Game Ninety-Three - Cubs 3 Giants 1
WP - Bobby Howry (3-2) LP - Tyler Walker (3-5) Save - Kerry Wood (24)
For the second time in 10 days, Matt Cain dominated the Cubs offense but they were patient this time and made him work....despite the fact they could still not put the bat on the ball. Cain tossed 7 more shutout innings against the Cubs offense and Lou Piniella's crew managed to scatter only 3 hits. In two outings against the Cubs this year, Cain threw a combined 15 innings of shutout ball with 19 strikeouts. Cain departed after throwing 115 pitches in 7 innings.
Jason Marquis matched Cain pitch for pitch, but was a little more efficient. Marquis threw only 81 pitches in 7 innings, gave up 3 hits but no runs, walked 2 and struck out 4. Only one Giant reached 2nd base in the 7 innings Marquis was on the mound....clearly one of his better outings of the season.
Bruce Bochy brought replaced Cain with Tyler Walker in the 8th inning of a scoreless game. Ryan Theriot singled up the middle to start the inning and Mike Fontenot sacrificed him to 2nd. Bochy decided to face Aramis Ramirez instead of Derrek Lee with the go ahead run in scoring position. Bochy intentionally walked Lee to face The RBI Machine.
Aramis Ramirez had never faced Tyler Walker in a big league game and he deposited the first pitch he saw from Walker down the line in left. The only question was would it go foul....the ball cleared the old ball park and ended up on Waveland Avenue. The 17th home run of the year by Aramis Ramirez gave the Cubs a 3-run lead....it was his 9th long ball of the season hit after the 7th inning.
Kerry Wood made the top of the 9th very exciting. After a misplayed ball in left by Mark DeRosa put Ray Durham at 2nd base. Wood walked Eugenio Velez. Bengie Molina singled to right, Durham scored and Velez ended up at 3rd with no outs. Wood struck out Aaron Rowand looking for the first out but pinch runner Emmanuel Burriss stole 2nd.
With the tying runs in scoring position, John Bowker flied out to right for the second out on a 0-1 pitch and Velez had to hold at 3rd. Rich Aurilia grounded out to Derrek Lee, who tossed to Wood, on the second pitch of the at bat, to end the game.
The Cubs won for the fourth time and five games and improved to 19 games above .500....maybe next season they will be able to figure out how to plate runs against Matt Cain.
For whatever reason, Matt Cain has the number of the Chicago Cubs offense. The line he has put up in his last two starts against the Cubs is phenomenal....no runs on 5 hits with 6 walks and 19 strikeouts in 15 innings of work. Thankfully for the Cubs, the weather at Wrigley changed just before game time and Jason Marquis came to the park ready to pitch.
The forecast for Friday was for a very humid, hot day, similar to the one the Reds used to their advantage on Thursday. But the winds changed and what was supposed to be one of the hottest days in Chicago turned cool....the game time temperature was just 70 degrees. The change of temperature hurt the Cubs offense but helped Jason marquis keep the ball in the park.
Marquis came through with one of his best outings when he needed it. With all of the questions that must be answered in the second half concerning the starting rotation, Jason Marquis more than earned another start when his turn comes back around.
The Cubs offense had chances to plate runs against Matt Cain but could not come up with the hit early in the game. The best opportunity came in the 7th after a lead off double to right by Daryle Ward. Piniella pinch ran Ronny Cedeno for Ward but did not call for a sacrifice bunt. Mark DeRosa and Reed Johnson struck out and pinch hitter Kosuke Fukudome, fouled out to Bengie Molina to end the inning.
Piniella said after the game, it is hard to get down a bunt against Matt Cain because of his velocity.
The Cubs pulled out a win on a day they were dominated by a very good young pitcher that rarely receives run support....
Rich Harden is scheduled to make his Cubs' debut on Saturday against Kevin Correia at 12:05pm....not the originally scheduled 2:55pm.
Subscribe
FOX must be kicking their own ass for giving up that time slot now.
No doubt they would like the Harden debut on the network.
4.5 and 5.0 game lead over St. Louis (W) and Milwaukee (L) respectively now with the Cub win.
Youve gotta feel good about your chances with Harden and Dempster coming up at home. Taking game one is usually a good sign. Lets take two and then we'll worry about Sunday.
See you guys in the mornin'
A great Cubs win where one of our #5 guys kept us in the game against one of their dominant #2's. And the Red's pitching combo of Fogg, Bray, Weathers and Cordero just beat the Brewers Parra in Milwaukee 6-5--scoring 3 unearned runs. "Cy" Fogg gave up 1 hit in 5.1 IP. In one game or in one series, unexpected stuff happens. It was good stuff for the Cubs today--in two venues. Good luck tomorrow to Rich Harden and the Blue!!
ok so for cubs fans who live out of state how are we suppose to watch hardens debut tomorrow? its not on fox and mlb has the dumb rule of blackouts on saturdays before 5.....anyone have any ideas pleaseeeeeeee
welcome back best record in mlb! please stay all the way...
JJ, if youre still up. Check this out.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080701&content_id=3041006&vkey=allstar2008&fext=.jsp
This mlb.tv special all star package only costs 2.95.
It gives you every reg. season game from now until next Sunday. It also gives you lots of All Star Coverage including the HR Derby, futures game etc.
3 dollars.
Worth a shot to watch Rich Harden debut.
according to this site it says that the game tomorrow is on fox? wtf
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/schedules
ya i saw that thanks a lot matt but this is the only problem...
Regular Season Weekend U.S. National Live Blackout: Due to Major League Baseball exclusivities, live games occurring each Saturday with a scheduled start time after 1:10 PM ET or before 7:05 PM ET and each Sunday with a scheduled start time after 5:00 PM ET, will be blacked out in the United States
and wait does that not fit for tomorrow cuz its a
12 05 start?
and i saw here where u scroll down it says the games on fox tomorrow? wtf its not on my tv guide
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/schedules
hope ur still up....
Another advantage to mlb.tv.
I just watched Sean Gallagher and Matt Murton play with the A's.
Gally struck out 6 or 7 and allowed only two runs in 7 IP.
Murton got a 2 RBI single in his start.
Felt kinda painful seeing them in black and gold.
Harden can make me feel a WHOLE lot better about it tomorrow though.
Nope.
Just checked the mediacenter.
The Cubs will not be blacked out tomorrow.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp#20080712
Those games usually aernt blacked out.
Another reason mlb.tv beats EI.
I used to subscribe to EI. But the Saturday policy pissed me off.
And this is before EI had both telecasts. Being able to choose Len and Bob even with the Cubs on the road might be enough to sway me next season. We'll see.
If only .tv gave me that option.
ya the only problem is that it says
Watch every out-of-market game LIVE (July 13 - July 19)
does that mean the game wont be on today?