing in Reading? Outlet shopping?

 
At 6:09 PM, Blogger Hyposquasher said...

drinking at the bowl-grille!!!

 
At 9:33 PM, Blogger Jim said...

Nine of ten, guys!

 
At 11:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A seven-and-one California road trip is definitely the way to go. Good job cubs. Yet another good performance from el Torro, who got himself into trouble often, and then got himself out of it everytime. What a game. Here we come, Cardinals.

 
At 10:01 AM, Blogger Jim Hendry said...

Seriously, this is some good stuff we're seeing out of the team.


And Jim -- my mum just moved to Shillington so I went down to help her arrange furniture, hang out etc.

 
At 10:53 AM, Blogger Jim said...

hyposquasher said you were a momma's boy, JT.

 

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