On a nice, though cool, morning at New Scotland, the Cubs and Blue Jays kicked off the 2015 45 Division season. It was a fitting matchup as these were the two teams that represented Albany in the 45 Florida Fall Classic in November, though the rosters were a bit different then. In a game closer than the final score indicated, the Cubs prevailed 9-3.
The well-known lesson of this game, at least from the Blue Jays perspective, is that you just can't give good teams extra outs. The Blue Jays made six errors, leading to 8 unearned runs. Runs didn't score on the errors, but the talented Cubs lineup took advantage of the extra at-bats with timely hits, including a deep home run by Bob Davis. John Weber and Rich Garbarino generally pitched well for the Blue Jays, allowing just the one earned run, but 13 hits to the deep Cubs lineup. A trio of Cubs pitchers were just better, scattering six singles and one walk, with starter Ron Massaroni picking up the win.
According to the Blue Jays scorebook, multiple hit games came from S. Maney, Davis (who was a triple shy of the cycle), and Mitchell for the Cubs and from Tucker for the Blue Jays.
It was great to be out playing, and I echo and appreciate Mark Marshall's sentiments in his earlier post.
The Cubs made their debut in the 45+ division a winning one. The Cubs used a 12-hit attack to produce 9 runs against two solid pitchers (Weber and Garbarino). Bobby Davis led the way with a double, single, and home run, in 4 trips to the plate, driving in a 3rd of the Cubs runs. Dave Mitchell also went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a single. Shawn Maney was 2 for 4, with 1 RBI and a run scored.
Meanwhile, the pitching and defense were solid for the Cubs, in the opener. Cubs' starter, Ron Massaroni, gave up just 3 singles in his 3 innings of work, while walking none and striking out 2. Phil "Mash" Gadomski, made his return to the division after spending the entire 2014 season on the injured reseved list. He pitched two solid innings for the Cubs, surrendering just 2 unearned runs, in his two innings of work, giving up just one hit and one walk, while striking out 1. Mike Girard finished up for the Cubs, striking out the side in order, in the bottom of the sixth, and giving up just one run (7th), on a single two wild pitches, and a RBI ground out.
This game was quite well played by both sides, considering that it was a 9:30 am start on a cold and windy opening game. A tip of the cap to John Weber, who always keeps his team in the game, and did so again, until the 6th inning, when Bobby Davis's two-run HR capped a 4-run rally, that took the game from a 3-2 nail biter to a more comfortable 7-2 lead.
Next up for the Cubs are the Cyclones, next Sunday at 12:30 pm at the Satellite field.
