TODAY'S CUBS/NATIONALS GAME: 4 - 5
2:58 PM CT: Here, in the bottom of the 6th, I'm a little surprised that Cubs aren't doing better. Jerry Hairston's double seconds ago is only Chicago's third hit against Ryan Drese, who is pitching fabulously, with only 77 pitches and no walks so far.
I expected Carlos Zambrano (nicknamed "The Bull" after a childhood penchant for beating other kids up!) to unleash his Angry Baby Giant™, wreaking all kinds of havoc on the Nationals. But he's surpassed 100 pitches, allowed 6 hits, 2 runs, and a walk (albeit with 6 lovely strikeouts) and won't last much longer—I don't think. (I may sound tough on Carlos, but he's a big guy who could eat me for lunch; I tend to hold him to a higher standard than many of his peers.) 2-0 Nationals.
3:12 PM CT: Derek "Superman" Lee just returned Drese's pitch right to him, but so fast the pitcher had to twist out of the way to prevent from being smacked. The ball spun off the heel of his shoe and through the hole between shortstop and 2nd, allowing Lee to comfortably take 1st and, for a moment, consider taking 2nd. After 3 at bats, it's the first time Lee's had a hit. Perhaps this is the sign that Drese is nearing the end of his shutout effectiveness. We'll see how much further he goes.
3:14 PM CT: Brad Wilkerson, in the bottom of the 7th, just made his 2nd phenomenal catch of the day, nearly disappearing in the ivy to rob Jeromy Burnitz of a ground-rule double.
3:20 PM CT: After 7 innings, the Angry Baby Giant™ is relieved by Roberto Novoa, who, in the time it took me to type this, allowed Guillen a hit and then walked Vinny Castilla. Moments later, Novoa got his act together and struck out Marlon Byrd.
3:30 PM CT: Novoa's out and Will Ohman's in with his teeny-weeny ERA. He struck out Brian Schneider. Bang, zoom, inning over.
3:33 PM CT: Luis Ayala relieves Ryan Drese to try to extend the shutout and give Drese the win. After two strikeouts in a row, Ayala allows a fly ball double from Jose Macias. One out later, it's still 2-0 Nationals. Top of the 9th coming up.
3:45 PM CT: Ryan Dempster takes out the Nationals. Here comes the bottom of the 9th and (drum roll, please) the Chief facing Walker, Lee, and Burnitz. This will be juicy!
3:51 PM CT: Wow, 3-0 count, then 3-1, then 3-2, then a big fat fly out to Wilkerson in center field. Gulp.
3:54 PM CT: Here comes Lee. 0-1 count, then 1-1, then a big fat fly out to Wilkerson in center field. Nothing gets past this guy.
3:56 PM CT: Here comes Burnitz. 0-1, then 0-2—come on, Cubbies!—and finally a base hit. Yes!
3:57 PM CT: Here comes Aramis. 0-1 count, then 1-1, then 2-1, then—sweet mother of Jesus—Aramis homers with one strike left in the bottom of the 9th, scoring two runs and tying the game.
3:59 PM CT: Hollandsworth is at the plate, but it doesn't matter, he just struck out and we're going to extra innings. Man o man o man. And I almost turned off the game at the top of the ninth. Gotta pee.
4:06 PM CT: Ryan Dempster is doing a sweet job of containing the Nationals. Two outs....Dempster strikes out the side. Cubs are up again. Here we go.
5:16 PM CT: With Sunny Kim in to pitch, Patterson is on first, now he's trying to steal second, but Michael Schneider has a perfect arm and throws to Junior Spivey with microseconds to spare for the out. Cha-ching. We're going to the 11th.
5:20 PM CT: With no outs and Glendon Rusch pitching, Todd Walker just blew a chance for the double play. He let the ball get by him, which puts Baerga on third and Schneider on 2nd. No outs. Uh-oh. And Frank Robinson just encouraged a suicide squeeze from third. It's on, now.
5:25 PM CT: Bases loaded after Will Cordero was walked intentionally. Brad Wilkerson is at bat with a 3-1 count. Uh-oh.
Wilkerson just blasted the ball into the ivy, bringing home Baerga and Schneider. Still only 1 out with two men in scoring positions. Eeeeeeeek! 4-2 Nationals.
[posting note: I can't keep up with the commentary—too much to do, but...]
5:38 PM CT: Hairston just homered against Hector Carrasco. It's 4-3 Nationals, bottom of the 11th. Todd Walker struck out. Derek Lee hit to right but was thrown out at first on a sweet spinning tag by Carlos Baerga, filling in for the injured Nick Johnson. Jeromy's up.
5:43 PM CT: 2-2, 2 outs, Burnitz at bat. Chicago fans are on their feet.
5:45 PM CT: Burnitz blasts one to third, fumbled by Vinny Castilla, who could have thrown Burnitz out at first. And now Ramirez is up, who a couple of innings back silenced the Chief by tying the game.
5:46 PM CT: Man o man o man, the Cubs have woken up. Ramirez got a base hit, sending Burnitz to third. Men on the corners with one out left. All the Cubs have to do is get Burnitz home and this game could go on for the rest of the day.
5:49 PM CT: Cool! Frank Robinson sent in Joey Eischen. This is only his second game since returning from the DL with a broken arm. He's already played in this series and a lot is riding on him. All he has to do is get one out. Just one.
5:52 PM CT: Well, my nerves are not to be spared, apparently. Hollandsworth blew one into left field for a double, allowing Burnitz to come home. Aramis moves up to third. Game tied again. 4-4. Neifi Perez is coming up.
