Cubs in First Place All by themselves
By Sarah Spain
Unlikely Heroes Help Cubs Sweep Snakes, take over NL Central
Last October the surging Chicago Cubs and the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks met for what most assumed would be a hotly contested NLDS series. Three straight losses later, the Cubs were knocked into their off-season prematurely while Arizona moved on to face the upstart Colorado Rockies.
When the NL West-leading D’Bags, er, D’Backs, came back into town this past weekend, last season’s disappointing and embarrassing sweep was certainly on the minds of the Cubs and their fans. Clutch performances from the unlikeliest of heroes helped the Northsiders sweep the snakes in three straight come-from-behind victories.
Game 1: Cubs Win 3-1
In game 1, a struggling Ted Lilly finally found control on the mound and contact at the plate. The southpaw gave up a solo shot to Chris Young in the first inning but surrendered just three more hits through seven innings while posting 10 strikeouts. Down 1-0 with two outs in the fifth, the Cubs had a man on 2nd when Arizona elected to walk Reed Johnson to get to Lilly. A .124 career hitter, Lilly calmly knocked an RBI single up the middle to tie the game.
Lilly’s RBI was a happy surprise. The play that followed—an Alfonso Soriano double that scored the go-ahead run—was a relief. After a sluggish start saw fans and media calling for his head, things only got worse for Soriano—a strained right calf that kept him out for 15 days. It’s hard to imagine that a guy given one of the richest contracts in baseball history was batting .175 after the first 13 games of the season, but one needn’t look farther than Barry Zito’s ERA to understand expensive busts.
Game 2: Cubs Win 7-2
Fortunately, after returning from injury, Soriano looks to be getting back in the swing of things—literally. In game 2 of the series with Arizona, ‘Fonsie went 4-for-5 and, once again, provided the go-ahead double to seal the win. Despite looking a little gimpy on the basepath, the Cubs leadoff man still managed to get two big runs on plays at the plate.
The Diamondbacks controlled the game through 6 innings, led by their newest stud, rookie hurler Max Scherzer. Despite his 6 K, no earned run performance, Scherzer was pulled before the 7th inning, at which point the flood gates opened for Chicago. Struggling pinch-hitter Daryle Ward tied the game at deuces with an RBI single to set up Soriano’s go-ahead double. The Cubs weren’t done yet, though. Wrigley’s finest put up four more runs in the inning, including two off of Kosuke Fukudome’s second homer of the year.
Game 3: Cubs Win 6-4
Ward’s contribution on Saturday may have been viewed as a happy accident, but his clutch performance Sunday proved that he’s warming up at just the right time. The pinch-hitter was 0-for-14 off the bench before Saturday, but clearly Lou Piniella viewed his struggles as temporary. After Reed Johnson tied the game at four with a two-run homer to left, Ward stepped up and smacked a huge two-run double to the gap in right center that put Chicago up for good.
Good teams have superstars who consistently produce. Great teams get big-time performances from everyone, right down to their last bench guy. As the season continues, the Cubs are proving more and more to be one of those great teams. The series sweep, along with a St. Louis loss on Sunday, returned the Northsiders to the top of the NL Central, right where they belong.
As of Wednesday night, the Cubs remain one game ahead of their rival, the surprising St. Louis Cardinals.
Feels good to be back home….in my neighborhood taken over by Cubs ruffians and jackanapes dressed in blue and red!
Go Cubbies!
The Pirates are coming back to town soon..that will pad the ole won-loss record
nice to see Alfonso Soriano not sucking anymore… still not sure how I feel about the Jim Edmonds signing… I’m leaning towards it being a good thing if there is something left in the tank… Sarah, your thoughts?
Sarah, Cubs fan or not, I just want to say what an honor it is playing on the Sportsbank team with you. Your exceptional writing style and superior intelligence of the sports world are second to none. All of your teammates admire your tenacity to achieve your dreams. Good luck on your latest adventure. Even if I don’t agree with your choice in baseball teams to love, we’re lucky to have you on our team. On a lighter note: when is Rich Hill going to be back? His control may have stunk but his ERA was only 4.12. High Five- SM
SM, if you dont mind I’m going to go in and change “on” to “and” in your 2nd sentence cause its bothering me. Ryan Dempster was DEALING today. he had filthy stuff.
Ted Lilly has looked better lately, maybe Hill can turn it around like he did too.
Re: Edmonds…they’re chalking up his slow start in SD to a nagging Spring injury, so I’m hoping he’s still got something left in the tank. We all want so badly for Pie to succeed but he was just never playing at the level of the rest of the team this season. Let’s hope Edmonds is solid, if not spectacular.
Soxman, thank you. I have many friends who are Sox fans, so I’m willing to accept that perfectly nice (and talented, enthusiastic) people can have bad taste in baseball teams. : ) As for Hill, I wanna like the kid but he was throwing some Ankiel-like pitches and the scariest thing for a hot team like the Cubs is a guy on the mound who could throw the whole game away with one inning.
Finally…DEMPSTER. IS. NASTY. HOLLLLLAAAA!
Who would have ever thought Dempster would be anything as a starter when he struggled as a closer? You have to tip your cap to the guy.
Hopefully Hill finds his command. He was a highly ranked pitcher going into the season and considered by many to be the #2 man behind Big Z…
Dempster is no Joe Slusarski…
Ryan Demspters quirkiness and Canadian sense of humor makes him seem like he would be an interesting interview subject. I would imagine he wouldnt use all the boring platitudes that most baseball players do, and be a lotta fun to talk to.
Soriano had a pretty good game today!