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Game 93 Recap: Cubs 10, Phillies 5
The Phillies Don't Go to 11.
W - Zambrano, (7-4), "working" from home and watching afternoon Cubs games, ending someone else's winning streak.
L - Moyer, (9-7), making the same reference to the same movie that everyone else always makes.
S - Gregg, (19)
Things to Take from This Game
1. A Balanced Attack
Seven different Cubs had RBI today, without benefit of a home run. Bradley, Soriano and Ramirez all had two-hit games, Theriot had both 3 hits and stolen bases. Perhaps most interesting, Bradley's five ABs were all with a runner in scoring position; he went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI. None of the hits were rockets, but I'll take it.
2. Well-pitched early...
Moyer had the Cubs fooled for the first three innings, and Z pitched well through the first five.
3. ... tense moments late.
The Phillies left the bases loaded in both the seventh and the eighth. Marshall faced one batter, Dobbs, who singled in two runs that got charged to Z. But Guzman then escaped from the inning, and eventually turned the game over to Gregg who escaped from the eighth and pitched an uneventful ninth for an impressive save. The Cubs also finally did some damage to the Philly relievers, getting to both Durbin and Lidge, allowing our relievers some breathing room.
The 5-2 Roadtrip details, below.
Game Recap
Inning 1 - Top
- After waiting for Moyer to get his shoes tied, a first-pitch 81 mph fastball for the strike. Next pitch fouled off, 0-2 to Reed Johnson. Eventually K's swinging over and in front of a change-up.
- 0-1 to Theriot, and next pitch lays down a perfect surprise bunt up the third base line. Feliz makes the throw, but there was no chance.
- 1-2 count to Lee, as Moyer's getting ahead of everyone. Watches a slider, maybe, over the outside corner for strike three.
- Radar gun seems not to be picking up Moyer's breaking and off-speed pitches, as they're too slow. It's similarly tough for me to distinguish his changeups from his breaking pitches, as they're all just exceptionally slow.
- Theriot steals second easily, and a wild throw into center sends Theriot to third. Nice "manufacturing" going on by Theriot this inning. Now, if someone would help him out...
- Ramirez coaxes a walk.
- 2-0 count to Bradley, he chops one off the plate and toward the third-base side of the mound. Moyer comes over to snag it, throws to first. Inning over. Very early results on LouPa's Extreme Hitter Makeover project not looking so encouraging.
Inning 1 - Bottom
- Strike one to Rollins, Z working quickly, as usual. three balls from there, and a fourth. Walks Rollins.
- Victorino lines sharply to left-center, but Johnson goes back and easily makes the catch.
- Z throwing over to first a bunch to check on Rollins.
- Full count to Utley. Rollins runs, and Utley strikes out on a high fastball, with Rollins thrown out by a mile at second - doesn't bother sliding, just half-heartedly tries to spin away from Theriot's tag.
Inning 2 - Top
- called strike, then jammed foul bloop for an 0-2 count to Soriano. Next pitch a high "fast"ball, Soriano with a soft popup to Howard.
- Baker lofts one down the right field line, a fan in the seats that jut out near the playing field tries to catch it bare-handed, and it pops away from him. Fan gets booed.
- Baker then grounds out to Feliz.
- Hill also grounds to Feliz, making a nice play ranging to his left.
Inning 2 - Bottom
- Howard flies to straight-away right.
- Werth walks.
- Called strike one to Dobbs, in for Ibanez today. Eventually lines a single right past Z's glove-side into center. Len points out that Werth, on par with the alert Phillies baserunning we've seen this series, was eyeing Reed Johnson for any hint of a chance to take an extra base. Nope, has to hold at second.
- Feliz squibs one to Lee for a long-toss 3-1 putout at first. Z inexplicably fires across the diamond to third, trying to catch Werth rounding too far around the bag. Werth easily gets back. Dumb, dumb throw by Z.
- Len and Bob cheer old-school Moyer, who warms up in the on-deck circle by swinging a pair of bats.
- Z busts Bako's bat, a little bloop out to Theriot who fights off the sun and makes the catch.
