Last night's game between the Cubs and Pirates was all it was expected to be . . . for 3-1/2 innings. The Cubs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on a 2-RBI single by Joe Ciccarelli. The Pirates answered with 3 in the bottom of the inning on a double by Mike Burns, an RBI single by Rich Wander, a walk by Mark Callahan, and a 2-RBI single by Mike Clary. The Cubs tied the game in the top of the third on a single by Tom Maney, a single by Mike Girard, and a sacrafice fly by Andy Hoyle. The Cubs took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth on a lead-off double by Jim Walters (3-3 with 2 doubles and 3 runs scored on the evening), and an RBI single by TJ Scorsone. That was the end of the good game, and the beginning of the Nightmare at Elm Avenue Park!!! The bottom of the fourth inning started with Cubs starter, Mike Girard, getting Ron Smaka to fly out to left. He then induced a weak grounder to second, E-4. That innocent little grounder started the worst display of fielding ever seen on a CDMSBL ball field. Five errors, 2 past balls, 3 wallks, and 3 singles later the Pirates had hung 10 runs on the board and had a 13-4 lead. That's right 10 runs on 3 hits! The Cubs managed one more run in the sixth on a Walters double, Scorsone single and Jim McQuade sacrafice fly. The Cubs weren't done showing the young fans in attendance how NOT to play the game, when in the bottom of the sixth they had 3 more errors to hand the Pirates the 4 runs they would need to win by the mercy rule (17-5). For the Pirates: Ron Smaka was 2-4; Mike Burns had a double and single; and Rich Wander was 2-3. The Cubs will look to forget the way they played on Wednesday night at Bethlehem when they travel to Ravena next week to play these same Pirates in a rematch Wednesday night.
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 27th of May 2010 08:06:08 AM
Mike Girard encapsulated the essence of this game very well in his post. Way too much help given to the Pirates to beat the Cubs. We will not take this excellent Jim McQuade led team, with now only one loss, lightly. The Pirates will need to hit consistently and play great defense to win again on Wednesday for the rematch in Ravena. It's not likely we'll see much help this time around. Speaking of Jim McQuade, as he ran off the field in the bottom of the disastrous 4th after his team gave us most of the 10 runs, he shouted to me, "what did ya get, 1 or 2? We've all been on the losing end of a game like this, but not all can look at it with humor, at least that's what I think was intended, unless he lost consciousness for a while out in left field. But seriously, the sportsmanship exhibited by all the Cubs is a testament their character. Hopefully we all as managers and players can keep his example in mind.
