4/23/11 Los Angeles Dodgers 8, Chicago Cubs 10

Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Game 2 of 3

You gotta love the top of the order…



Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney (batting #1 and #2 respectively) combine for 6RBI, 7H, 4R, and even 2SB (Barney’s was part of a double steal with Marlon Byrd…it’s so good to see that kind of stuff again!).



Pre-game hype was all about the clash of the TITANS, Ryan Dempster against former Cub Ted Lilly. Meh. Neither were great, neither lasted more than 5.2 innings…they combined for 12ER, 20H, 4BB and 6K facing 52 batters total.

Jeff Baker’s 2RBI double in the 8th capped off a 5-run inning that gave the Cubs the kind of lead they needed to keep on top of the Dodgers for the rest of the game.

What Lilly let go of, Matt Guerrier made it worse for the Dodgers. Sean Marshall did his best Carlos Marmol impression, really leaving us nearly to vomit…shockingly, Jeff Samardzija (YES, that same guy!) came in to pitch a stellar 1.1 innings with 3 consecutive strikeouts on the 8th inning. WHOA!! And then the real Carlos Marmol enters to only freak us out half as much as he usually does, but does very well.

Andre Ethier hits safely in his 20th consecutive game.

Scorekeeper’s Note: in the bottom of the 4th, while attempting to steal second, a pick-off attempt on Darwin Barney by Lilly > James Loney is called “Obstruction” (on Loney, for not clearing the basepath). The obstruction call is subsequently ruled an Error, charged to Loney, on your scoresheet.

Go CUBS.

4/29/10 Arizona Diamondbacks 13, Chicago Cubs 5

Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Game 1 of 4



They call it…sayonara…



It was a dismal day in Chicago as the struggling Diamondbacks succeeded in lighting up Ted Lilly in a most horrendous fashion. At the end of the 7th, Lilly had been replaced by both Jeff Gray and James Russell, Ian Kennedy had only allowed 1 run (earned) and 4 meager hits, and the Cubs were doing nothing worth mentioning, with the D’backs leading 13-1. I’m not even going to waste my time with the details on the whomping the Cubs took in the bottom of the 7th. You can have a look at the scoresheet.

With the bottom of the order (Geovany Soto and Tyler Colvin) starting the bottom of the 8th, you could feel the drawstrings of doom circling around the Cubs’ throats. With Ryan Theriot batting at the top of the order, and being 1-for-3 with an RBI in the 3rd…well, heck, he was the only offense out of the dugout thus far, so how much worse could it get? Better was certainly not an expectation.

Up until this point, the best part of the game was Pat and Ron’s discussion on baseball bats. For your edification, Santo used an S2 model Louisville Slugger.

Soto has become a more patient hitter since 2009, this patience resulted in a well-earned base on balls to lead off. Colvin then reached on a throwing error by replacement 1B Rusty Ryal (Ryal came in for Adam LaRoche, who left the game after hitting 2 back-to-back homers and an RBI double…this was obviously the Diamondbacks trying to help the Cubs out). Theriot up next singles on a grounder to RF and suddenly the bags are loaded for Kosuke Fukudome. The Cubs needed a rally, and they got one.

Fukudome gets his pitch and launches a tater into left field. His first MLB career Grand Slam. Didn’t exactly come close to evening the score, but it certainly put crooked numbers up and helped us end the game with something less than a black eye and sore testicles.

Ganbarre, Fukudome-san!!