Inning 3 - Top
- Z pops a looping hit foul down the first base line, and Howard makes a nice (if lumbering) over-the shoulder catch for the out.
- Johnson walks. Then, with maybe a two-step lead at first, takes off for second, looking in to home plate all the way. Theriot takes, and Johnson is out by a mile. Busted hit-and-run, I assume.
- Theriot with a slow chop out to Rollins. Nearly beats it out, but inning over.
Inning 3 - Bottom
- Moyer quickly K's.
- Rollins swings at first-pitch fastball, flies right to Soriano.
- Victorino singles through the right-side hole.
- Utley K's looking.
Inning 4 - Top
- Lee singles to left, Ramirez singles right back up the middle, and quickly 2 on, no outs for Bradley.
- Bradley does a nice job going with the pitch, hitting it into right. Three singles to load the bases for Soriano.
- 0-2 to Soriano
- Soriano floats one into shallow center for a single. Station-to-station baseball, but 4 singles = one run. 1-0 Cubs
- Baker lines one just to Rollins' left, Victorino runs over and makes a sliding stop to keep it from getting to wall. Throw in to second to get Baker, but the ball gets away and rolls through the infield, allowing Soriano to score, and Baker going to third. 4-0 Cubs
- Hill grounds out to Rollins
- as does Z. Not good ABs with runner at third and no outs
- Johnson K's looking. Cubs fans gnash teeth in spite of a four-run outburst.
Inning 4 - Bottom
- Len tells us it's not Moyer, it's the radar gun just not working. Howard bounces one to what ought to be about straight-away second baseman's position. Theriot, maybe 6 steps deep in the outfield, takes a step to his left, grabs it and throws him out.
- Werth grounds to the real second-baseman, Baker.
- Dobbs rolls to Theriot. Quick inning.
Inning 5 - Top
- Theriot sneaks a grounder past Rollins. It's Moyer's 4000th hit allowed, and nobody cares.
- Moyer wants a called strike two on Lee, a changeup off the outside corner, doesn't get it. Wanders around the infield for awhile in annoyance. Or senility. Take your pick.
- Lee with a high fly ball out to left-center.
- Theriot with another good jump, steals second uncontested.
- Ramirez walks
- Bradley is up for the third time in a row with RISP. He singles a grounder thorugh the left-side hole, and Theriot scores easily on Dobbs throw toward home. 5-0 Cubs
- Soriano pops to Howard on the infield.
- Baker grounds into a 5-4 force.
Inning 5 - Bottom
- Feliz with a big chopper off the plate, down the third base line. Z gets there, makes an unneeded throw to first. Feliz safe.
- and Bako with a soft liner over Baker into right. Feliz to second.
- John Mayberry Jr. hits for Moyer. Inside-outs a soft bloop hit into right field, loading the bases for Rollins.
- Rollins flies to medium center. In an odd development, Feliz tags and breaks for home, and Johnson throws toward third base. Feliz, however, decides to return to third, presumably thinking Reed was throwing to home and just intended to bluff. Fans boo Feliz
- Victorino grounds to Lee, can't quite turn it quickly enough for a 3-6-3. Feliz scores on the force out. 5-1 Cubs.
- Len can't stop referencing Tom Hanks movies today.
- full count to Utley, k's swinging, losing the bat on the swing. Rough couple of games for Utley, nice work escaping the inning with only one run allowed.
Inning 6 - Top
- Clay Condrew in to pitch.
- Hill hits a fly into deep left-center, Victorino does a nice job running it down.
- Z grounds slowly out to Rollins, even more slowly jogs down to first.
- Johnson lines out to Werth.
Inning 6 - Bottom
- Howard hits a sinking liner to Baker, who is playing in the shift at a point too deep to throw out Howard once concluding he needed to pull up and wait for the hop.
- Werth pulls one into the hole, Theriot gets there nicely, makes a Jeter-style jump throw to second, but it's wide of the bag and rolls into right field. Howard to third, Werth to second. Brenly is pretty peeved at Bradley for not backing up the throw on the play.
