Cubs defeat Astros in Grand fashion in 13 innings

Last night the Cubs needed to win, especially since St.Louis got lucky and beat the Dodgers. Last night before I left for the game, I was for some unexplainable reason watching Chicago Tribune Live (CTL) and Paul Sullivan, Cubs beat writer, said that Carlos Zambrano nudged him before the game, as he does when he is about to pitch well, or have his good stuff. Zambrano was right, he did have his good stuff last night: 7IP, ER, 3H, 4BB, 4K. He pitched quickly and was dominant at times, the only blunder was when he allowed at towering HR to fellow Venezuelan, Carlos Lee, on an 0-2 count. Seriously, that was one of the farthest hit balls I have ever seen to center field, it almost hit the the little camera box!

Furthermore, even the bullpen pitched well last night, combining for 6IP, OER, 2BB, 7K. Aaron Heilman actually pitched decently as did Carlos Marmol, neither walked anyone. Jeff Stevens for some reason pitched the 9th and most of the 10th inning allowing only 2 hits and striking out three, he showed good poise out on the mound in a tough spot, Kevin Gregg also probably needed a day off. Sean Marshall got out of a minor Stevens jam and only pitched 1/3 of an inning, Lou Piniella needs to figure out a way to get more out of him, he is vastly underused. Finally, Jeff Samardzija pitched the final two innings, he made things interesting in the 13th getting into a first and third one out jam, but was saved by a great Jake Fox catch of a high fastball, and a convenient Carlos Lee double play, to get out of the jam and eventually pick up his first win of the season. My guess would be either Samardzija or recently called up Justin Berg will be sent back down to make room for Ryan Dempster who is set to come off of the DL today and start tonight.

Last night the Cubs did not do too much offensively, mostly since they were facing lefty, Wandy Rodriguez, who seems to give them fits. The Cubs were 1-9 with RISP last night, looking like the Cubs of May/June, fortunately, the Astros were worse, going 0-7 with RISP. The lone Cubs run in the first 9 innings came when Derrek Lee hit a solo-HR to lead off the 4th inning, of course I was in the bathroom/getting an Old Style when this happened. But it continues to prove that I am Lee's good luck charm, he always seems to hit homers when I am in attendance. I can not believe he has 20 HR this season, what a pleasant surprise! Maybe he can give us 30+?

The rest of the Cubs did not look good last night, except Aramis Ramirez, who was 3-6 2B, R. D Lee managed to reach base 5 times last night. The top of the order did absolutely nothing as Reed Johnson and Ryan Theriot went a combined 0-12, Johnson is now hitting .243, Lou may want to consider not batting him lead-off anymore as he is not consistent enough. My suggestion against lefties would be to either bat Theriot or Milton Bradley first. Alfonso Soriano had a bad looking night as well, he grounded into a double play and failed to run out a grounder to third base (he thought he fouled it off his foot, but it did not look like it did) and really took a lot of heat from the fans, especially the ones in my area. In all fairness, he did make some nice catches in left field and did eventually win us the game (more on that later).

The Cubs should have won the game in the 9th when they had the bases loaded and one out for PH Mike Fontenot. Fontenot really screwed up, he failed to get a suicide squeeze (which I predicted before it happened to my Dad) down, leaving Bradley hung out to dry at third. Then hit a weak fly ball to center accomplishing nothing with his at-bat. Then later in extras he made a bad relay throw which allowed a Astros runner to reach third base, when he had all the time in the world to throw him out, Fontenot did his best last night to lose his team the game, thankfully his mistakes did not matter in the end. My point is, Fontenot should never have been out there in the first place. Lou had two much better options in the 9th: 1.) If he wanted to do the squeeze play he should have gone with Andres Blanco, who is on this team to do two things field and bunt (he is a good bunter) I guess Lou did not want to be obvious. 2.) Use Jake Fox and play for a Sac-Fly! Fox would have a better chance of making contact and hitting a fly ball, which was all we needed. I think Lou simply out-smarted himself. If Fontenot wants to continue to play in the major leagues as a light hitting second baseman, which he is, then he seriously needs to learn how to bunt and throw, before he costs the Cubs anymore games. Fonty is hitting a pedestrian .229, with Jeff Baker playing better and Blanco a better defender, how can Lou continue to justify playing Fontenot?

Finally, after Samardzija got out of the 13th the Cubs managed to load the bases for Alfonso Soriano, who like I mentioned was having an awful game. I was hoping for a Bradley walk-off, but really just wanted a win. With the Astros outfield drawn in, all Soriano had to do was hit a fly ball, and boy did he ever. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Astros pitcher, Chris Sampson had to throw Soriano strikes. Soriano responded by launching a Walk-OFF Grand Slam to the same spot Carlos Lee hit a HR in over the batter's eye in center field. Soriano posed at home plate to admire his HR and then slowly trotted around the bases savoring the moment and the cheers, he stutter-stepped around second, touched third with his hand, and then jumped into a crowd of teammates at home plate. What a finish to a great game, Soriano made us all forget about the awful game he'd had to that point, and more importantly the Cubs stayed in first place. The Cubs have now won 5 in a row and 9 of 11 overall.

Great game to be at last night, I did not get there in time to recieve the free luggage tags at the gate, because I opted for an Old Style Fan can and free hot-dog compliments of the Full Shilling. I went to the game with my Dad and sat in aisle 208 down the third base side, a solid view of the game and conveniently located near restrooms and beer stands. This was also at least the second if not third extra innings game I have been to this season.

My personal 2009 Cubs record: 8 and 3.
The next game I am going to as of right now: TBD.

Up next: The Cubs and Astros play again at 7:05 pm. Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.09 ERA) vs Roy Oswalt (6-4, 3.66 ERA). Dempster is making his first start since coming off of the DL today after breaking his toe celebrating a Cubs victory a few weeks ago. I am really not expecting much from Demp, I just hope his toe has healed, and that he is not rushing to get back. Oswalt is a good pitcher and his team could really use a win tonight. The Cubs have seen plenty of Oswalt over the years, hopefully he has on off night, and the Cubs can continue their winning streak!