Sun 05/18/2003
The Cubs walloped the Yankees 16-1 on May 18th. There were two major stories in this one.
Tom Barnes took a perfect game into the fifth and a no hitter into the sixth before allowing
an infield single. Tom finished 7 innings allowing just 1 hit and no runs. He also picked
off two of the 4 baserunners that reached against him and another runner was erased on a double play!
The other major story was the Cubs hit three homers (Glenn Legault, Andy Luckhardt and Chris Greig)
in an 8 run 4th inning to blow open a 0-0 game.
The Cubs defeated the Yankees 16-1 to make their 2003 record 2-1. Tom Barnes pitched a masterpiece
going scoreless 7 innings allowing just 1 hit. That hit was an infield single in the sixth. Tom
retired the first twelve batters in order before issuing a leadoff walk in the fifth. That runner
reached third base before Tom struck out the last two batters to get out of the inning. The leadoff
batter in the sixth inning ended Tom's no hitter with a slow roller perfectly places between third and
short. That runner was erased on a 4-3 double play turned in by Bruce Diaz. Tom walked the next
batter and then promptly picked him off for the last out of the sixth. In the seventh, the leadoff man
reached with a walk and Tom picked him off too. Tom effectively walked two consecutive batters and
picked them both off! Tom pitched seven innings and faced just 1 batter over the minimum. Chris
Greig finished off the final two innings and picked up 4 Ks.
There were several oustanding defensive plays made on the day. Bruce Diaz's unassisted double play
at second base in the sixth was a great play. Bruce also made a nice play at third and a hot shot in
the second inning. Will Lessard made a tremendous play at third on a grounder on the chalk. Will
backhanded the ball and threw a strike to first to preserve Tom's perfect game in the 4th inning. The
batter before that flaired a ball into center field that Earl Carpenter made a nice running catch on.
Brad Adams broke in a new glove at first base and made a couple nice scoops!
On offense, it was a Cubs record breaking fourth inning. When the Cubs came to the plate in the bottom
of the fourth, Tom Barnes had a perfect game going but the score was 0-0. The Yankees pitcher had
allowed runners in each of the first three innings, but the Cubs failed to score. In the fourth
inning, the Cubs changed that. Rich Schwarz reached on a bunt to start the inning. That was followed by
a bomb of a homer to right field by Glenn Legault (2-4 triple and homer) to make the score 2-0.
Dennis Fontecchio (3-3 with a walk) hit a single and scored on a one out single by Paul Sonnett. After
a fielders choice for the second out, the Cubs expanded the lead with three extra base hits and a walk.
Earl Carpenter (2-3) hit a triple to left center to make it 4-0. Tom Barnes followed with a walk and
Andy Luckhardt (2-2 2 walks) hit a shot to right that passed the right fielder and became the second
Cubs homer of the inning for a 7-0 score. Chris Greig (2-4) then hit the third homer of the inning to
straight away center field! Eddie Murray singled in Dennis Fontecchio in the sixth to make it a 9-0
game. A two run single by Chris Greig and an RBI single by Will Lessard (3-3) in the 7th inning
made it 12-0. A Glenn Legault triple, followed by a Dennis Fontecchio double and Paul Sonnett
sac fly in the eighth made it 16-0.