- Brenly still at it. He's really been going after the Cubs in the last several games for lazy fundamentals.
- Z K's Dobbs looking at a fastball on the outside corner. Nice pitch.
- Feliz singles to center, Johnson throws in to try to get the second runner, Werth, who is sort of cruising in. Werth makes an awkward leaning-back-and-to-the-right evasion to get around Hill, standing up. Two-run single, 5-3 Cubs
- Bako K's on a swinging foul-tip. The ball hit in the dirt before skipping up into Hill's glove, meaning it should be a foul ball and not a strike out, and Manuel comes out to argue the point. Bako still out, Manuel ejected.
- Stairs hits for Condrey, K's looking.
Inning 7 - Top
- Durbin in to pitch
- Theriot walks on a full count.
- Nearly picked off at first. Actually, Howard tagged the dirt, not figuring just how late Theriot would be in getting back.
- Full count to Lee, walks.
- Ramirez lines a shot in the right-center gap, scoring both Theriot and Lee. A very encouraging stroke from A-ram. 7-3 Cubs.
- Bradley with yet another AB with RISP today, this time from the left side. 3-1 count. Walks on the next pitch, low and away.
- Soriano hits a lined shot just past Feliz's left. Bases loaded.
- Fontenot to hit for Baker
- Scott Eyre in to pitch.
- Fox now in to hit for Fontenot.
- Sharp liner, right to Dobbs, and Ramirez easily scores on the sac. fly. 8-3 Cubs
- full count to Hill, lines sharply to Feliz, who tries and fails to double off Bradley at second.
- Z stays in to hit. 3-1 count. Big rip at a fastball, misses, 3-2. Likewise on the next pitch, for the K.
Inning 7 - Bottom
- Rollins grounds to Lee, unassisted
- Fox appears to be out of the game, so Hill has to not get hurt, to save us from seeing Randy Wells catch.
- Victorino singles into right.
- Utley hits a sinking liner into right, Bradley makes a nice, tough (if awkward) sliding basket catch
- Howard walks.
- Dobbs pulls a single into right, Bradley charges hard on the ball, keeping Victorino at third. Throw to the plate was offline, but doesn't matter. Bases loaded.
- Marshall in to relieve Z.
- Decent pitch by Marshall, down, a bit over the plate, and Dobbs serves it into left field, scoring two runs. 8-5 Cubs. LouPa has used his only lefty reliever, against a team full of powerful left-handed bats, to pitch to one batter. Hmm. Runners 1 and 3
- Guzman in to pitch to Feliz.
- Feliz lines to Soriano, just short of the warning track. Phew.
Inning 8 - Top
- Eyre still in for the 8th. Goes 3-0 to Johnson. Called strike, then lines out to Utley.
- Theriot lines one up the middle, off of Utley's glove as he dives for it.
- Theriot steals his third base of the day, this time on a good throw from Bako, but better jump by Theriot.
- Lee walks.
- Ramirez serves one into right-center, Werth takes a weird path, but gets to the deep fly ball. Theriot was running, but gets back in time.
- Bradley up for the fifth consecutive time with RISP. Ball one, then a broken-bat grounder to Rollins to end the inning.
Inning 8 - Bottom
- Bako rolls one right to Ramirez, who seems to be scooping it up and throwing it before it's fully in his glove. Error.
- Len just now points out that all 11 philly hits are singles
- Ibanez in to hit for Eyre, rolls out to Theriot. To weakly hit to get the lead runner.
- Rollins bounces to Lee, unassisted, Bako to third.
- Victorino walks on four pitches, bringing up Utley representing the tying run. Fun, Fun.
- Fukudome in for Bradley, Gregg in for Guzman in the double switch.
- Strike one to Utley, but from there to 3-1 count. And four in a row, a walk. Loaded, Howard up as the go-ahead run.
- Howard reaches for an outside fastball, pulls it to Lee, unassisted. Another inning concluded with the bases loaded.
Inning 9 - Top
- Lidge in for Eyre.
- Soriano Ks swinging
- At some point, Blanco came in to play second. He's rewarded for his surruptitious substitution by getting hit by a pitch in the left elbow. Only Hoffpauir left on the bench, so Blanco better rub some dirt on it.
