The Whiz Kids and Cubs met last night at the A-Diamond in game 3 of their regular season meetings. The Cubs won the first two meetings, and were 12-0 coming into the game. The only two blemishes on the Whiz Kids' record came from the Cubs.
The Cubs opened the scoring, in the bottom of the 1st inning. Chris Dunn continued his torrid hitting with a single and a stolen base. One out later, Mike Girard singled him to third, and Chris came home on a RBI groundout by Ron Lochner. The Whiz Kids took advantage of some sloppy defense in the 2nd inning to score 2 runs and regain a 2-1 lead. Bob Bolt reached on an error to lead off the inning. Paul Graziano then laid down a sacrifice bunt and nobody covered first for the Cubs. Bolt was delivered from 3rd, on a SF by Jan Friedman. Joe Burns then forced Graziano at third for the second out. Dave Siriani singled Burns to 3rd, but was caught rounding first too far, and got in a run down. The Cubs blew the run down and the Whiz were up 2-1.
The Cubs' intended starter, Chris Mason, arrived late and was inserted in the 3rd inning, down 2-1. He got through the 3rd and 4th without allowing a run. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the third, good fortune smiled on the Whiz. The Cubs loaded the bases with one out, on singles by Ron Massaroni, Dunn, and Jerry Rosen. Mike Girard found a pitch to his liking quickly and hit a line drive one hopper right at the shortstop, and the Whiz converted it into a 6-4-3 double play. Inning and rally over!
The bottom of the 5th saw the Whiz get an important insurance run. With 2 outs and nobody on, Joe Burns singled and Siriani hit a double to the left center gap, and Burns scored all of the way from first. In the 6th, the Whiz would pad that lead to 5-1 with two runs on hits by Pete Geanellis, Bob Holmes, Shawn Martin, and Doug Reisinger.
The Cubs cut the lead to 5-2, in the bottom of the 6th inning on a triple by Dunn and a single by Rosen. Bob Bolt shut the door on that rally and pitched around two singles (Dave Mitchell and Dan Hernandez), with the help of a game ending double play on a screamer at third base, that Holmes snared and threw on to second base to double off Mitchell. They ballooned the lead to 7-2 in the 7th on hits by Graziano, Jan Friedman, and Joey Burns.
Jeff Friedman and Bob Bolt combined to scatter 9 hits while giving up just 2 runs to the previously undefeated Cubs. The Cubs lead is now just one game, with 4 games left. The Cubs hold the 2-1 head to head advantage, so the Cubs would need to lose twice more, and the Whiz would need to win out, for the Whiz to overtake the Cubs in the regular season standings.
The Cubs try to get back on track Friday at Rogowicz Field, in Cook Park with a game against the Pirates. It should be an interesting last 3 weeks of the regular season.
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Wednesday 9th of August 2023 09:09:13 AM
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Wednesday 9th of August 2023 09:14:58 AM
