When the Cubs and Whiz kids get together, the games are always tight and highly competitive.
Last night's game at the A-Diamond was no exception!

This one was a pitcher's duel with Mike Girard and Mike Kane squaring off in a game that would be decided by one mistake pitch.
Mike Kane got in a little trouble, in the top of the second inning, when Andy Hoyle singled with one out, and immediately stole second.
Alex Marin followed with a single that moved Hoyle to third, and then stole second. With two runners in scoring position and just one out
Kane got the next Cubs batter on strikes and induced a hard hit grounder to short, effectively escaping the the jam with no damage.

The Cubs would again put Mike in a tough spot, in the top of the third. Ralph Caputo led off with a single. Dave Schillinger grounded out to third, moving Caputo to second.
George Schillinger followed with a single, moving Caputo to third. Next up was Scott Ross, and Kane jammed him with a tough pitch and Ross lofted a soft humpback liner over
the third baseman's head. Nobody was sure whether it would be caught or go into short left field. Just when it looked like it was clear, the Whiz Kid's third baseman reached out
his glove and just got a tiny piece of it. It was enough that it did not roll far away, and when Caputo broke for the plate, the ball was gathered in and thrown home in plenty of time
to get Caputo. Now there were 2 outs and runners on first and second, and when Kane induced a slow bouncing ball up the middle, it looked like he would escape again.
But, this time, the ball was misplayed and the inning was extended one more batter with the bases loaded. That batter was Ron Lochner. A scary proposition for any opposing pitcher.
Mike got Ron behind in the count, but with two strikes he hung a curve ball on the outer part of the plate and Lochner crushed it to the right center field gap, clearing the bases,
and providing the Cubs with a 3-0 lead. One error and one mistake pitch, had flipped the script in the blink of an eye. Mike Kane really buckled down from that point on, getting 13
of the next 14 Cubs out, allowing his team a chance to get back in the game.

The only chance the Whiz Kids were able to muster against Girard was in the bottom of the 6th. The Whiz would get a lead-off single by Gene Hallenbeck, and a walk to John Cortese to start the inning.
Girard then got a soft liner to shallow center that looked like it would be caught by speedy center fielder Scott Ross. Ross was unable to get to the ball in time, but the runners were still very close to
first and second, so Ross threw quickly to second to try to force Cortese from first. The throw was a one hop, and Ron McCarthy (Cubs' second baseman) tried to grab it with his bare hand and throw
on to third in time for a double play. That attempt back fired as he failed to make the bare handed grab, and now the bases were loaded with one out. Girard was in hot water and needed to come up with a
special effort to bail out his team. He got the first out on a very important strike out (only his third of the game), then got an infield fly to second and a soft grounder off the end of the bat to first and the Cubs
escaped still holding a 3-0 lead. Two other innings could have been problematic for Girard, if not for his catcher, Jerry Rosen. In the first inning, with Jeff Friedman on first and one out, Jerry threw a perfect
strike to second just nailing the speedy Friedman trying to steal second. After Girard had hit Hallenbeck with a pitch to lead off the fourth inning, Rosen again threw out the runner trying to steal, this time
with the aid a a fantastic swipe tag by Ron McCarthy. The Whiz picked up 2 of their 5 hits in that inning after Rosen erased the lead off base runner. A big moment in the game.

The 7th inning was a little anti-climactic, as Girard retired the first two batters on first pitches (a line out to short and a pop out to third), and after a 4 pitch walk to Shawn Martin, he retired the Whiz's clean up
hitter on a routine grounder to short. Girard finished with a complete game 5 hit shut out, with 3 walks, one hit batter, and 3 K's. Kane was brilliant in defeat, as he gave up just the 3 unearned runs, while
scattering 8 hits and 1 walk, and striking out 2. The Cubs move to 11-1-1 with the victory and have two games next week: a Monday tilt with the tough Twins, and a reunion game on Wednesday vs the Angels.
It should be a great week! Cant wait!!!


-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 17th of September 2020 08:14:04 AM