On Wednesday night, when the Whiz Kids beat the Yankees 8-3, they overtook the Cubs for first place the standings. That spot at the top of the standings did not last long.
Thursday night the Cubs sent lefty, Chris Dunn, to the mound and he was in control all night long. Dunn allowed just one run on 6 hits and no walks, while striking out 1. He gave up just one hit in each of the first two innings and retired the heart of the Whiz's order in order in the 3rd and 4th innings. The only run the Whiz would push across all night was in the 5th inning, when the Cubs were ahead 6-0. Ron McCarthy and Barry Friedman led off the inning with singles. Greg Mangione bunted them both into scoring position. Dunn then induced a comebacker by Joey Burns, and Dunn caught McCarthy too far off of third base and the ensuing rundown brought about the second out with still no runs in. Jeff Friedman saved the Whiz from being shut out by singling home a run with two outs. Dunn got the last out of the inning on a pop out to short.
Meanwhile the Cubs bats were active in 3 of their 6 innings at the plate. They used a lead off single and a stolen base by Carlos Espada; a RBI double by Dunn; a RBI single from Mike Girard; and singles by Mike Reutter and Andy Hoyle to plate 3 runs in the first. They got a leadoff triple by Girard in the 4th inning and made the most of an error, HBP, and a walk to plate 3 more in the bottom of the 4th. The Cubs would get their last run in the bottom of the 5th inning, when they got a 1 out single from John Coulombe and a walk to Sherwin So to set the table for Espada. Carlos took advantage of the RBI opportunity when he singled home Coulombe. Final score: Cubs 7 - Whiz Kids 1.
The win boosted the Cubs back into first place with a 13-2 record. The Whiz fell to 11-2-1 with the loss. The two teams meet for the 4th and final time in the regular season next Tuesday night (09/10/24) at the A-Diamond at 4:45 pm. The Cubs hold a 2-1 advantage in the 3 meetings thus far this year. It should be another highly competitive game.
Chris Dunn knew a good thing when he saw it. Carlos Espada at short, for the Cubs was perfect defensively, and Dunn kept inducing grounders and pop-ups his way. Carlos had 5 assists and 4 put outs the first 5 innings. That means he was involved in 9 of the 15 outs in those 5 innings. Wow!
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Friday 6th of September 2024 01:56:26 PM