[posting note: I'm done with commentary. I'll come back and wrap up, but this could go on all afternoon, know what I mean?]
I expected Carlos Zambrano (nicknamed "The Bull" after a childhood penchant for beating other kids up!) to unleash his Angry Baby Giant™, wreaking all kinds of havoc on the Nationals. But he's surpassed 100 pitches, allowed 6 hits, 2 runs, and a walk (albeit with 6 lovely strikeouts) and won't last much longer—I don't think. (I may sound tough on Carlos, but he's a big guy who could eat me for lunch; I tend to hold him to a higher standard than many of his peers.) 2-0 Nationals.
3:12 PM CT: Derek "Superman" Lee just returned Drese's pitch right to him, but so fast the pitcher had to twist out of the way to prevent from being smacked. The ball spun off the heel of his shoe and through the hole between shortstop and 2nd, allowing Lee to comfortably take 1st and, for a moment, consider taking 2nd. After 3 at bats, it's the first time Lee's had a hit. Perhaps this is the sign that Drese is nearing the end of his shutout effectiveness. We'll see how much further he goes.
3:14 PM CT: Brad Wilkerson, in the bottom of the 7th, just made his 2nd phenomenal catch of the day, nearly disappearing in the ivy to rob Jeromy Burnitz of a ground-rule double.
3:20 PM CT: After 7 innings, the Angry Baby Giant™ is relieved by Roberto Novoa, who, in the time it took me to type this, allowed Guillen a hit and then walked Vinny Castilla. Moments later, Novoa got his act together and struck out Marlon Byrd.
3:30 PM CT: Novoa's out and Will Ohman's in with his teeny-weeny ERA. He struck out Brian Schneider. Bang, zoom, inning over.
3:33 PM CT: Luis Ayala relieves Ryan Drese to try to extend the shutout and give Drese the win. After two strikeouts in a row, Ayala allows a fly ball double from Jose Macias. One out later, it's still 2-0 Nationals. Top of the 9th coming up.
3:45 PM CT: Ryan Dempster takes out the Nationals. Here comes the bottom of the 9th and (drum roll, please) the Chief facing Walker, Lee, and Burnitz. This will be juicy!
3:51 PM CT: Wow, 3-0 count, then 3-1, then 3-2, then a big fat fly out to Wilkerson in center field. Gulp.
3:54 PM CT: Here comes Lee. 0-1 count, then 1-1, then a big fat fly out to Wilkerson in center field. Nothing gets past this guy.
3:56 PM CT: Here comes Burnitz. 0-1, then 0-2—come on, Cubbies!—and finally a base hit. Yes!
3:57 PM CT: Here comes Aramis. 0-1 count, then 1-1, then 2-1, then—sweet mother of Jesus—Aramis homers with one strike left in the bottom of the 9th, scoring two runs and tying the game.
3:59 PM CT: Hollandsworth is at the plate, but it doesn't matter, he just struck out and we're going to extra innings. Man o man o man. And I almost turned off the game at the top of the ninth. Gotta pee.
4:06 PM CT: Ryan Dempster is doing a sweet job of containing the Nationals. Two outs....Dempster strikes out the side. Cubs are up again. Here we go.
5:16 PM CT: With Sunny Kim in to pitch, Patterson is on first, now he's trying to steal second, but Michael Schneider has a perfect arm and throws to Junior Spivey with microseconds to spare for the out. Cha-ching. We're going to the 11th.
5:20 PM CT: With no outs and Glendon Rusch pitching, Todd Walker just blew a chance for the double play. He let the ball get by him, which puts Baerga on third and Schneider on 2nd. No outs. Uh-oh. And Frank Robinson just encouraged a suicide squeeze from third. It's on, now.
5:25 PM CT: Bases loaded after Will Cordero was walked intentionally. Brad Wilkerson is at bat with a 3-1 count. Uh-oh.
Wilkerson just blasted the ball into the ivy, bringing home Baerga and Schneider. Still only 1 out with two men in scoring positions. Eeeeeeeek! 4-2 Nationals.
[posting note: I can't keep up with the commentary—too much to do, but...]
5:38 PM CT: Hairston just homered against Hector Carrasco. It's 4-3 Nationals, bottom of the 11th. Todd Walker struck out. Derek Lee hit to right but was thrown out at first on a sweet spinning tag by Carlos Baerga, filling in for the injured Nick Johnson. Jeromy's up.
5:43 PM CT: 2-2, 2 outs, Burnitz at bat. Chicago fans are on their feet.
5:45 PM CT: Burnitz blasts one to third, fumbled by Vinny Castilla, who could have thrown Burnitz out at first. And now Ramirez is up, who a couple of innings back silenced the Chief by tying the game.
5:46 PM CT: Man o man o man, the Cubs have woken up. Ramirez got a base hit, sending Burnitz to third. Men on the corners with one out left. All the Cubs have to do is get Burnitz home and this game could go on for the rest of the day.
5:49 PM CT: Cool! Frank Robinson sent in Joey Eischen. This is only his second game since returning from the DL with a broken arm. He's already played in this series and a lot is riding on him. All he has to do is get one out. Just one.
5:52 PM CT: Well, my nerves are not to be spared, apparently. Hollandsworth blew one into left field for a double, allowing Burnitz to come home. Aramis moves up to third. Game tied again. 4-4. Neifi Perez is coming up.
[posting note: I'm done with commentary. I'll come back and wrap up, but this could go on all afternoon, know what I mean?]
posted by Andrew at
2:57 PM
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