The Cubs and Pirates got together for a game at New Scotland last night on a hot and humid night.

With the Cubs sitting atop the division at 7-0, and the Pirates sitting at the other end of the standings at 0-6-1,
the Cubs came into the game a bit over confident. The Pirates used that to their advantage in grabbing a 3-1 lead through 3 innings.

The Cubs got 1 in the top of the 3rd inning, when John Coulombe led off with a walk, was wild pitched to second, stole third, and
scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Espada. Meanwhile, the Pirates touched up Cubs starter, Jerry Rosen, for 3 runs in the bottom half
of the inning. Carlo Bileci tripled with one out to start the rally. Anthony Sgambelluri then reached on a walk and stole second, putting 2 men
into scoring position with just one out. Jim Jasiewicz followed with a RBI single, sending Sgambelluri to third. Jazzy then stole second,
and again their were two runners in scoring position with just one out. Next Rosen got a huge strike out of the Pirates' number 2 hitter, but
Paul Peters followed with a clutch two-out single to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead, before Rosen got the final out on a ground out to second base.

That deficit didn't last long for the Cubs as their offense exploded for 6 runs in the top of the next inning. The first 5 batters in the inning
reached safely: Ron Lochner singled, Mike Reutter walked, Paul Miles doubled, Sherwin So singled, and PJ Martone singled. Rosen then
grounded out to second, plating a run. Web Gem Alert: Mark Meyers hit a screaming line drive destined to be a double down the line,
but it was speared by a diving Pirates 3rd baseman for the second out. It looked like the damage in the inning would be limited to 4 runs,
but John Coulombe doubled home So, and Dave Mitchell doubled home Coulombe before the Pirates could get the final out in the inning.
Rosen got the Pirates out without any damage in the bottom of the 4th and the Cubs went down in order in the top of the 5th.

Mike Girard came on in relief, in the bottom of the 5th, for the tiring Cubs' starter. With the score at 7-3, the Cubs were feeling pretty good
about things. That good feeling didn't last long as the Pirates crept to within two runs by getting 3 singles and 3 stolen bases to plate two runs,
and went to the top of the 6th trailing just 7-5. Rob Currier, Jasiewicz, and Dominic Carnibucci, had the singles.

Again, as the game started to flow toward the Pirates, the Cubs offense came to the rescue. Mike Reutter singled and Paul Miles got his second
double of the night to put men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. One out later, Martone plated a run with a ground out to second. With two outs
and Miles on 3rd, Rosen, Mark Meyers, and Coulombe all singled and the score was suddenly 11-5.

Girard got 4 strike outs in the 6th and 7th, and the game was in the books. Cubs move to 8-0, with a tough game on tap vs the Twins on Friday
night at New Scotland. The Pirates walked away at 0-7-1, but can be very proud of the way they played against the defending champs.
This team is as classy as their manager, Jim Dalton. Before the game they asked to have both teams line up on the foul lines so that Jim could say
some nice words about yours truly and present me with a nice card, with more nice words and a gift card to Dick's. It was likely the last time they will
the Cubs this season. This was a very nice surprise. One that I won't ever forget. My extreme appreciation for this heart warming gesture!





-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 10th of July 2025 09:38:13 AM