Cubs 7-5, 1.5 GB (3rd)
Phillies 6-7, 1.5 GB (2nd)
POTG: 1B D Lee (3 H, 2B, 2 RBI, Gold Glove game saving play in the 9th)
Runner Up: SS Ryan Theriot (2 H, SH, CS), PR-2B Ronny Cedeno (2 R despite 0 AB, SB), RP The Cyborg Known as Carlos Marmol (1.1 IP, 0 R, BB, 2 K), RP Kerry Wood (2IP!, H, BB, K, 0 R)
So Taguchi is a great man. My TiVo recording, set to tape the game going one hour extra, was down to 3:55 by the time he got to the plate. Any more of a rally, which certainly seemed possible with Howry on the mound, meant I was out of luck. Even any decent length at bat would probably push me over the limit, because Howry is taking his time lately (and the Jason Werth at bat would just never end). Or maybe it just seemed that way because I was so running out of time. Either way, Taguchi showed the skill that makes you wonder why he’s still in the MLB by harmlessly grounding out on the first pitch. It was a nice side effect that the Cubs got their third iffy win of the road trip.
DeRosa’s home run was a foul ball. This happens from time to time and who knows what happens after that if it’s called fouled, but it should’ve been called foul. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you make your own luck (D Lee’s backhand stab) and sometimes you just take your cheap wins and get out of town before someone catches you.
Things I would not have bet on: the Cubs winning one game this series and it being the Marquis game, Z contributing more as a PH than as a starter, Wood going two innings without something tearing.
Michael Wuertz is an very unsatisfying pitcher for those who just watch the games and don’t look at the aggregate results. He’s very rarely in a spot where he could look great. He’s more often unnoticeable average and, like in this game, occasionally awful. The awful stints that stick in mind because the average stuff just can’t.
I love bb-ref adding the strike types to their stats this year for things like Wuertz’s day: 14 balls, 11 strikes, only 1 strike looking and no swing and miss. Wuertz works best as a ground pitcher, and gave up 3 line drives and one fly ball. He wasn’t fooling a single batter. I hope he was just tired from the longest six game road trip ever. It’s great they had an off day on Monday, but they could use a really long start and a blowout on Tuesday.
How much do I love baseball? After I got done with this game, I was checking scores on line and noticed the Cougars had just gone into the 8th inning of their second game of the day. Doubleheaders are 7 innings long in the minor leagues, so this was extra and I figured I might as well check it out for how long it’ll last. It lasted 18, with both teams using hitters as pitchers (including the rarely seen “DH-P” line, and a Little League-esque “SS-P” position shift.) It takes a little more to get to 10-0, I guess.
And then I was driving around and decided to listening to the exhausting Yankees/Red Sox game. That may have been pushing it for baseball.