For the second consecutive year the Cubs faced the As on Father's Day and they won both times.
The Cubs had a great team win over the As by a score of 9-3. The As were 5-0 coming into the game and
held a 2-0 after 4 innings. The Cubs battled with a run in the 5th, one in the 6th and 5 in the 7th to
break open the 2-2 tie. After the As scored 1 in the 7th, the Cubs scored single runs in the 8th and 9th
to close out the scoring. It was a great bounce back win for the Cubs after losing for the first time in
2010 last week.
Tom Barnes started and picked up the win. Tom had a very nice outing going 6 innigs and allowing 2 4th inning
runs. There were no other threats for Tom as no As player even reach second base outside of that 4th inning.
Tom allowed 6 hits and three walks while striking out 4. John Gordon pitched the final three innings to pick
up the save. John allowed a run in the 7th and then settled down to shut the As down in the 8th and 9th
facing just 7 batters in the last two innings.
On defense, the Cubs continue to play solid baseball. There was just one error recorded and that was on a
very tough slow roller play. Roberto had a nice game at third and Dennis Fontecchio made a couple nice
plays at short. Paul Sonnett set the tone by throwing out the first batter trying to steal second. Chris
Ricker made a nice play to apply the tag,
Despite the 9-3 final score, this was a very tight game through 6 innings. It started in a very frustrating
way for the Cubs, especially coming off the shutout in the previous week. The Cubs left the bases loaded in
first and third innings without scoring any runs. Then the As put up 2 runs in the 4th. The Cubs started
their comeback in the 5th inning. In a recurring theme for this one, the bottom half of the Cubs order did
a lot of damage. With one out, Jeff Fitton and Mark Grogan singled. Jeff ended up scoring on a wild pitch.
After a second out the Cubs had a runner at second when John Gordon delivered a clutch single which appeared
to score pinch runner Chris Ricker. However, the home plate umpire ruled Chris missed third base which was a
terrible call to be making from hoem plate. Chris appeared to touch the bag. Instead of a 2-2 tie, the Cubs
left the top of the 5th still trailing 2-1. The Cubs continued to battle though. In the 6th, the Cubs tied
the game with an awesome two out no one on rally. Roberto and Ricker hit singles to put runners on first and
third. Tom Barnes then reach on an error to bring in the tying run. The Cubs exploded for 5 runs in the 7th
to break the 2-2 tie. Dennis Fontecchio and Jeff Fitton singled to start the inning off. Mark Grogan followed
with a sac fly to score Dennis. Rich Schwarz singled to put runners at first and third. Then John Gordon
singled home Jeff and moved Rich to third. Then the big sticks came out. Ken Hamm drove home two with a
rocket double to left center and Roberto followed with a bomb double to left center to score Ken. The Cubs
scored in the 8th when Tom Barnes led off with a single. Chris Ricker came in to courtesy run and stole second
and went to third when the throw went into center field. Andy Luckhardt drove Ricker in with a grounder to the
second baseman. The Cubs closed out the scoring in the 9th when John Gordon doubled and then Paul Sonnett
singled him home.