Sun 8/3/2008
The Cubs beat the Brewers 7-5 in a very tight game. This was a great win for the Cubs who had two
subs who had not played yet this year, Dave Russo and Glenn Legault, as part of a 10 man team.
The shorthanded Cubs beat the surging Brewers 7-5 in a very entertaining game on 8/3.
For the second consecutive week, the Cubs played a nailbiter of a game and came out on top. The Cubs
only had 10 players to start the game and played the last 6 innings with only 9 players. Of the
10 Cubs, 2 played their first games of the season, Dave Russo and Glenn Legault. Glenn had to leave
after the third inning but contributed with a walk and run scored in his only at bat. Dave was great
in right field recording 4 putouts.
Because of all the players missing, we had people playing in new positions today. Tim Shaver was huge
and caught all 9 innings. Tim did a fantastic job calling the game. John Gordon and
Eddie Murray played some third. Brad Adams played second base for the last 4 innings. Despite all the
unusual positions, The Cubs still only made one error all game and made several sparkling plays. While
Brad was playing first base, Brad robbed the second batter of the game. On a hot grounder between
first and second, Brad dove to his right and fielded the ball clean, rushed to his feet and dove to the
first base bag to just get the runner out. In the second inning, the first out was recorded on a single
to right when Eddie Murray playing right, threw a bullet to Dennis at second to force the runner at first
converting the single to a fielders choice. John Gordon, playing second base, fielded a ball hit up the
middle and turned it into a nice double play which ended a threat in the 5th inning. John also picked
off the only runner to reach base against him in his 4 innings of work. Dennis Fontecchio ended the
6th inning with a nice play on a ball hit into the shortstop hole.
Tom Barnes started the game and struggled after throwing his 9 inning gem of a shutout the prior week.
Tom went 5 innings allowed 5 runs, 4 earned. Tom was hit with a pitch in his thigh in the 3rd inning
and he could not get the leg loose after that. John Gordon came in and totally shut the door on the
Brewers to earn the win. John went 4 innings and faced just 12 hitters. The first batter he faced,
hit a single. John proceeded to pick him off and no other Brewer reached. Totally dominating
performance. It was huge for the Cubs because when John entered, the game was a 5-5 tie. The Cubs
picked up runs in the 6th and 8th innings which John made stand up.
As in the previous game, the Cubs managed to collect a bunch of baserunners, but had a hard time
consistently getting them home. They scored enough to win the game though which is all that
matters. The Cubs entered the bottom of the third trailing 3-0. A 4 run outburst put them in the
lead. Glenn started the rally with a walk. He stole second and went to third when the throw went into center.
Curiously, the Brewers played the infield in despite the sizeable lead and no outs. Rich Schwarz
followed with a soft liner up the middle that barely reached the outfield grass to score Glenn. After
a stolen base, Dennis Fontecchio followed with a single to center in which Rich was thrown out at the
plate. Dennis took second on the play and scored on John Gordon's single. Eddie singled and Tom Barnes
was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tim Shaver hit a bullet grounder that bad hopped the second
baseman and allowed 2 runs to score giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead. The Brewers tied the game in the
top of the 4th and the Cubs scored on a bunt single, stolen base and then a clutch 2 out RBI single
by Eddie Murray. That gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead after 4. In the 6th, with the score tied at 5, the
Cubs took the lead for good. Rich Schwarz was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Dennis
Fontecchio's single. In the 7th, Tom Barnes led off with a single. Tim Shaver followed with a sweet
sac bunt. However, Chris Ricker and Dave Russo followed with 2 hard hit balls that were outs. Brad
Adams led off the 8th with a single. Rich put down a sac bunt, but the third baseman threw wildly to
first allowing Rich to reach. Dennis followed with a groundball out that moved the runners to second
and third. John Gordon followed with a bomb to center that the center fielder tracked down for a
sac fly and the final run of the game.