September 2006 Archives

Game One Hundred Sixty-One - Cubs 9 Rockies 11 - 14 innings

As much as everyone is ready for this season to end and move on to "Next Year", it is always a sad day when the 27th out is recorded on the last game of the season and as bad as this season has been....the feeling is still there. Baseball is fun, just ask Ron Santo. The Cubs finish their season on Sunday but Saturday's game, after a horrible start, was a good game to see despite the loss. The Cubs were down 8-0 in the 3rd inning before they recorded their first hit in the 4th. The young Cubs battled back and made a game of it, at this point of the season that hardly ever happens.

Jeff Baker singled up the middle with 2 outs to score the winning runs off of Jae Kuk Ryu. Ryu flirted with the loss in the 13th but pitched around a lead off triple by Kaz Matsui. He was unable to pitch around a lead off double by Todd Helton and eventually gave up the single to Baker.

The Cubs used 26 players, 10 pitchers, Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano both had a pinch-hit appearance, there was a 38-minute rain delay, 20 total runs scored, 26 base hits and the final out was recorded by the right fielder, Brad Hawpe, who fell down and caught the ball while sitting on the ground....Saturday ended up being the last night game of the year.

Game One Hundred Sixty-One: Cubs (65-95) vs. Rockies (75-85)
Game Time - 3:05pm C.T. WGN TV, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 188
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Juan Mateo (1-3, 4.02) vs. Jeff Francis (13-11, 4.02)

Only two left and the last of the year on WGN....the Cubs are scheduled to send Juan Mateo to the mound today against lefty Jeff Francis. Mateo has pitched well for the Cubs in spots but has been unable to give the Cubs significant innings of late mostly due to injury. He threw very well against the Reds last Sunday but the bullpen was unable to hold the lead and give him his 2nd Major League victory. Like the rest of the staff, Mateo has to throw strikes and keep from giving up too many free passes.

Game One Hundred Sixty - Cubs 2 Rockies 5

Carlos Zambrano was unable to reach either of his milestones and dropped his 7th game of the season. Zambrano was victimized by a 3-run 6th inning in which the Rockies scored 3 runs without the benefit of a hit. Zambrano walked 3, 1 intentionally, hit a batter and John Mabry committed an error.

The Cubs offense could not string any hits together and left runners in scoring position....the m.o. for the entire season. Juan Pierre led of the game with his 200th hit of the season, the first Cub to accomplish the feat since Ryne Sandberg in 1984 and the 4th time in Pierre's career. Ryan Theriot and Aramis Ramirez had a good game but in the end the Cubs inability to take pitches and clog those bases and score runs from 3rd with less than 2 outs cost them another game.

Game One Hundred Sixty: Cubs (65-94) vs. Rockies (74-85)
Game Time - 1:20pm C.T. WGN TV, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 188
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Carlos Zambrano (16-6, 3.43) vs. Josh Fogg (10-9, 5.62)

Well it turns out the Cubs do have something to play for....4th place. Going into the last 3 games of the season the Cubs are tied with the Pirates for last in the Central. The Pirates were just swept by the Astros and they finish the season in Cincinnati....Go Reds!!!

Today Carlos Zambrano will look to set a new career high in wins with 17 and if anyone thinks he will not be swinging for the fence....well, you know better. Zambrano needs just one dinger today to break the Cubs All-Time mark for Home Runs in a season by a pitcher and to tie the National League record. More important than the home run is for Zambrano to finish the season on a positive note....like Sean Marshall and Rich Hill have already done.

In my younger years, I was a fan of pro wrestling, okay, so maybe I still watch every now and again. One of the most popular wrestlers of the past 20 years was "The Rock", and he would come out and yell, "Can you smell what the Rock is cooking!" Well that line always got me going, and in the spirit of the Rock, I am here to ask you this, "Can you smell what The Hendry is cooking!" Can you smell it, I hope so, it is the smell of excitement.

Game One Hundred Fifty-Nine - Cubs 3 Brewers 2

Freddie Bynum tied the game in the 9th with a solo home run into the basket in right and Henry Blanco hit the game winning single to left center to win the game. After a career night on Tuesday, Blanco came through for his team again and had another solid night behind the plate. The Cubs managed only 7 hits on the night and just 3 off of Brewers' starter Dave Bush. Bush was perfect through the first 4 innings until Matt Murton led off the 5th with a triple.

Rich Hill had another quality outing for the Cubs and left trailing 2-1 in the 7th. Hill made only a few mistakes and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 7. The difference in the game was another long ball, his 4th in his last 2 starts. Although Hill did not pick up the win, he and the Cubs have to feel very good about the way he finished his season.

Game One Hundred Fifty-Nine: Cubs (64-94) vs. Brewers (73-84)
Game Time - 7:05pm C.T. Comcast SportsNet, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 188
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Rich Hill (6-7, 4.29) vs. Dave Bush (12-11, 4.54)

The Cubs Minor League Player of the Year will make his final start of the season for the Cubs tonight. Rich Hill, along with Donald Veal, was named the Cubs Minor League players of the year recently. Rich Hill is actually coming off of back-to-back complete games. Hill threw a complete game shutout against the Reds at Wrigley on September 16th and pitched all 5 innings of the rain-shortened game against the Reds last Friday in Cincinnati. Hill took the loss but struck out 10 in just 5 innings....in his last 35 innings, Hill has struck out 43 and walked just 8.

Game One Hundred Fifty-Eight - Cubs 14 Brewers 6

The Cubs bounced back from their humiliating losses in Cincinnati and took out a lot of their frustrations on the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs pounded out 18 hits and three different Cubs had at least 3 RBI's on the night. Henry Blanco tied career highs in hits (4) and RBI's (4). Juan Pierre added 2 more hits to bring his season total to 198 and he stole his 57th bag of the season to tie him with Frank Chance for the most steals in a single season by a Cub since 1903 (67). Jose Reyes recorded his 1st Major League hit, a 2-out, 2 RBI single in the 8th. The Cubs made several fine defensive plays on the night but Scott Moore had the distinction of making the play of the game in the 6th that kept the Brewers from tying the game.

Sean Marshall had a good outing and was very effective. He had trouble settling in early and getting into a rhythm but once he did he threw 6 strong innings to earn his 6th victory of the season....most importantly he was able to finish the season on a winning note, his first since July 5th. Of the 14 runs, 11 were scored with 2 outs....finally the Cubs were able to give another team a dose of their own medicine.

Game One Hundred Fifty-Eight: Cubs (63-94) vs. Brewers (73-83)
Game Time - 7:05pm C.T. WCIU, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 188
Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago

Sean Marshall (5-9, 5.64) vs. Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 3.35)

Five left and counting.... Sean Marshall is scheduled to make his last start of the season tonight against the Brewers and like everyone in a Cubs' uniform, he needs to finish on a positive note. Marshall has had only one decent outing since returning from the DL against the Giants on September 2nd. Marshall has not won a game since July 5th in Houston and has not made it past the 5th inning since his outing against the Giants. He is 0-1 in 4 games with a 9.72 ERA and is nowhere near as effective as he was earlier in the season.

Seems like just yesterday I stood with Neil, just 10 rows or so off of the first base side of home plate. We were in Mesa, catching a Spring Training game, and the air was filled with hope, and the fans were draped in blue. I turned to Neil as we watched batting practice, unsure of the player I saw hitting at the time. "Who's that?" I inquired. "That's Angel Pagan" Neil replied.

It seems like I spent the rest of the season saying "Who's that?"...