The Pirates were able to win back to back games on 7/2 and 7/3 against the Cubs - 14-3 and the White Sox - 13-5 respectively. The Cubs kept it close early on until their starting pitcher had to leave with an injury. For the Pirates, Mike Kane pitched an excellent game with a shutout through 6 until the Cubs scored 3 in the 7th. The Cubs as usual, with Dennis Maille at the helm, played hard until the end without getting down on themselves, their opponents or the umpires who officiated an excellent game. Being down by a bunch throughout most the the game, as we know, can cause frustration. These guys, win or lose, never lose sight of why we play and how we should conduct ourselves.
The White Sox game was closer than the final score indicates. It was fairly close into the 4th and called due to darkness after 6 complete. Steve Lounello pitched an excellent 5 innings, keeping the Sox hitters off balance with a variety of pitches. Rich Knaupp pitched an effective 6th to close it out. One other comment. A Sox player was ejected for excessive arguing with the umpires. Credit is due to Sox manager Fred Phillips who immediately stepped in to take charge to calm his player. To the credit of the player ejected, he appropriately left the field of play without further incident. Well handled by the home plate ump Todd and Fred Phillips' intervention.
