Sun 04/25/2004
The Cubs won the 2004 season opener 22-6 over the Brewers at Wayland High School.
The Cubs scored in all 7 innings of this game. Earl Carpenter had a double and 2 triples
for 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored while Mark Grogan had 2 doubles for 3 RBIs. Paul Sonnett
was 4-5. Tom Barnes threw a scoreless and hitless first three innings to pick up the win.
The Cubs 2004 season started with a road game against the Brewers on April 25. The Cubs used 19 hits,
5 Brewer errors, 7 walks and 2 HBPs to score 22 runs in the 7 inning game. This was an amazing
opening day offensive display for the Cubs. All 11 Cubs either scored a run or drove a run home.
The Cubs scored at least 1 run in every inning of the game and brought home 5 runs in the first and
second innings to deflate the Brewers and the 6 more in the 7th to all but end the game.
The Cubs used three pitchers today. Tom Barnes started and went three innings. Tom did not allow
a hit or run. Tom struck out 4 and walked three to pick up the victory. Chris Greig followed
with 2 innings. Chris threw well, but the defense let him down. Chris allowed 5 runs in the 4th
inning, but because of 4 errors, none of the runs were earned. Chris struck out the side in the 5th.
Andy Schultz pitched the last two innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits. Andy struck out 2 batters.
The defense was pretty bad today. I'll chalk this off to being opening day and the fact that the
game was virtually over after two innings. The Cubs made 8 errors and were not crisp at all. I have
no doubt that this game was an aberation and the Cubs will start to play good D the rest of the way.
The offense was incredible today. The Cubs scored 22 runs and smacked 19 hits in a 7 inning game! The
offense was led by Earl Carpenter who had a double and 2 triples for 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Mark
Grogan had 2 doubles for 3 RBIs. Paul Sonnett was 4-5 with 2 RBIs and 4 runs scored. Glenn Legault
drove in three runs and scored 2. Wally Siggins drove in a run in his first game as a Cub! As
mentioned above, with all 11 Cubs either getting a RBI or scoring a run, the entire team
contributed today.
While getting a mercy rule win is a good way to start off the season and may seem like a great thing,
this was not a great game for the Cubs. The Cubs were way too sloppy on defense and will need to
pick up the concentration on defense to have a successful 2004. As we all know, Cubbie baseball
is about pitching and defense and then getting clutch hits. Obviously, scoring 10 runs in the first
two innings meant the game was in good shape and it was hard to focus. Keep up the great work and
let's go for win number two on May 2 against the Phillies! In the 8 previous seasons of Cubs baseball
the team has never started a season 2-0.