- and Hill quickly walks, bringing up Fukudome.
- Fukudome swings at the first pitch, singling into right. Werth makes a very good throw to the plate, with Blanco holding at third.
- Reed Johnson quickly down 0-2.
- Johnson bloops one into right, just in front of Werth, who decoys the runners into thinking he'll get there. Blanco just does manage to reverse directions and score, with Fukudome barely beating the throw at second. 9-5 Cubs
- Full count to Theriot, K's on a slider.
- Game has slowed down drastically from the first four innings or so. Len points out the Cubs have 8 walks today.
- 3-1 to Lee. Walks, 10-5 Cubs
- Ryan Madson in for Lidge, BRuntlett in for Howard at 1st in the double-switch.
- Ramirez pops to Utley
Inning 9 - Bottom
- Werth flies out to Fukudome, on a very rare swing at a first pitch.
- 0-2 on Dobbs, fastball misses outside for 1-2. Swings through a high fastball for the strikeout.
- Feliz lofts an easy fly to Soriano, ending the game.
Parachat Recap
Inning 1
- Alone in parachat for the first few batters, I discuss my online financial account numbers and passwords,my social security number, my medical history and love life, and my real opinions about abortion, war, racism and drugs. Shocking, shocking opinions.
- big_lowitzki joins, and chad.
- Chad sprays something all over parachat. big-L diplomatically calls it "optimism." If by "optimism" you mean rage-fueled despair.
Inning 2
- I "boo" Chad for his lackadaisical parachat effort.
- big_l reminds us that mullets always lose.
- What do you imagine other TCR'ers look like?
- I try not to.
- Z's dumb throw to third.
Inning 3
- Is Brian the Same Brian?
- Brian thinks so.
- The busted hit-and-run caught-stealing.
- Jersey Fried Chicken.
Inning 4
- Bradley's AB
- Moyer's record against the Cubs
- Chad whines about how our power hitters can't drive in runs
- Cheering as Cubs drive in four runs.
- Real Neal joins, after having grabbed his.... comp.
- The LaRoche trade
Inning 5
- Theriot's throws make Real Neal's rotator cuff hurt.
- big_l must have one bad fantasy team
- I'm amused that I abbreviate big_lowitzki as big_l, which realy looks like a big I or a lowercase l.
- Rollins' weak season, comparing batted-ball numbers to prior seasons. interesting stuff.
- Free (Felix) Pie.
- The sadism behind Spilled Ice Cream Humor.
- Good, non-"moran" Cubs ABs today.
- A long and weighty colloquium on the moral and strategic merits of running out infield flies, from Real Neal. Many thoughtful interrogatives followed from the audience.
- Double-standards in Bradley's benching compared to Soriano?
- Feliz's base-running.
Inning 6
- Cubs' historical success against premium hitters.
- How much is Weiters worth in a keeper fantasy league?
- What would it take to get Wilson or Sanchez from the Pirates?
- The Theriot throw to second and lack of Bradley back-up
- Could we get Escobar from the Braves?
- not a chance.
- an umpire's plea for help
Inning 7
- Evaluating Bonds' career against the cubs. Interesting stuff from big_l, Real Neal. Then devolves into trying to explain OPS to Chad.
- The laser-beam wielding Questec robot that eventually will Destroy All Humans.
- Was Bradley supposed to be a key or complementary piece to this year's offense?
- What would be a good second half from Bradley?
- More on the LaRoche trade
- What is Danish Cheese?
- LouPa's use of Marshall in relief
Inning 8
- Hooray, it's Ted Lilly Fan Club!
- Scott Eyre jokes.
- More on Bradley's year.
- Getting very nervous about this game.
- Rob exhorts Gregg to get out of this inning for Fuck's sake.
- Gregg must be concerned about the sake of Fuck
Inning 9
- Real Neal works to prove my previously quarter-assed theory, upgrading it to half-assed.
- LaRoche trade, revisited, again.
Cubs move to a modest 3-5 in my most recent round of recapped games.
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