The Cubs won their 5th straight game with a 9-1 win over the Phillies in Medway on 8/10.
The Cubs appear to be getting hot at the right time of year. They have won 5 straight, although
none of the teams had a winning record. They close out the regular season with a double header
against the 8-8 Indians. The Cubs were tied with the Cardinals for first place going into today's
games, but the Cardinals hold the tie breaker edge over the Cubs.
This was a great win for the Cubs over a team fighting for a spot in the playoffs on their home field.
The first 5 Cubs reached base and scored in the first and the Cubs pretty much cruised from there. John
gordon started and went the first 7 innings allowing a single run and 7 hits to pick up the win. PJ
O'Toole pitched the last 2 innings and was as dominant as we've seen him this year. PJ struck out 5 of
the 7 batters he faced and the out was a pop up to first. The only batter to reach got on via an error.
Despite one of the worst field playing conditions we have ever had in this league, the Cubs played a
very good defensive game. In this space we typically talk about clutch 2 out hits. Today was the first
time in a long time I remember so many clutch defensive plays being made. The Phillies were gathering
momentum in the 3rd down 5-1 with a runner at third and two outs and run already home in the inning.
The speedy leadoff hitter hit a slow roller just to the right of the mound. Chris Ricker charged in from
second, fielded the ball and threw a strike to first to get the final out preventing the run. The exact
same thing happened to end the 4th, only this time it was Rich Wenning making the great play on a slow
roller to third. Dennis Fontecchio had a very nice game at short making several tough plays look easy.
John Gordon also helped himself on the mound with som enice defense. Earl made a great play in right
on the first batter in the bottom of the sixth. The batter hit a ball over his head and Earl got to it
fast and threw a laser to Dennis at second base nailing the runner by at least 10 feet.
The Cubs had 11 players at the game today and all 11 had at least 1 hit in the 13 hit attack. Only PJ and
Dennis had 2 hits. 8 of the 11 players scored. In short, everyone made a contribution. John Gordon led
off for the first time this year and hit a single to start the game. John made it to third on a steal
when the ball went into center. Eddie Murray was next and was hit by a pitch. Eddie stole second. Paul
Sonnett followed with a 2 RBI single. Earl Carpenter followed with an RBI double as did Kenny Hamm. PJ
singled in Kenny for the final run of the first inning. This was the 4th time in 16 games this year that
the Cubs had scored at least 4 runs in the first inning. The previous occassions were 6/8, game 1 versus
Tigers (4), and both games of a double header versus the Dodgers on 6/22 (6,5). The Cubs scored in the
4th when Kenny led off by reaching second on an error from the second baseman. PJ singled Kenny home.
The Cubs scored in the 5th with Rich Wenning leading off with a bullet the pitcher could only deflect
as the ball made it to center field. Rich went to second on a wild pitch. Rich Schwarz and Eddie
reached to load the bases with one out. Paul Sonnett followed with a sac fly to score Wenning. The
Cubs scoring ended in the 6th. The rally started with two outs and no one on base. Tim Shaver hit a
triple to right. Dennis singled Tim home. Chris Ricker singled to right to put runners on the corners.
The first and third steal play scored the last run of the game.