The Cubs and Dodgers faced off last night, at the A-Diamond, in game one of the 55+ semi-finals. The Cubs got a late cancellation from their game one starter (Chris Mason) due to a work commitment. No worries, as Chris Dunn, who pitched 7 innings on Saturday in a 45+ quarter-final playoff game, stepped up to take the ball on just one day's rest. It started off poorly for Chris, as he hit Harvey Staulters with his first pitch of the night. Again, no worries, as Chris struck out the Dodgers' number two hitter and got a double play when Mark Callahan drilled a hot live drive right at Cubs' shortstop, Ron Massaroni. Ron speared the liner and quickly tossed to Alex Marin covering second to double off Staulters.
The Cubs used the momentum from that turnaround to jump out to a quick lead in the bottom half of the inning. Paul Miles led off with a walk and immediately stole second base. Alex Marin followed with a solid single, moving Miles to third. Marin then stole second, and the Cubs had two in scoring position with nobody out. Dodgers' starter, Jim Tesereiro then struck out the Cubs' 3 and 4 hitters to give his team the opportunity to seize back the momentum, with a Houdini act of his own. However, he would uncork a wild pitch, scoring Miles with the game's first run. Then Jim Bonaparte came through with a clutch two out RBI double down the right field line. 2-0 Cubs.
Dunn would get two quick ground outs and a strike out in the second, and the Cubs were quickly back at it in their half of the inning. Ron Lochner led off with a line drive single and his shared runner stole second base. Jim McQuade followed with a walk. A ball in the dirt got away from the catcher enough for the runner at second to get to third. McQuade attempted to steal second but was gunned down in the attempt, and the runner at third did not advance. A wild pitch plated the Cubs third run. Tesereiro struck out the next two Cubs to end the threat.
The Dodgers would get a lead off double in the 3rd inning from Jim Bradley, but Dunn got two fly outs to center sandwiched around a strike out, to leave the Dodger's scoreless. The Cubs threatened again in the 3rd, when Dunn singled with one out, and stole second and third. However, Tesereiro got strike outs number 5 and 6, again in the meat of the Cubs' order, to get out of the inning unscathed. Still 3-0 Cubs.
The Dodgers broke through against Dunn in the top of the 4th inning. With one out, Marc Trinchillo singled; Mark Callahan followed with a walk; and Pat Alston drilled a RBI single to center. After Dunn walked Ray Colletta to load the bases with just one out, he came through with a strike out and a weak grounder to short to get out of the inning, still holding a 3-1 lead.
The Cubs came into the dugout for their half of the 4th talking about getting that one run back. Well, they accomplished that and more. They got 3 walks, one hit batter, 4 hits (Lochner, Marin, Dunn, and Girard) in the inning. That output, along with one Dodger error mixed in, added up to 6 Cubs' runs and a seemingly insurmountable 9-1 lead. Chris Dunn's pitching in this game, and all year long, is what made that lead look so daunting. He would get two more ground outs and a strike out in the 5th to complete his work on the night. He ended up giving up just one run on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 hit batter, while striking out 5 in his 5 innings of work.
The game would end in the 5th when the Cubs plated two runs on 3 hits (Miles, Marin, and Girard) and a walk. The final score was 11-1, and gives the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the best 2 of 3 semifinal series. Game two is scheduled for Thursday night, at Rogowicz Field in Cook Park, at 5:30 pm.
