Greg Briscoe of the Twins scored the only earned run of the game when he came home on a Terry McCarthy double in the bottom of the second inning, but it was the Cubs who ultimately prevailed 4-2 at New Scotland. The Cubs scored 3 unearned runs in the top of the second on three hits and 3 Twins errors. Cubs scored one more unearned run in the fifth when the first batter, Mitchell, reached on an error and later scored on a one out sac fly off the bat of Jim Bonaparte. Rick Saidenberg scored the Twins second run, unearned, after reaching on an error by the Cubs left fielder in the 7th inning. Tom King followed with a single and John Newman drove in Saidenberg with another single. The Twins left runners at first and second as the game ended on a deep fly to left off the bat of Wayne Nicholsen. Both pitchers threw complete games with Mike Girard allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, hitting one batter, and picking up 4 strikeouts for the Cubs. John Newman of the Twins also allowed just 5 hits, 4 runs, 0 earned, while striking out 6. It was a beautiful night for baseball.
-- Edited by crowbait on Wednesday 12th of August 2020 11:19:50 PM
Defense was definitely a key in this one, and the Cubs defense made a couple more plays than did the Twins. The deciding inning was the 2nd inning, when the Cubs got lead off singles from Ron Lochner and Jerry Rosen. Rosens' single to right was misplayed by the Twins right fielder, and Lochner moved to third. Dave Mitchell hit a sharp grounder to short, that got through the Twins shortstop, and scored Lochner. Ron Massaroni grounded into a fielder's choice to short, and the Cubs had runners on first and third with one out. Mike Girard then singled through the right side as Massaroni was stealing second, scoring Rosen, and the ball was misplayed again in right, and Massaroni motored all of the way home. John Newman then induced a pop out to first and a grounder to second to escape with just a 3-0 deficit.
The Twin got one back in the bottom of the inning when Mike Girard hit Terry Briscoe with a pitch, with one out. He compounded that mistake by throwing wildly past first on a pick-off attempt, moving Briscoe to second. That error proved deadly, when, with two outs McCarthy doubled down the third baseline, scoring Briscoe from second. He definitely would not have scored from first. Girard would strike out Dave Reed to end the threat. The pitchers and defense took over from there. Each team would only one more run the rest of the way.
The best defensive play of the game came in the top of the 5th, when the Cubs would get their 4th run, but could have had a few more. Dave Mitchell led off, and reached on an error. He immediately stole second. Ron Massaroni singled him to third, and stole second on the first pitch. Girard followed with a sinking liner to the left center gap, that looked like it would get through and possibly go all of the way to the fence, scoring two runs and putting another runner in scoring position, with no outs. Enter the Twins centerfielder. Jim Edelman will have to help me with his name. He got a great jump on the ball and made a great running catch to save at least two runs and maybe more. Jim Bonaparte would deliver the important insurance run from third, with a sacrifice fly to left.
With the the score at 4-1 entering the bottom of the 7th, The Twins mounted a rally. Rick Seidenberg reached to lead off the inning on an error by the Cubs left fielder. King then singled to move Seidenberg to third. With runners on first and third with no outs, Girard would get an important strike out of the Twins number 5 hitter. John Newman then helped his own cause with a RBI single. A fielders choice would put runners on first and third, with two outs, and the game would end on a routine fly ball to left. Cubs win 4-2
With the victory, the Cubs moved to 6-1 on the season, and set up a game Thursday night with the Angels. These two teams have tons of friends. Hell, I would say family, and promises to be a great time, with a baseball game also being played. Can't wait!
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 13th of August 2020 01:10:36 PM
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 13th of August 2020 01:11:59 PM
It was Twins centerfielder Terry McCarthy who ran down the well struck line drive to left center in the top of the fifth by Mike Girard. McCarthy was running at a full gallop, and being a lefty had his right arm extended to the max. Terry has done this before and you do NOT want to get in his way when he gets up a head of steam. Also noteworthy defensively for the Twins, left fielder Lee Madsen made a fine play to put away a shot by Ron Lochner in the third. Lee made it look routine, which it wasnt, but, thats what a great fielder does.
