The Cubs brushed off a tenacious Dodger's offense on Tuesday night at the C-diamond to improve their record to 9-0, and secure the number one seed for phase two of the regular season.
The Dodgers came out smoking against the undefeated Cubs, in the top of the first scoring 3 times on hits by Harry Staulters and Steve Schaefer, and two errors by Cubs infielders.
The Cubs would answer with two of their own, in the bottom half. Scott Ross led off with a walk and a stolen base. Paul Miles followed with a RBI double, and after Dave Mitchell's single moved Miles to 3rd, Ron Lochner plated him with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Dodgers were unphased by the Cubs rally, and scored 2 more times in the second. After a Bob Hiller single and a passed ball to lead off the inning, Staulters delivered him with a RBI single, then stole second, and was advanced to third on a wild pitch. Schaefer again drove home Schaulters, and the Dodgers had a 5-2 lead.
The Cubs would load the bases, with 2 outs, in the bottom half of the inning, but were unable to score, as Dave Reed was able to get out of the jam by inducing a grounder to second to preserve the Dodgers 3 run lead.
Entering the 3rd, the Cubs decided to bring in Mike Girard to try to hold the Dodgers' bats at bay, so that the Cubs could get back in the game. Girard did the job, as he faced the minimum of 9 batters over the next 3 innings. The Cubs offense came to life in the bottom of the 3rd inning, and produced a 5-run rally. A one out walk and a stolen base by Paul Miles got things going, and consecutive singles by Dave Mitchell, Girard, Ron Lochner, and Marc Lochner fueled the fire. A soild RBI single by Jerry Rosen capped the rally, and the Cubs went from 3 runs down, to 2 runs ahead, in a flash.
The Cubs would get two more runs in the bottom half of the 4th. Ralph Caputo led off with a walk and a stolen base. Ken Jackson singled him to third and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Scott Ross got Caputo home on a ground out. Back to back walks to Miles and Mitchell, forced home the 9th Cubs run.
With a 9-5 lead entering the 6th, the Cubs gave Kevin Jackson the ball, and the Dodgers showed their mettle by scoring 3 runs, to pull to within 1 run at 9-8. Steve Schaefer led off the inning with his 3rd hit of the game, and Jim Bradley followed with a single. One out later, Tom Hoeg clouted a booming double over the center fielder's head, to plate the first two runs in the inning. One out later, Dave Reed would single Hoeg to third. Jim Ansel followed with a solid RBI single up the middle, to cut the lead to 1. With the tying run at third, and the go ahead run on first and two outs, Jackson would get the final out on stikes to escape with Cubs clinging to a one run lead.
The bottom of the sixth would see the Cubs get 2 insurance runs. Jerry Rosen and Jim McQuade led off with walks. Ralph Caputo then executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position with one out. Kevin Jackson followed with a 2 RBI single, and the Cubs had an 11-8 lead entering the 7th.
Mike Girard would come back to the mound for the 7th, to try for the improbable win and save combo. He would retire the first batter on a tapper back to the mound, and would strike out the last two batters to complete the trick. The Cubs walked away with a hard fought 11-8 victory, and kept their undefeated string intact at 9 games.
The Dodgers provided a tough test, and will be a team to be reckoned with as the next phase of the season begins. Donnie Ball and Steve Schaefer have put together a great team, for a first year squad, and the Cubs wish them luck with the rest of the season.
Next up for the Cubs is a rematch with the 4-time defending champion Giants on Tuesday July 3rd, at the A-diamond. I can't wait for that one!
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Wednesday 27th of June 2018 07:41:24 AM
Just a rule clarification, since it's been a while. My understanding was that a starting pitcher could re-enter the game as pitcher, but it was not true for relievers. Has there been a rule change? Is this a 55 thing? Or am I confused?
Rule has no distinction as to starter or reliever. never did. and is this Cub, Ken related to Kevin. both Jacksons seem like good hitters. Great game. many more to come.
Though I no longer live in the Capital District, I enjoy following league activities. But I wonder if the Cubs have lost yet this season. I cant be sure as Mike only noted that they were undefeated 4 times in this report.
