The Cubs beat the Yanks, Thursday night at the A-Diamond, by a score of 9-4 to clinch the regular season title, and the number 1 overall seed in the upcoming 55+ playoffs.
The game was tighter than the final score. In fact the Yanks had a 4-3 lead after the first 3 innings. The Cubs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when Carlos Espada led off with a double and Ron Massaroni singled and stole second. This put two in scoring position with no outs. Consecutive RBI groundouts by Mike Girard and Ron Lochner plated both runners.
The Yankees got a run in the top of the second when Tony Parella and Carlos Llera both were hit by pitches from Girard, to lead off the inning. Girard got a double play on the next batter, and looked liked he may escape the jam, but Doug Edick came through for the Yanks with a big two out RBI single, and the Cubs lead was cut in half. The top of the 3rd inning saw a big momentum switch. With 2 outs and nobody on, the Yanks got back to back singles from Ryan Johnson and Mark Marshall. Tony Parella then brought them home with a long triple to right center field. Carlos Llera then followed with a RBI single of his own, and suddenly the Yanks held a 4-2 lead.
The Cubs got one back in the bottom half of the inning when Alex Marin singled and was plated two outs later on a RBI single by Espada. One of those two outs came when John Coulombe was cut down at the plate on an apparent wild pitch that caromed off of the backstop unusually hard, directly back to the catcher, who made an easy toss to Llera covering home in plenty of time to get the out.
The 4th and 5th innings is where the game was decided. Girard got through those two innings unscathed for the Cubs, but Llera wasn't as lucky as the Cubs scored 3 runs in each of those two innings. The 3 runs in the 4th were a product of hits by Girard, Lochner, Mike Reutter, and Andy Hoyle. The 3 runs in the 5th came as the result of leadoff singles by Jim Bonaparte and John Coulombe; Espada reaching on an error; a wild pitch, and an RBI ground out by Girard.
The 6th and 7th innings were scoreless and the Cubs walked away with a hard earned 9-4 victory. The Cubs have one more game next Tuesday with the Dodgers, and then it is straight on to the semi-finals against the winner of the 4 vs 5 game. The Yanks have a tough double header vs the Whiz next Wednesday before it is on to the playoffs for them. They are a scary proposition for whoever they face. We are just glad we won't have to play them until the finals, if they can run the gauntlet and get that far.
Good luck to all of the teams in the 55+ division in the playoffs. This is when the fun really starts!
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Friday 13th of September 2024 09:48:03 AM
