Sun 07/08/2007
The Cubs played a tremendous game against the Phillies to win 15-1 on 7/8. This was a huge
National League win for the Cubs who move to 8-2 on the year. This also marked the first
complete and solid road game the Cubs had played all year.
The Cubs played their second consecutive awesome game to trounce the Phillies 15-1 on 7/8.
The Cubs played tremendously in all facets of the game. The pitching was dominant, the defense
was flawless and the offense scored 15 runs! With the win, the Cubs have now won 4 straight games
for the second time this season. This was a huge National League win for the Cubs who move on to
play a double header against the Cardinals next week, 7/15 for first place in the National League.
Newcomer, John Gordon went 8 innings and was fantastic. John gave up a first inning bunt single, a
third inning leadoff walk and then retired 15 straight guys. Yes the Phillies had no runners from
the 4th through the 7th innings. In the 8th John tired a bit and gave up a leadoff single and then
a 2 out double for the only blemish of the day. John went 8 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits and a
walk while striking out 7. Only one Phillie runner reached second before the 8th inning. Luis Tiant
pitched a scoreless 9th allowing 1 hit and striking out the last batter of the game.
The Cubs defense was sparkling for the second consecutive week. Since John was so dominant, not
too many balls were hit hard, but the Cubs played their first errorless game of the year. Perhaps
the key defensive play came in the first inning of a 0-0 game. The Phillies had a runner at second
with 2 outs and the Phillies cleanup batter hit a liner to right center that Eddie Murray made a
nice diving catch on. It was all Cubs from there on in this game. John fielded his position nicely
making tough 1-3 plays on nubbers around the mound in the first and
7th innings. Rich Wenning was solid at both third and first. Luis Tiant recorded 4 assists from
short, a couple plays were tough one hoppers.
With 15 runs scored, there were many heroes on offense for the Cubs today. Rich Wenning had perhaps
the clutch at bat of the game. In the third inning with the Cubs clinging to a 3-0 lead, Rich came
up with the bases full and 2 outs. The Cubs had already stranded 5 runners in the first 2 innings
scoring just 1 run. Rich changed all that with a booming bases clearing double to left to double
the Cubs lead. Rich also provided the next hightlight in the 6th. With the Cubs still leading 6-0
and the offense looking a little flat, Rich tripled to center scoring Tim Shaver (2-5, 2 ROES and 3
runs scored). Rich then scored on a Brad Adams (3-4 2 RBIs) single to make it 8-0. On the day
Rich was 2-4 with a double, triple, walk, 4 RBIs and a run scored. Eddie Murray was 2-3 with 2 walks
a double and 3 runs scored. Paul Sonnett was 3-5 with his team leading 9th ROE, 2 RBIs and 2 runs
scored. Kenny Hamm had 2 RBIs including one driven in by a hit by pitch. Luis Tiant had 2 hits
including a 2 RBI triple for 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored on the day. Chris Ricker hit the ball hard
3 times today with just 1 double to show for it as the other line drives were caught.