This game promised to be close and exciting, and it did not disappoint.
The Yankees had JJ Pearsall on the hill and the Cubs went with Ron Massaroni -- two of the league's top pitchers!
The Yankees got off to the start they wanted with two outs in the bottom of the first, when JJ Pearsall jumped on the first pitch he saw and sent it out of the park for a 1-0 lead.
It looked like that lead would be short-lived as the Cubs used singles by Ron Lochner and Mike Girard and a dropped fly ball to right to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning. JJ had other ideas, as he struck out the next two Cubs hitters to put out the fire and maintain the lead.
The Yankees were able to load the bases with two outs in the top of the second on a walk and singles by Sylvester Rodriguez and Paul Post. This was a dangerous spot for the Cubs, because you don't want to fall behind Mr. Pearsall by 3 or 4 runs this early in the game, but Ron was as cool as the other side of the pillow, as he got a grounder to first and hustled over to the bag to field the throw ahead of the runner.
Inning over.
Both pitchers cruised through the third inning, but in the top of the fourth Mr. Massaroni made his second mistake pitch of the night by hanging a curve to Ryan Johnson. Ryan got just enough of the ball and got it up into the wind that was blowing briskly to right. The ball cleared the the right field fence for a home run and a 2-0 Yankees lead.
The Cubs needed to answer quickly, and answer they did in the bottom half of the 4th. Andy Hoyle led off with a walk and Dave Mitchell followed with a bullet to left for a single. Tom Maney then went to battle with JJ, fouling off about 4 or 5 two-strike pitches before bouncing a hard grounder to the hole between first and second. Sylvester Rodriguez (Yankees' second baseman) ranged far to his left and speared the ball just before it reached the outfield grass and threw off balance to first in time to get Maney. The runners advanced to second and third with one out, but S-Rod had saved the Yankees from a much bigger inning. Shawn Maney followed with an infield single that scored Hoyle from third and cut the lead in half. The Yankee ace then got the next two Cubs' hitters to ground out without plating the tying run.
Massaroni and Pearsall got through the fifth inning by retiring the opposing sides 1-2-3, and the game moved on to the 6th inning.
Eric Duelmer led off the top of the sixth with a single and stole second. After Massaroni struck out the next Yankee batter, the Cubs hurler pitched around Ryan Johnson and walked him on four pitches. Massaroni then got out of the inning with another strike out and a bouncer back to the mound.
With the 2, 3, and 4 hitters coming up and the daylight fading, the Cubs felt a sense of urgency in the bottom of the sixth. After JJ got the two-hitter to bounce out to second, Mike Girard singled and stole second. Andy Hoyle was walked and a balk put runners on second and third with one out. Dave Mitchell was up next and had the pressure of having to deliver against the leagues best strike out pitcher. Mitch was up to the task as he ripped a double off of Pearsall to plate the tying and go-ahead runs. Cubs lead 3-2. Tom Maney then blooped a single to right, but Mitchell had to hold up to see if the ball was going to be caught and could only get to third. Never fear! Tom's brother Shawn followed with a solid single up the middle to plate Mitchell and give the Cubs a 4-2 lead. JJ got out of the inning without further damage and gave his club a chance to come up with a comeback of their own in the seventh.
Ron Massaroni got the first batter by getting him to ground out to short. Jallah Kujic then lifted a fly ball to left that looked like it would be right at the left fielder, but the strong cross wind blew the ball into the gap and Kujic was standing on second with a very important double. Mazz then got the next batter to fly out to center and got the last batter on a broken bat grounder toward first that he pounced on and threw to first just ahead of the runner for the final out.
Cubs win 4-2!
Game two is scheduled for 6:00 pm at Bob Moore on Thursday night. It should be another barn burner! Be sure to come out early, as the first 1,000 paying customers receive a Maney brothers bobble head doll. (The dolls are really left over Joe Fitzgerald bobble heads from game one of the quarter finals. Workers are feverishly painting Cubs uniforms over the Nats uniforms as you read this.)

-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 19th of August 2010 07:18:34 AM