The Cubs won a big National League game against the Phillies 9-4.
The Cubs have now won 2 straight games to get back to .500 on the 2008 season. This was a big win
over the Phillies as the Phillies knocked the Cubs from the playoffs last year and will be fighting
for playoff positioning with us all year.
The Cubs rode the strong pitching of Tom Barnes (5 IP, 3ER, Win) and John Gordon (4IP, 0ER, 5Ks, Save).
We always expect to win when we keep the opponent to 4 or fewer runs and we managed that today. This
was one of the best outings from John since he joined us last year. John was dominant in his 4
innings of work.
There were some sterling defensive plays in this game too. Tom Barnes fielded a bunt down the first
baseline in the first and threw while diving to nip the bunter at first. In the second inning, Alex
Scott and PJ O'Toole turned a beautiful 6-4-3 double play. In the 5th, Earl Carpenter turned a single
to right into a 9-3 out with a bullet throw to first. It was a huge play because instead of first and
second with no outs, the Phillies had a runner at second with one out in the 6-2 game at that point.
The Phillies third inning was interesting. The first batter reached and was picked off by Tom Barnes.
The second batter reached and was thrown out stealing by Paul Sonnett to PJ O'Toole.
The bats were alive today as the Cubs scored one in the first, two in the second and three in the third.
After a bit of a break, they piled on 3 runs in the 8th to turn a tense game into a comfortable
one. There were several shots that were hit. PJ hit a triple to wicked deep right center to lead off
the second which helped turn the 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Paul Sonnett had a 2 run booming double
in the third and an RBI single in the 8th. Alex Scott and John Gordon hit triples to right in the 8th.
Alex played his first game of 2008 and scored three runs.