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Message #: 14460
The newly resurgent Cubs visited the 7th place Reds and immediately ran into a heavy dose of reality in the form of two typical last at-bat chokes. Then HAL remembered that, aside from those frequent chokes, the Cubs are required to play a lopsided game or two every series. And so we did -- but for a **VERY** rare change HAL forgot which team was supposed to get the breaks.... Game 1: A see-saw contest found the Cubs up by the score of 6-4 in the 9th, which was merely the cue for CHN closer Emil Kush to fall apart entirely. A pair of singles and a pair of walks cut the lead to 6-5 and a successful bunt plated the tying run. In the 10th, lead-footed catcher Ray Lamanno legged out a surgical split-card triple and was immediately chased home with the losing run on Frankie Baumholtz's single. Cubs choke #1, 7-6. The Cubs had 11 hits and drew 6 walks but the only extra-base hit was a double from starting pitcher Murry Dickson, who pitched terribly as ever. Battered CIN starter Eddie Erautt actually pitched well for 4 innings then turned it over to a competent bullpen when he ran into trouble, while Dickson was replaced by the Arson Squad. ==================================================== Game 2: Hank Wyse pitched well when he wasn't giving up clutch hits to the Reds, while Cincy starter Ewell Blackwell wasn't giving the Cubs anything at all for 7 innings. Down 3-0 in the 8th, the Cubs chased Blackwell by scoring 1 run and leaving 2 more aboard; then in the 9th 4 hits (all singles, natch) tied the game but the go-ahead run was gunned at the plate via one of our normal baserunning split cards. Kush to the rescue -- for the Reds -- again! In the bottom of the 9th he walked the leadoff hitter, wild-pitched him to second, then choked up a game-losing gopher to Grady Hatton. All of the damage came off of Kush's own card, as the Reds didn't have to lift a finger. Cubs choke #2, 5-3. ==================================================== Game 3: After two very typical Cubbie results, we got one very UNtypical result. The Cubs did strand runners whenever possible (12) and played station-to-station ball on the bases to aid that LOB total, but we got more good split cards in the first 3 innings of today's non-contest than we usually get in a month. LOBbing 12 runners isn't very significant when you get 23 hits, 7 walks and 2 errors, and the Cubs routed the Reds by the count of 19-1. Four CHN batters had 4 or more hits, Peanuts Lowrey drove in 6, and we actually had *8* extra-base hits to go with the 15 singles! Starter Johnny Vander Meer absorbed much of the damage for the home team, allowing 9 runs in 2.1 innings before exiting. ==================================================== Game 4: When just 1 or 2 extra runs would have made a tremendous difference in the first two games, we couldn't get them but we did score 17 useless runs in game 3. Who would have been surprised by yet another Cubbie choke to close out the series? The Cubs somehow avoided the choke by making sure it wasn't close enough for that inevitability today, building a 7-1 lead after 4 innings and coasting to an 11-2 win. Chicago banged out 15 hits (only 11 of them singles!), drew half a dozen walks and reached double figures again in both runs and LOB. The Reds got their share of baserunners too, but CHN starter Frank Papish & scrub reliever Russ Meers got them to strand 11, with Meers earning his first career save in the process by tossing 3 shaky relief innings. Although few results are in so far this week, the Cubs' pop-gun offense currently leads the majors in runs scored by 30%, outscoring our opposition 153-114 yet the team is saddled with a mediocre record due to an inability to win any kind of close game (particularly on the road). Alan |
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