Thank You Ned Yost

It was a packed house at Wrigley.  The old stadium, the rooftops, the Wrigleyville bars, all packed in anticipation of the final matchup of the season between the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers.  The Cubs had been chasing Milwaukee all season and were finally able to take sole posession of first on August 17th.  The Cubs gave the ball to Rich Hill and he was up for the job.  Hill gave up only three runs on seven hits over seven innings, striking out nine, and giving up no walks in one of the biggest starts of his young career.

Pitchers Duel

With the wind howling straight out to centerfield at 12 mphs, it looked like it was going to be a slugfest, but oddly enough, not one home run was hit all game.  Hill came out with some dominating stuff, striking out five of the first six batters he faced.  The Brewers did get to Hill in the top of the third.  JJ Hardy reached on an infield single and Brewers' starter Jeff Suppan moved him to second.  Rickie Weeks singled, moving Hardy to third, and Hardy scored on a Corey Hart sacrifice fly, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.  The Cubs looked to answer back in the third, when Jacque Jones and Jason Kendall led off the inning with singles, but Hill couldn't lay down a sacrifice bunt, striking out attempting to bunt. Alfonso Soriano, in his first game back from injury, flied out and Ryan Theriot grounded out to end the threat.

Bad Feeling

Not scoring with runners at first and second and no outs gave Cubs fans everywhere a sick feeling in their stomachs.  Suppan was tough, giving up only three hits in the first four innings.  The Brewers gave Suppan some more run support in the top of the fifth, when Hardy hit a double with one out in the inning.  Suppan grounded out, moving Hardy to third, and then Ricky Weeks was hit by a pitch putting runners at the corner.  Weeks stole second, and then Hardy and Weeks both scored with a little flare that landed inbetween everyone.  The Brewers led 3-0 and the Cubs looked like they were sinking fast.

Make Up

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Jason Kendall hit a double to left field.  With plenty of pinch hitters, Lou stuck with Rich Hill, the worst hitter on the team, who then got a single to put the Cubs on the board, 3-1.  Suppan settled down though and the Cubs were still two runs behind.

Thank You Ned Yost

Jeff Suppan still looked in command when he started the seventh inning.  He hadn't thrown that many pitches when he hit Cliff Floyd to start off the inning on his 82 pitch.  That's when Ned Yost popped out of the dugout and pulled Suppan for reliever Scott Linebrink, who had taken the loss in two of his previous three outings.   Linebrink gave up an infield hit to Mark DeRosa.  Lou had called a hit and run, so Floyd was already moving when Hardy maed the play.  Then my best friend, Jacque Jones, hit a smash double to right, scoring Floyd and DeRosa to tie the game at 3-3.  Jason Kendall flied out, and Daryl Ward, who came in to pinch hit for Hill, was intentionally walked.  With runners at first and third and one out, Soriano hit a deep ball to right that was caught, but Jones moved to third.  With runners at first and third and two outs, Ryan Theriot showed every kid watching this game why it is important to always hustle down the line, no matter what.  Theriot hit a high bouncing ball towards Linebrink, who mistimed his jump, and the ball rolled out of his glove.  Linebrink had no play because Theriot was hustling out of the box.  The runners were going on contact with two outs, so Jones scored and Daryl Ward was safe at second.  With runners at first and second, Lou had Felix Pie run for Ward, and Pie crossed the plate on Derek Lee's RBI single, giving the Cubs a 5-3 lead. 

7th Inning Fun

All of this happened after Brewers radio man Bob Uecker sang the seventh inning stretch, and said "Root, Root, Root for the Brewers" instead of the Cubbies.  Then he sat in the booth and watched Milwaukee flush away their lead.  You could just hear how miserable he was watching Cub after Cub cross home plate.  He finally was allowed to leave after Linebrink was pulled after the Lee RBI single.  Plus the Cubs fans sung the song properly immediately after Uecker sang his version.  Next time sing it right, Bob!

Not Out of the Woods

Of course it wasn't going to be easy for the Cubs to finish the game.  Bob Howry came in and got Corey Hart to strike out swinging.  Prince Fielder hit a single, but Howry got Ryan Braun to strike out swinging also.  Howry had two strikes on the next batter, Kevin Mench, but accidentily hit him, bringing the winning run to the plate.  Gabe Gross, pinch hitting for Bill Hall, had an amazing battle with Howry. Gross fouled back pitch after pitch, neither man giving in.  Finally, Howry, who had been throwing in the mid 90's took something off and Gross popped the ball up to DeRosa at second to end the threat.  Ryan Dempster had another 1-2-3 inning and the Cubs took the important first game of the series.

Big Guns

Tomorrow should be just as exciting, as the aces for both teams take the mound.  Ben Sheets will return to th emound for the Brewers Sheets for the first time since he was placed on the DL in mid-July with torn tissue in his right middle finger.  That injury has healed, but Sheets has been struggling with blisters.  He did not make any rehab starts, so who knows how long he can go?  And who knows how Zambrano will do? Other than getting a 90 million dollar contract, Big Z has yet to record an August win.  He needs to prove that he is a big game pitcher, and not get "too amped up" or try to "do too much" .  There are 24 other players on the team that will help you if you keep them close.  Just like tonight.  Zambrano needs to keep his head and the Cubs need him to pitch well if they want to win the division and move to the next step.  Let's finish off August with a few more W's!

Go Cubs!